If you think tequila is only good in margaritas, think again! The Mexican spirit is a wonderful base for all sorts of cocktails. In this recipe, tequila is paired with sweet strawberries, tart lemons, and fragrant mint. The method is adaptable: if you prefer a strong drink, use more tequila, and if you're partial to weak beverages, add more club soda. This refreshing cooler is the perfect way to kick-start your weekend. Ready to toast with tequila? Get the recipe now.

Classic eggs Benedict is my favorite brunch dish; if it's on a restaurant's menu, I'll order it nine times out of 10. However, when I'm cooking brunch at home, I prefer to make a lighter, meat-free Benedict. Instead of Canadian bacon, I use roasted tomatoes and mashed avocado. The butter-heavy Hollandaise sauce is replaced with a creamy parmesan cheese sauce. Although you could use poached eggs, most of the time I'm lazy and simply used fried eggs. This dish is one that my mom loves, so if you're looking for something to make for your mother on Sunday, I highly recommend the California Benedict! Get the recipe now.

Last weekend was the Pebble Beach Food and Wine Festival. Since we couldn't make it, we asked cheese expert Laura Werlin to give us a behind-the-scenes look! Here she discusses her seminars and provides some pointers on how to pair wine with her specialty, grilled cheese.
When you think of Pebble Beach, you probably think of golf. But not me. All I can think of is that it’s the home of the utterly, completely, amazing over-the-top Pebble Beach Food & Wine event. The fourth annual extravaganza, which featured chefs like Tom Colicchio, Anne Burrell, Tim Love, Daniel Boulud, Stephen Pyles, Christopher Kostow, Chris Cosentino, Michael Chiarello, Gary Danko, Ming Tsai, and approximately 85 others, took place over a sunny weekend in April. I was lucky enough to be one of the presenters to do what I do — say cheese, of course. I gave two seminars, each with a different theme. One was grilled cheese and wine pairing (yep, you read that right) and the other was cheese paired with the über impressive wines of Oregon winery Domaine Serene.

For the cheese and Domaine Serene presentation, I paired six American cheeses with five wines that included Chardonnay, Pinot, Rosé and Syrah.

To see what cheeses she paired with the wines from Oregon, keep reading.

Salami is quite the versatile little meat: it's delicious on an appetizer platter alongside bread and cheese, tossed in a chopped salad, layered atop pizza, or crisped up into salami chips. But a recent shipment from Columbus salame got us wondering: what's the deal with the various types of salami out there? We've established the difference between salumi and charcuterie, but what about within the salami family itself?

All salami is made from a combination of uncooked ground meat, spices, wine, and garlic, which is then dried and cured. It develops a fine, white mold on the outside during the curing process, much like the coating on brie cheese, which is usually edible. But beyond that, there's tons of variation in this tasty, salty delicacy. Here are some of the most common varieties, and what sets them apart.

• Genoa salami: Traditionally made with pork and veal, and seasoned with garlic, red wine, and pepper.
• Soppressata: Usually made with pork, soppressata has a higher fat content and a more rustic appearance than most salami. Soppressata is typically pressed with a heavy weight while curing and cured until it loses 30 percent of its weight, intensifying its flavor.
• Pepperoni: Not a traditional Italian salami, pepperoni is an Italian-American invention. It's finely ground, lightly smoked, and spicy.
• Herbed or peppered salami: Traditional salami that has — surprise! — been rolled in cracked peppercorns or dried herbs.
• Nduja: A deliciously spreadable salami made of pork meat, pork fat, and spicy red peppers.
• Cotto salami: Salami that has been partially cooked or smoked before or after curing.

What's your favorite type of salami?

Get excited! Spring is in full effect, and that means markets all across the US are filling up with bright green produce. I can't wait to start cooking with the season's favorites: asparagus and artichokes. Artichokes are at their peak from March until June, so now is the time to enjoy these leafy bulbs. To find out how to select and cook artichokes and to share your favorite artichoke preparations in the comments, keep reading.