Archive for February 2011

For our 10 Best Birthday Cakes (& Cupcakes), click here.

If you haven’t spent a lot of time eating ice cream in Maine, I’m not 100% sure that you’ll know what moosetracks even means. Besides, of course, the obvious, but that ostensibly has little to do with dessert.

“Moosetracks” is actually an ice cream flavor that’s prevalent across New England and especially in Maine. It consists of vanilla ice cream swirled with chocolate fudge and dotted with broken peanut butter cups. I have to admit I rarely order it–I’m too busy with Heath Bar Crunch, Cookie Dough, and other …

As quarter-lifers, when we don’t know much about things, we tend to reach into the farthest depths of our minds, extract a few minor details, and generalize, often inaccurately, from there. In some areas, such as school, this is looked down upon. In others, like our first full-time jobs, we found it often worked out okay. And in food, this practice comes in handy when we host and attend theme parties.

We love choosing themes for dinner parties and party parties—and we think the best theme parties actually embrace generalizations. Say “Siberian,” and hopefully vodka will flow all night; think …

Bringing your lunch–to work, when traveling, or on days when you’re too busy to sit down and eat–is one of the best ways to save money and stay healthy. These five packable favorites are perfect for lunch at your cube or lunch on the go. Don’t forget to add a napkin, water bottle, and disposable fork. If you prep just a little, you can eat home-cooked food anytime you’re on the go.

When you’re feeling under the weather, there’s nothing like home-cooked food for rapid improvement. Garlic and Chicken Soup will easily nurse you back to health, and Rice Pudding Cereal will deliver you into the comfort of your mother’s kitchen–at least Cara’s mother’s. When you’re nearly back on your feet, invest twelve hours of couch time watching your no-knead bread rise, then eat it toasted with butter or butter and cinnamon sugar. Last but not least, to celebrate your return (or near return) to health, feast on nourishing, soul-feeding Mac and Cheese.

It can sometimes seem daunting to host a whole meal for friends. Not only do you have to invite, shop, cook, and entertain, but you have to lay out a decent amount of money. They key to making it all unintimidating is to simplify.

Here we’ve collected our simplest, cheapest dinners to cook for your friends. All have short ingredient lists, making them really economical. Each needs only to be accompanied with a Bistro Salad or any simple variation thereof, though in a few cases we’ve noted a cheap accoutrement or two; these are totally optional. You can also always …