simple tips

Photo: Lauren Hendrickson

A couple of years ago I watched the Barefoot Contessa roast bacon in the oven. She was making a BLT and didn't need the bacon fat. I had never thought to bake bacon, and the idea has changed my life! Now, I roast bacon all the time. It's an easy, convenient, and splatter-free way to cook it. Here's what you do:

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Cover a large cookie sheet with parchment paper or foil.
2. Place the raw bacon in a row on the parchment paper.
3. Roast in the oven for 15-20 minutes until bacon is crisp and cooked.
4. Remove bacon to paper towel lined plates, pat dry, and use however you want.

Do you ever cook bacon in the oven?

We all get hungry throughout the day, and while it's easy to pop into the nearest café or corner store to pick up something to nibble on, it's much more rewarding, and satisfying, to make your own snacks. The good news is if you spend a little time on the weekend preparing some tasty treats, you'll be able to toss them in a bag and throw them into your purse to enjoy for the week ahead. Note: these ideas also make great snacks to sneak into movies . . . shh!

• Make some sinfully delicious tiki party mix. Any bacon lover will be thrilled to snack on this.
• Cracker Jack's aren't just for the baseball stadium. Munch on this sweet treat to get you through long afternoons at the office.
• My grandma always had candies in her purse. Make your own caramel candies, wrap them individually in wax paper, and keep a stash in your purse whenever you need to calm your sweet tooth.
• If you're trying to keep things a little healthier, cut your vegetables ahead of time, and pack them with some homemade hummus or white bean dip in tupperware.
• Stale, processed cookies from the grocery store? No thank you! Try some no-bake date cookies instead.

Do have snacks you make ahead of time?

Memorable drinks and bites aren't the only things at play inside the South Beach Wine and Food Festival tents — the Grand Tasting Village also holds an impressive lineup of cooking demonstrations from celebrity chefs and culinary personalities.

To my surprise, one of the most captivating (and entertaining) cooking demos came from Bravo's Bethenny Frankel. Although the Skinnygirl cocktails magnate was on hand to demonstrate pea guacamole and sangria, she really just wound up doling out zinger after zinger about sex and the Bravo network.

In between laughs, we did learn one great kitchen tip from her — how to make sangria even classier and more delicious. While prepping sangria, Bethenny swapped her ice for a bag of frozen mixed berries, a move she called cost-effective. We call it brilliant!

Here at the office, we're big fans of mason jar meals; we've found you can avoid the hassle that comes with plastic food containers if you bring your lunch to work or school in a Ball jar. These glass storage containers are easy to clean and not prone to residue. We love that they seal, which prevents leaking in your bag, and they leave no plastic flavor in food. Best of all, they can hold anything from salads (think of all the stacked Caprese salads you could enjoy for lunch!) to various types of soup. You can heat up the contents in a microwave and eat it right out of the jar, if you like, to avoid cleaning more dishes. They're also reusable, affordable, and eco-friendly. Next time you find yourself searching frantically for that one lid that fits your plastic Tupperware container, I say think again and reach for the mason jar instead.

How do you bring your food to work?

We're officially in the throes of West Coast Dungeness crab season, and there's no better way to celebrate than by purchasing a live or fresh-cooked crab, while the crustaceans are local and affordably-priced. But how do you know which live member to pick out from the crowd?

Mike La Rocca, who helms A. La Rocca Sea Food, a wholesaler that supplies fresh Dungeness to seafood restaurants like Bistro Boudin and supermarkets like Mollie Stone's, offers one critical piece of advice: look for a critter that's heavy. "The best way to judge if you're getting a nice, fresh crab is if it's got some weight when it's sitting in your hand. You should feel that pound and a half in your hands — then you know you're getting a crab that's full of meat and juice. If it's been sitting in a counter for a few days, it's going to lose its juice."

Also, the obvious: live crabs should be, well, alive. "If the crabs are alive, they need to be moving," La Rocca insists. For those of you comfortable cooking live seafood, how do you choose and prepare crab?

When it comes to serving platters, I'm always looking for something festive and large. However, the tray that gets the most use in my kitchen is actually a wooden cutting board. The simple board doubles as a delightful serving tray for everything from crostini to crispy salami. By adding the rustic wood to a party's decor, a wooden board also makes the atmosphere seem less formal and more casual. The clean up is easy as the small board is dishwasher safe. It's perfect for holiday entertaining.

What's your favorite serving platter? Do you offer food on wooden cutting boards?

Sure, Black Friday and Cyber Monday are over — but for all you wine lovers out there, you should know that right now's still the time to get the best beverage deals.

According to Ray Isle, executive wine editor for Food & Wine, when it comes to Beaujolais — especially Beaujolais Nouveau! — you should buy it right after Thanksgiving. Beaujolais Nouveau, that unaged red that's the first of the harvest in the northern hemisphere, is most anticipated when it's first released the third Thursday of November, and its bright, fruity flavors make it a popular part of the Thanksgiving meal. But Beaujolais Nouveau, which is meant to be enjoyed immediately, shouldn't be kept into the New Year, so it's quickly marked down to keep it flying off shelves.

You might be surprised to hear that bubbly is discounted this time of year, but according to Isle, sparkling wine has major discounts during the holiday season as well. The important thing to note is timing: "There are big Champagne markdowns until two weeks before Christmas," he reminded me at a New York City Wine & Food Festival seminar.

With so much holiday entertaining on the horizon, it makes sense for many of us (myself included!) to stock up now. Where have you spotted wine discounts recently?

Eggplant parm is one of our favorite vegetarian entrées, and we love how it's ideal for feeding a crowd. But did you know that it makes fancy-looking party bites, too?

I came across the creative idea at Carts in the Parc, where FoodParc vendor Fornetti was serving bite-sized antipasto skewers — along with miniature stacks of eggplant parmesan. The execution was elegant, but the idea simple: construct a towering sandwich of battered, fried eggplant slices, mozzarella cheese, and flatbread, then skewer and slice into one-inch mouthfuls. Serve each skewer on its side to show off its layers of flavor and texture, and top it off with marinara sauce and a chiffonade of basil.

Two important takeaways: serve the skewers on their sides to show off their impressive construction, and insert some sort of bread to help secure everything in place. Oh, and takeaway number three: everything tastes better on a stick — eggplant parm included.

If you're obsessed with making on-the-go smoothies like some of us, chances are that countertop blender will be in heavy cleaning rotation. But don't worry, these kitchen electrics are among the easiest of cooking appliances to clean.

I have my mother, a longtime Vitamix devotee, to thank for this tip: the quickest way to clean a blender is to add water and then blend it!

Fill your blender a little over halfway with hot water, add a drop of dish-washing liquid if desired, then blend on low first. If the water level's not reached high enough to clean the blending container, raise the power level to high. Rinse (and repeat, if necessary). Is this how you clean your blender, too?

Source: Flickr User adpowers

Ever since Starbucks came out with its highly coveted to-go cold cup tumbler, I've been spotting similar versions everywhere: at drugstores, on the bus, and all over Sugar HQ!

Double-walled acrylic cups are an eco-friendly, sturdy vehicle for not only iced beverages like coffee, but also the smoothies I've been whipping up every morning as a fresh start.

Want to know how to ensure your reusable drink ware lasts as long as possible? Then follow these tips, when you keep reading.