Yum How To

Peppermint Patties Recipe
Dessert

Peppermint Patties Make a Festive Holiday Gift

Stumped about what to gift for the holidays?
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Stumped about what to gift for the holidays? Here, we show you how to make a classic candy: peppermint patties. A perfect treat for the Winter season, make these patties as a hostess gift or just for fun at home. With just powdered sugar, egg whites, dark chocolate, and peppermint extract, they’re surprisingly easy to make. Plus, these candies can be a refreshing change from fudge and fruitcake! Watch our video to see how it’s done.

How to Decorate Christmas Sugar Cookies (Video)
Dessert

Learn How to Decorate Holiday Sugar Cookies With Love

Even adults love the adorable shapes and vibrant colors of an iced cutout sugar cookie.
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Even adults love the adorable shapes and vibrant colors of an iced cutout sugar cookie. If you've ever wondered how to decorate these festive treats at home, this video will teach you three ways to do this using royal icing. Whether you're looking to precisely pipe, spoon it on, or marble together two (or more) colors of icing, this video has you covered.

Healthy Finger Food Recipe
fast and easy

Make Italian Party Appetizers This Holiday

We've long known that just about anything tastes better on a stick, and Italian antipasti are no exception.
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We've long known that just about anything tastes better on a stick, and Italian antipasti are no exception. If you're hosting for a crowd, skip the Italian appetizer platters and go straight for these light yet flavorful finger-friendly kebabs of Italian sausage, roasted peppers, basil, artichokes, and sun-dried tomatoes. Serve them on colorful toothpicks with a drizzle of balsamic reduction. Watch the video to see how it's done.

How to Make Ice Cream Sandwiches
POPSUGAR Food

Compose an Ice Cream Sandwich That'll Trump All the Rest

Ice cream sandwiches may sound simple, but constructing one takes more than two cookies and a scoop of your favorite flavor: when it comes to these frozen treats, timing and finesse is everything.
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Ice cream sandwiches may sound simple, but constructing one takes more than two cookies and a scoop of your favorite flavor: when it comes to these frozen treats, timing and finesse is everything. Treats truck Coolhaus may be known for its bold ice cream sandwich flavors, but the truck fleet also knows the secrets to pulling together a structurally sound frozen dessert.

From cookie selection to ice cream temperature to slicing the cookie just right, everything counts. Watch the video for tips on making a sweet, chilly treat that's a cut above the rest, then print out Coolhaus's fig balsamic ice cream and red velvet cookie recipe.

Best Chef's Knives to Buy
Cooking Basics

Buyer's Guide: 3 Can't-Miss Chef's Knives

Serious chefs invest in serious knives.
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Serious chefs invest in serious knives. You'll discover that a high-quality knife cuts down on your chopping time, is less harsh on your joints, and creates precise, swoon-worthy slices. To avoid buying overpriced junk, here are a few rules you should abide by when purchasing a chef's knife. Ultimately, it's all about your hands and what feels right. Find a local store that carries the knife and practice holding and chopping with it so you're guaranteed to purchase something you love.

  1. High-carbon stainless steel material: Stainless steel won't rust and does not impart metallic flavor or color onto your food. Because high-carbon stainless steel is hard and durable, it retains its sharp edge longer than most and is easy to clean, hone, and sharpen at home.
  2. Heavy-duty construction: Look for knives that are forged from a single piece of steel with a full tang, which means that the steel runs from the blade to the edge of the handle. They offer better balance and are more resilient. Also look for a bolster, the thick steel portion in between the blade and the handle. A wide bolster indicates the thickness of the original piece of steel before it was forged; no sign of a bolster suggests that the knife was simply punched out of a roll of sheet metal.
  3. Pointed tip and curved cutting edge: A standard Western-style chef's knife is eight inches long, has a rounded edge for easy chopping and mincing, and curves to a pointed tip for cutting into squash or for fine cuts.
  4. Weighted, ergonomic handle While most chefs wrap a hand around the bolster of the knife, it's important to choose a handle you find comfortable. Most handles are ergonomically designed, but you might have a shape and material preference. Some are lined with rubber to keep the knife secure in your hand while other handles are made from wood or plastic. The best knives are designed so that the handle and the blade are equally weighted to make chopping a light, easy experience.

See why we love these three knives.

Hemingway Daiquiri Recipe Video
recipes

Toast to Hemingway at Your Next Happy Hour

If you've never tried a Hemingway Daiquiri — named after prolific writer Ernest Hemingway — then you're in for a real treat.
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If you've never tried a Hemingway Daiquiri — named after prolific writer Ernest Hemingway — then you're in for a real treat. In our new series Happiest Hour, we learn the story behind this citrus-y rum drink and what makes it signature Hemingway (hint: it's got more kick than a standard daiquiri!). Interested in whipping up one of these bracing cocktails yourself? Watch the video to see how it's done.

How to Organize Cookbooks
Yum How To

3 Simple Steps to Organize Your Cookbooks

Just like the way we cook, we all take different approaches to organization, and arranging cookbooks is no different.
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Just like the way we cook, we all take different approaches to organization, and arranging cookbooks is no different. Whether you have mountains of cookbooks or just a few favorites, here are some ideas for how to make the most out of those palatable pages.

  • Don't be afraid to take them out of the kitchen. Instead of keeping all of your cookbooks in one place, prioritize. Try selecting ones that you will be using the most at any given time, depending on the season and the holiday, and have those handy in the kitchen. There's nothing wrong with placing the rest in a different bookshelf and rotating them out.
  • Keep it stylish. For the cookbooks that do stay inside the kitchen, place them on a shelf or table alongside some of your cutest cooking tools, like a sugar bowl, for some culinary pizzazz. The more you notice your cookbooks, the more likely you are to use them.
  • Know how you cook. When you get ready to make a dish, do you get inspiration from a certain author? A type of cuisine? Depending on your answer, organize along those themes: international, grilling, alphabetical, etc. If you want to take things one step further, you can then arrange by color or size.

How do you keep your cookbook collection in check?

Source: Flickr User timsackton
How to Roast Pumpkin Seeds
POPSUGAR Food

Salty, Sweet, or Umami: 3 Ways to Season Pumpkin Seeds

Next time you're cutting into a pumpkin, don't toss the seeds!
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Next time you're cutting into a pumpkin, don't toss the seeds! Learn the easy way to prep and roast them so you can enjoy these crunchy treats all season long. Otherwise, you can also use pepitas, or hulled pumpkin seeds, found at most grocery stores. Keep the flavors interesting by trying out three different seasonings: olive oil and sea salt, buttery sweet and spicy, and soy sauce.

Foods to Freeze
Cooking Basics

5 Foods to Buy Frozen (and 5 to Freeze Yourself)

All but the most organized cooks have been there: the dreaded "I forgot something" rush back to the grocery store.
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All but the most organized cooks have been there: the dreaded "I forgot something" rush back to the grocery store. Luckily, with a little strategizing, much of the frustration and panic can be circumvented. While we'll often hack an ingredient substitution in a pinch, some foods have no analogue. In those cases, the freezer aisle (or your home freezer) can be a real savior.

Foods to Buy Frozen:

  • Fruit: Stock frozen berries, mango, and cranberries for morning smoothies, out-of-season pies, and fruit-studded pancakes. Just keep in mind that freezing fruit damages some of its structure, so employ these only in cooked or pureed applications.
  • Shrimp: Due to its highly perishable nature, most commercially available shrimp is sold frozen or previously frozen. Not only is this briny nibble great to keep on hand for last-minute dinners, but also, it's often more economical to buy from the freezer case.
  • Phyllo and puff pastry: Keep these fussy-to-prepare pastry bases stocked so that a rustic tart or spanakopita is quick to whip up.
  • Vegetables: Peas, spinach, edamame, artichoke hearts, corn, broccoli, and black-eyed peas are all good bets for adding fresh flavor to vegetable sides and pasta dishes. Like fruit, vegetables' high-water content means that once frozen, they won't retain quite the same snap as their fresh counterparts, so save these for cooked dishes only.
  • Rice: Sure, freshly steamed rice wins out on the texture front by a hair, but frozen rice is an excellent substitute in a pinch and a quick way to round out a meal.

Keep reading for five foods worth freezing yourself.