Fast and Easy Homemade Tzatziki

Tzatziki sauce has a fresh vibrant taste that is an ideal accompaniment to summer grill-outs. It is traditionally served cold with Greek and sometimes Turkish foods. Most Americans may know this sauce as the creamy, flavorful sauce that comes on gyros. But if you only eat tzatziki on gyros you are missing out! It works well with conventional greek tastes--such as lamb--but you'd be surprised how

CreativeLIVE with Penny de los Santos: Finding food photography I love, and figuring out why

This weekend I was incredibly lucky to participate in a live streaming broadcast (thanks to CreativeLIVE of food photographer Penny de los Santos, whose work is often featured in Saveur magazine. Her food photography style favors drawing out graphic elements of food with overhead shots, and setting sharp colors off with white or understated backgrounds. I found out about the workshop the day

Buttercream Cake Decorating: Game of Thrones Cupcakes

Spring gives some people a burning desire to clean things. I have never suffered that particular affliction. But every spring I seem to find myself newly obsessed, OCD style, with some specific aspect of food. One year it was a burning fascination with making homemade biscotti. I went through dozens of recipes and then once I totally understood the form, I started making up my own. Another spring

Power Cleaning the Fridge: Attempting the 20 minute super clean

Is it possible to deep clean the fridge in under an hour? That alone sounds crazy, but then I get really nuts and attempt to deep clean the fridge in 20 minutes.

If you ask me about the last time I cleaned my fridge out entirely, I would have to ask when we moved in. I spot clean now and then when I see something dripping. I am ashamed to admit I'm such a slouch at fridge cleaning, but these

Nine things I learned about diet and exercise from a personal trainer

I am fresh back from my second ever visit to a personal trainer (the fantastic Kandice King. I have always wondered about personal training, but been too intimidated to shell out the cash to try it. I've had friends who went to personal trainers and swore by them. I recognize intellectually that exercise is the other side of the foodie coin, unless some day you want to be someone who has to be

Reflections of First Time Gardeners

Last year I was a doe-eyed eager first-time gardener. And to complicate things, I was learning to garden in the South, after spending my whole life in the Midwest. The climate and soil and waterfall were all different. I tried to learn what I could, and in my typical fashion I probably even went a bit overboard trying to learn everything about gardening. And then, at some point, I just took a

Eight things to love about Weight Watchers Yogurt

Early on in my efforts to find a life-long eating style that suited my tastes and my life tempo, I realized that I would be permanent friends with yogurt. It is smooth and creamy, with a texture that instantly reminds me of more fattening desserts, but without all the guilt. Yogurt comes in a dizzying array of flavors, so you are not likely to get completely sick of it. Yogurt has a healthy dose