One of the Barefoot Contessa's catchphrases is "How easy is that?" If you're a fan of her show, you know that she says it several times during an episode. However, sometimes I can't help but wonder: is it really that easy? Well, when it comes to her homemade ricotta cheese, yes it is! Over the weekend I made a batch of the thick, creamy, rich cheese and was shocked by the recipe's simplicity. Read more

The cherries are getting better by the week, and I can't help but pick up some at the farmers market. Recently, I transformed a frozen pizza dough into a slightly-sweet-and-savory focaccia pizza that's topped with creamy ricotta and pitted cherries. I purchased fresh ricotta from my local grocer, but one could easily whip up your own! Next time, I'll make the focaccia with less sugar and more Read more

Who doesn't love a savory tart? For an afternoon brunch, I rolled up my sleeves to make a mouth-watering puff pastry tart topped with ricotta cheese, caramelized onions, and homemade olive tapenade. The anchovies are initially pungent, but once they reduce and caramelize with the onions, their flavor mellows immensely. If you're serving vegetarians, leave out the anchovies and salt the onions a Read more

After Thanksgiving, it always takes a couple of days to regain my appetite. That's why this weekend, when I had guests over, I decided to serve an easy and healthy party dip with crudités. Typically, spinach dips call for a great deal of sour cream and lots of shredded cheese — resulting in a dish that can be heavy. Thankfully, I found a Martha Stewart recipe that calls for lowfat ricotta Read more

We're excited to bring you a new post from mother and actress Tori Spelling! Every other week, we're bringing you the best parenting and lifestyle advice from ediTORIal by Tori Spelling, which is Tori's daily blog about everything from food and fashion to parenting and relationships. This week, Tori shares her favorite lasagna recipe. I've been making my lasagna recipe since my early 20s. When I Read more

The holidays are always a little hectic, and there's definitely some added pressure for those of us who volunteer to play host for a Hanukkah celebration, Christmas dinner, or New Year's Eve party. We caught up with entertaining expert Katie Lee as she toasted her role as Clos du Bois wine ambassador in LA, and couldn't resist asking for some advice on how to make throwing a successful seasonal Read more

Post-Thanksgiving, it's always tough to figure out what to do with all of those leftovers. Rather than re-creating the same plate you had the day before, give a leftover Thanksgiving pizza pie a try! This turkey, pesto, and cranberry pizza is a hearty meal with plenty of savory and sweet flavors. I used a caramelized onion cranberry sauce but if you had just a plain cranberry on Turkey Day, Read more

We are excited to share one of our fave stories from Prevention here on FitSugar! Improve your weight loss plan by avoiding these health diet disasters By Alyssa Shaffer Thanks to confusing labels and unearned reputations, it's difficult to know what's good for you. You might automatically reach for items with a "health halo," such as spaghetti sauce (love that lycopene!), or labels like reduced Read more

Love Mexican food, but wish you knew more about the culture's cheese legacy? So did I. At a California Milk Advisory Board cheese class, I finally had my opportunity to better understand the Hispanic cheese market when I got a crash course on it from cheese expert Juliana Uruburu. Although semisoft, European-influenced cheeses like Cypress Grove Humboldt Fog and Cowgirl Creamery Red Hawk get the Read more