With the presidential race speeding up and the Fourth of July hot on our heels, it seems like a perfect time to make some red, white, and blue cupcakes. (As if any of us needed an excuse to make cupcakes.)

This recipe comes from TeamSugar member HonestMuffin, who put her namesake muffin pans to good use to make these red-velvet cupcakes. To give the treats a patriotic twist, she topped the cream-cheese frosting with blue star sprinkles. To get the recipe and see how she made them, read more

Although he didn't score the job at Ramsay's up and coming restaurant in LA, Matt — the latest cheftestant to be kicked off of Hell's Kitchen — recently started a position as executive chef of Pizzicato in New Jersey. When I spoke with Matt yesterday he was in good spirits and happily expressed his feelings towards the HK experience. To see what the chef — whose now rooting for Bobby or Jen to win HK — had to say, read more

At a graduation party make things feel festive and celebratory by setting up a small bar buffet that allows guests to mix their own drinks. Since the graduate is underage, the bar will have no alcohol. Instead stock the buffet with the fixings for jazzed-up Arnold Palmers! Pitchers of lemonade and iced tea, lemon wedges, sparkling water, grenadine, and fresh berries will sit next to an ice bucket and rows of glasses.

For the adults fill coolers with beer, white wine, and water. To check out the lemonade and iced tea recipes, read more

Gordon Ramsay's Los Angeles restaurant, the London, opened last night with a star-studded dinner service. However, the cheftestants from Hell's Kitchen were nowhere in to be found. This makes me wonder if the HK prize — to be chef of the London — is a little exaggerated. Perhaps they merely get to be a line cook there? Items from the menu are far more sophisticated than the dishes made on the reality show. The menu includes:

• Baked foie-gras custard, crispy duck tongue, micro greens
• Monkfish with crispy chicken skin, lemon-thyme consommé
• Smoked pork belly with roasted Scottish langoustine, celeriac, and apple

For some reason I can't imagine Bobby, Jen, or Corey making any of these dishes. What do you think? Does one of the HK contestants really work at the London?

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When you think about it, a Mexican pizza is really a gigantic, circular nacho. The two main components of nachos — crispy tortillas and melted cheese — are present in Mexican pizzas.This recipe came out of my desire to use Spanish chorizo in one of my nacho experiments. Since the chorizo resembles pepperoni, I invented these pizza-like nachos. The "sauce" is a red-bean puree mixed with sautéed onion, garlic, and green chilies. These were quite tasty, next time I'm serving them with sour cream! To take a look at how I made them, read more

While perusing the food news yesterday, I was highly entertained by a New York Times story about "recipe deal breakers" — that is, the ingredients or instructions that will make you put down a cookbook and run as far away as possible.

In the article, cooks 'fess up to fearing everything from recipes that require helpers to those that necessitate the wrangling of a pig. Both of those would probably be deal breakers in my book, but I'm sure you all have your own. So in the spirit of dishing, tell me your recipe deal breakers by leaving a comment below!


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This super quick and healthy pasta incorporates many of my favorite Summer flavors: fresh, fragrant basil, burst in your mouth grape tomatoes, and salty black olives. The natural simplicity of the sauce — the veggies and herbs are barely cooked — pairs perfectly with whole wheat spaghetti.

If you prefer not to cook with wine, use a low sodium chicken broth instead. To make this delicious, vegetarian meal tonight, read more