Blog Posts by The Daily Meal

Ellen SilvermanThere's something missing in your cooking, and if we were to take a wild guess, we'd say it was sauces. For those of you who have dreamt of going to culinary school but just never took the plunge, here's something you would've learned while there: how to make the mother sauces, and why they're essential to your cooking.

20 Tips for How to Be a Better Cook


A lot of people don't know the term "mother sauces," but it refers to the five basic and essential sauces that all other sauces stem from. They're the building blocks of what every young chef is taught during their training, because if you know the mother sauces, you know the foundations of pretty much any other sauce out there (the technical term for those other sauces are "small sauces").

7 Reasons Why You Should Eat More Fish

Times are changing, though. If you asked a traditional French chef what the five mother sauces are, he'd give you a traditional list (and maybe a few additional ones), but if you turned to a more modern

These original and outrageous cakes will knock the socks off newlyweds and guests alikeWedding cakes are a rite of passage for any newlywed couple. On the big day, the cake is sliced and admired, and a year later, the couple breaks out the leftovers to celebrate their first anniversary. Though the ritual remains, the appearance of a wedding cake has not stayed the same. In recent years, the classic three-tiered tower with all the bridal fixings has taken a turn… for the crazy.

10 Insanely Expensive Cakes

While the quintessential tiered tradition is always accepted and still seen at many weddings, it's the creative, out-of-the-box cakes that are catching everyone's attention. These extravagant confections come in all shapes, sizes, and colors, depending on the couple's hobbies, interests, and themes.

8 Horrifying Wedding Cakes

With shows like Cake Boss, Top Chef: Desserts, and Ace of Cakes taking over the airwaves, it's nearly impossible for viewers and engaged couples alike to not want to take their cakes to the next level. With that, we present this list of 20

In addition to comfort, these B&Bs offer unique culinary experiencesAcross the country, bed-and-breakfasts can take many forms, but the one thing that really makes for an amazing experience is the food that is being served. At the center of a B&B is the idea of a heart- and belly-warming breakfast to start the day off right.

Top 50 Bed-and-Breakfasts from Around the Country

From quiet and intimate B&Bs overlooking wine country, such as the Farmhouse Inn in Sonoma, Calif., to a culinary travel experience at Inn at the Park in Cape May, N.J., B&Bs run the gamut from tranquil trips to exciting getaways.

10 Beautiful Hotel Pools to Laze By

As "breakfast" is half the B&B experience, cuisine is one very important way for an innkeeper to demonstrate a warm and stable atmosphere. Many B&Bs are stepping up their game with award-winning chefs who serve seasonal cuisine, like chef Blaine Wetzel from Willows Inn in Washington state, who often creates spectacular egg dishes sourced from the inn's own Nettles Farm on the property. And others are creating

Credit: YouTube/QueenLuver123When you think about your childhood, Disney - in some shape or form - is probably scattered throughout the years. Maybe you were a fan of the princesses and paraded around your house in a yellow ball gown like Belle or while wearing "glass" slippers like Cinderella. For the fellas, if you put on your cowboy hat and your rodeo pajamas, like Toy Story's Woody, we think that's adorable, too. Or maybe you vacationed at Disneyworld and Disneyland to meet your heroes in person, take a ride on Dumbo's back, and take a chance at pulling the sword from that tricky stone.

Top 25 Disney Food Moments

While many Disney classics currently live in the beloved vault where they're preserved, their memories live on in homes across the world. From the famed kiss between Aurora and the Prince that woke her from her slumber in Sleeping Beauty to the magic of dancing buckets and mops in Fantasia and the phenomenon that was Zac Efron's Troy Bolton in the High School Musical trilogy, there are

We gather some great tips and tricks from a burger expertLet us consider the burger. It is the food that Americans crave when traveling abroad - "Oh, I would kill to have a burger right now." It is the backbone of just about every backyard grilling party - OK, maybe hot dogs are important, too. And it is an obsession and almost art form for those who seek to perfect it. So who to turn to for advice?

50 Best Burger Recipes

We tapped Govind Armstrong, executive chef and owner of 8 oz. Burger Bar and also executive chef at the critically acclaimed Los Angeles restaurant Post & Beam, for some helpful insight. Armstrong makes a mean burger - his proprietary house blend results in a beef patty that's juicy, flavorful, and rich without going over the top. And the elements of each of his burgers - the seasonings, the cheese, and the toppings - work in perfect harmony. So we thought he was the perfect person to turn to for some tips and tricks.

10 More Tips for Making the Perfect Burger

Armstrong gave us the beef on just about everything you'd

Here are healthy foods that you can safely snack onOne hundred calories. It's just three words, but many of us feel better snacking on something that has that on its nutritional label - it's built-in portion control. That's why we buy so many boxes of those over-processed, boring snack packs with "100 Calories" stamped right on the package, because when it's only that many calories or less, we feel better about our diet and health.

Diets That Don't Work (And What Your Should Try Instead)

Unfortunately, we're often less certain about calorie counts when it comes to eating wholesome, unprocessed, and all-natural foods. When you open a carton of almonds, do you really know when to stop yourself from breaching your safe limit? And how many spoonfuls of hummus can you safely have before it actually starts doing you more harm than good?

Save Money and Buy These Foods Frozen

We all know certain types of food are better than others, but when we're counting calories or on strict diets, it's hard to quantify those healthy foods. Registered dietician

With food truck fever continuing the sweep the nation there are now trendy mobile eateries that serve everything from cupcakes to sushi to on-the-go consumers. Yet for every run-of-the-mill Korean taco truck and sandwich stand there are a handful of mobile food ventures that are pushing the envelope with new and innovative dining concepts.

101 Best Restaurants in America 2013

Throngs of restaurants do their best to serve locally sourced ingredients and support local food artisans, but Lulu's Local Eatery takes the concept a step further by using herbs and fruits harvested on the roof of their food truck. And the Roving Mammoth in Mammoth Lakes, Calif. is constructed on top of a Snowcat so that it can offer slope-side burritos to skiers even under the harshest conditions.

America's Best Coffee Shops

Ever imagine ordering a brick-oven pizza from a truck? The pizzaiolos behind Del Popolo in San Francisco created one of the first mobile pizza ovens in the country, and designed stunning

AFP/Getty ImagesA classic white sponge cake consists of eggs, sugar, flour, and water, so how is it that when you're planning your wedding day or throwing a huge soiree that a cake can get to be thousands, even millions of dollars?

21 Jaw-Dropping Wedding Cakes

From decadent fillings to extraordinary décor, your classic cake can easily become something that looks like this one from Cake Boss Buddy Valastro and costs big, big bucks.

8 Horrifying Wedding Cakes

Those who are hosting over-the-top bashes or using a premier cake decorator like Sylvia Weinstock or Ron Ben-Israel, they really are paying for what they're receiving.

10 Most Unusual Wedding Cakes

If you're looking to include diamonds and rubies on the cake tiers or 20 bouquets of lush peonies dipped in edible gold, you can imagine how pricey a slice could get.

Cakes That Look Like Food

As couples and private companies get more and more imaginative in their confectionary requests, the price tags are rising. These wedding cakes are sure to