Here are some malts and milkshakes recipes you'll loveIs there any drink more iconic than the milkshake? It's hard to argue against it. Now that the soda fountains of the 20th century are roaring back into style, we can't get enough of a good milkshake or malt.

The first milkshake was reportedly made by a Walgreens employee, Ivar "Pop" Coulson. He updated the pharmacy's "chocolate malt beverage" by adding a scoop of ice cream, and the lives of ice cream lovers, sweet tooths, and soda fountains were forever changed. Heck, the blender was invented in 1922 by Stephen Poplawski just to mix up milkshakes - who knew?

Check out America's Best Milkshakes

Now, milkshakes are getting the culinary treatment just like your cocktails, lemonades, and juices. You'll never go wrong with a chocolate, vanilla, or strawberry milkshake from the soda fountain heyday, but now we're finding just as many imaginative flavors, like peanut butter and jelly, watermelon and lime, and salted caramel.

Leading the way? Autumn Martin at Seattle's Hot Cakes Molten

Read More »from 8 Malts and Milkshakes to Make This Summer

Photo: Nick FerrariBecause who actually wants to wait in line at Starbucks?

As ELLE's photo director, I am responsible for every single image we publish in the magazine. Hey, it takes a lot of synthetic energy to hawkeye a zillion contact sheets every day! And as a mother of two with an hour-long commute, my patience for fussy pick-me-ups is, well, zero. That is why I am obsessed with Grady's Cold Brew coffee concentrate. I first heard of it last summer when [associate editor] Seth Plattner kept a growler of it in the communal fridge. I watched enviously as he poured the stuff over ice and then mixed in milk for the perfect at-your-desk latte. The bottle is chic. It makes an awesome present. Plus, with eight servings in each $15 bottle, it's a whole lot more economical than that $6 Agave Rhubarb Frappuccino you're sipping on. In short: Grady's on the rocks, rocks.

Purchase Grady's Cold Brew 32oz bottle for $15 at gradyscoldbrew.com

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Major fast-food chains have global reach, and in most cases they tailor their menus to incorporate local tastes and cultures. In Japan, for example, Burger King sells a Premium Black Kuro Burger with squid ink-flavored ketchup, and in India, where a large percentage of the population doesn't eat beef, McDonald's sells the Maharaja Mac, which replaces the beef patties with chicken.

The World's Top 10 Coolest McDonald's

And while it makes perfect sense to sell sandwiches and burgers tailored to the local audience, it might not be obvious that desserts also get the global treatment. In honor of National Pie Day, we're taking a look at five of the craziest McDonald's pies from around the world.

The World's Strangest McDonald's Commercials

For our list, we chose the ones that are legitimately flabbergasting. Who would have thought that in Japan pies would be filled with mashed potatoes and bacon? That's certainly bridging the snack/dessert divide. And while cherry, chocolate, lemon,

Read More »from The 5 Craziest McDonald’s Pies

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

Read More »from Sauces that Make Your Food Better

Want healthy cookies? Find out the best healthy cookies.Healthy cookies? I know, it sounds like an oxymoron. And believe me, I understand your skepticism! But I went on a mission to find them, and I actually dug up some good options. The cookies listed below are made predominantly with whole grains, have only a reasonable amount of sugar, and clock in at no more than 130 calories per serving (a diet-friendly amount). Here are my picks:

Related: 50 Best Low-Calorie Snacks

1. 100% Whole Grain Fig Newtons (2 cookies)
2. Back to Nature Apple Cinnamon Oat Grahams (2 full sheets), Golden Honey Oat Grahams (2 full sheets), or Crispy Oatmeal Cookies (2 cookies)

3. Barbara's Bakery Snackimals in Wheat Free Oatmeal (about 10 cookies)
4. Kashi Cookies (1 cookie) in Chocolate Almond Butter, Oatmeal Raisin Flax, or Oatmeal Dark Chocolate
5. Willamette Valley Granola Company Granola Chips (about 20 chips) in Butter Pecan, Vanilla Bean, and Honey Nut

Related: Healthy Cookies Recipes

What are your favorite healthy cookies? Let me know

Read More »from 5 of the Healthiest Cookies You Can Buy

My after-school snack was a sacred ritual. I sat on the carpet in my parents' bedroom at a low table, the television turned to "I Dream of Jeannie," and ate a peanut butter and honey sandwich cut into neat squares. I wasn't fussy about crusts. I just loved the sticky pairing of creamy peanut butter with syrupy golden sweetness drizzled from a honey bear in diagonals across the soft white bread. Nothing else--save for maybe apples and peanut butter in a pinch--could have made for as sweet an afternoon, with Nickelodeon reruns stretching into the distance.

This month, the Shine Supper Club is celebrating our nostalgic childhood favorites. Were you crazy for popsicles on hot afternoons? Mad for mac and cheese? Join us by revisiting a classic in your kitchen, and sharing a recipe, photo and a story about just how good it was back then. Here's how it works:

1. Write a blog post telling us about your favorite childhood recipe by Monday 11:59PM PST, May 27th. Be sure to include a photo

Read More »from Childhood Favorites from the Shine Supper Club

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

Read More »from 7 Jaw-Dropping Wedding Cakes

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

Read More »from Top 10 Bed-and-Breakfasts Around the Country