What is “dinosaur time?”

@talatonline54k I’ve been going strong on dinosaur time for about a week now as a supplement to my normal lunches and I feel pretty good. So maybe try it out #greens #healthy #healthyliving #healthyrecipes #healthylifestyle #fyp #dinosaur #dinosaurtime #Fitness #fitnesstips #nutrition #nutritiontips #macros ♬ original sound – Talat54K

The trend first arose with TikTok user @sahmthingsup (identified by NPR as Amy Garrett), who posted a video on February 27 demonstrating her method for getting the right nutrients into her daily diet. Calling it “the best life hack for me,” she takes a large fistful of raw spinach straight from the package, then quickly stuffs the whole bundle in her mouth, taking time to chew it all before stuffing even more spinach into her mouth and chewing, chewing, chewing.

“I’ve been going strong on dinosaur time for about a week now as a supplement to my normal lunches and I feel pretty good,” the caption reads in part. The video had nearly half a million likes and thousands of comments praising the method.

People are attracted to the notion of “dinosaur time” for a number of reasons. For one thing, not everyone has time to cook healthy, vegetable-forward meals, and simply downing fistfuls of raw leafy greens alleviates the need to do so. Some people who dislike the taste of vegetables but still want the health benefits consider “dino time” a way of getting it over with quickly.

One commenter also pointed out that the method creates no dishes that must be washed. And then, of course, some people just find it fun to act like a dinosaur. Understandable.

Is “dinosaur eating” healthy?

There’s nothing inherently wrong about this approach to eating one’s greens, but NPR does note that those prone to kidney stones and people who take blood thinners might want to steer clear of the practice, since a sudden influx of the vegetables’ oxalic acid could cause complications to underlying health issues.

It also shouldn’t be undertaken as some sort of weight loss hack, and it’s certainly not the be-all and end-all of nutritional wellness. Other than that, nutritionists seem to be more or less fine with the practice, though they also point out that it’s just one of many potential approaches to a healthy diet.

“As long as people are consuming a variety of fruits and vegetables, they should be getting enough nutrients,” registered dietitian Alyssa Smolen told CBS News. Recommendations include blending greens into a green smoothie, cooking them into scrambled eggs, tossing them into a sandwich or wrap or even pairing them with sliced deli turkey for an easy snack. Eating greens doesn’t have to be a chore overcome by acting like an ancient predator.

Related:

• • Spinach Salad Recipes
  • Viral TikTok Recipes and Food Hacks
  • What Is Fridgescaping?

The post This Bizarre ‘Dinosaur Eating’ Trend Has the Internet Completely Divided appeared first on Taste Recipes.

There are even rules about where to store specific ingredients. It turns out that many of us have been keeping our cooking oil in the wrong spot.

What shouldn’t be stored by the stove?

You shouldn’t store olive oil next to the stove, which is bad news for many (if not most) of us. Keeping your olive oil on the countertop next to the stove makes sense, right? You want it handy to drizzle over preheated pans, and the tall bottles can be difficult to fit in cabinets.

However, olive oil and virtually every other cooking oil can degrade in quality when exposed to heat.

The North American Olive Oil Association says there are “four enemies of olive oil:” heat, oxygen, light and age. While many conventional olive oils have airtight caps to prevent oxidation, and their dark-green tinted bottles (or opaque tins) prevent too much light exposure, heat can penetrate virtually any packaging and cause the oil to go bad.

Rancid olive oil might be cloudy, greasy, and/or smelly—nothing you want to add to your next meal.

Where should you store olive oil?

The same place you store a lot of other staples: in a cool, dark place. In your kitchen, this might mean a cabinet, cupboard or pantry, or simply a shady, recessed area of the countertop, well away from heat sources. (That includes the warm motor of your refrigerator.) It might be slightly inconvenient to transfer olive oil to the stove while cooking, but the reward will be a tastier, longer-lasting product.

In addition to olive oil, there are all kinds of things you shouldn’t store on the countertop. Lack of kitchen counter space is a common complaint, so clear those items off the surface to free up some valuable real estate.

Related:

• How to Find Real Olive Oil
• What’s the Best Olive Oil You Can Buy?
• The Best Oils for Frying, According to a Chef

The post You Should Never Store This Kitchen Item Next to the Stove appeared first on Taste Recipes.

What’s causing the matcha shortage?

Matcha’s recent surge in popularity is largely to blame—and there are many reasons for that popularity.

For one thing, the Guardian notes that Japan is experiencing record tourism in the years since the COVID-19 pandemic, and many travelers are perhaps being exposed to matcha for the first time, establishing a greater appetite for the tea. Though it naturally has a bitter, grassy flavor, matcha blends well with various sweeteners such as honey, syrup and sweetened coconut milk.

More demand means more experimentation, so matcha now pops up in places it wouldn’t before: beverages, candy and restaurant menus.

And we can’t discount the fact that matcha is incredibly photogenic and social-media-friendly. It’s bright green and inviting, often paired with other colorful additions (look no further than Starbucks’ green-and-purple Iced Lavender Cream Oatmilk Matcha).

Matcha doesn’t have as much caffeine as a cup of coffee, so it’s a great step-down beverage for your morning routine. Green tea, in all its forms, has long been associated with good health, too. Though the evidence for such claims appears to be limited, it’s true that matcha is rich in antioxidants.

Taken together, all these attributes mean that demand has spiked, and supply hasn’t been able to keep up.

As Forbes reported last year, matcha must be grown in very specific conditions within a limited timeframe, so it’s not as simple as ramping up production. Unexpected weather can also make a dent in the growing season, and the processing time—grinding all the tea leaves into matcha’s fine powder form—is extensive and handled largely by independent farms.

Forbes notes that farmers across Asia and the United States have started growing matcha to meet demand. Whether its quality will match that of Japan’s, where the tradition is 500 years strong, remains to be seen.

The post Matcha Lovers, Brace for Impact—There Could Be a Shortage in 2025 appeared first on Taste Recipes.

Cow creamers, aka the cow-shaped vessel from which cream (or milk) is poured for coffee or tea, are the most popular kind of novelty creamer. According to the Culinary Institute of America, cow creamers originated in Staffordshire, England, in the 18th century. The originals were made of hand-painted porcelain, but as more kitchen items became mass-produced, the cow creamer’s popularity continued to grow into the 20th century.

Here’s a rundown of some cow creamers you might encounter at thrift stores, estate sales or Etsy.

Silver cow creamers

These gleaming metal cow creamers are the most upscale varieties—but also the least practical. The first silver cow creamers arrived in England in the late 1700s via Dutch silversmith John Schuppe, a man who remarkably has his own Wikipedia page. Being silver, they need to be polished regularly and must be hand-washed gently with soap, water and a microfiber towel.

Look for a maker’s mark will appear on the cow’s hoof, its belly or sometimes on the curled tail that forms the handle for pouring. The Association of Small Collectors of Antique Silver has a few examples of those marks on its website.

Staffordshire cow creamers

The “Staffordshire” models are some of the oldest and most distinct cow creamers. The oldest versions have a sturdy base resembling a small hill of grass and a hand-painted surface. In the modern era, creamers that bear the mark of Staffordshire still sell for a decent amount on eBay—even if they’re touristy recreations.

German cow creamers

Like modern-day refrigerator magnets, cow creamers were a common sight at gift shops in tourist destinations in the mid-20th century. Take this example advertising a German ski resort, which recently sold for $55. Look for the Goebel mark in particular.

How do I know if a cow creamer is vintage?

When you’re dealing with collectibles, the maker’s mark will tell the story. As long as you have even a partial marking on the creamer to indicate where it was made, that will help you track down more information about its potential value—collectors are fastidious record-keepers in this way. Without the mark or any kind of sticker, it becomes nearly impossible to determine what you’ve got.

If the creamer includes a bell around the cow’s neck, that could also help reveal its age. The bell may age faster than the glazed pottery it’s attached to.

To avoid the heartbreak of paying top dollar for an item of dubious value, it might be best to purchase whatever you find the cutest and keep it for its intended use. But, of course, I don’t have the spirit of a true antiques dealer.

Is my cow creamer valuable?

It could be, especially if your creamer is part of a full set or has a lid.

Full sets

Creamers are often part of larger sets that include a sugar dish and salt and pepper shakers. When the whole matching set is intact, the value increases.

Anything with a lid

The lid that covers the reservoir on the cow’s back is often just a simple quarter-sized stoneware panel. That means an antique creamer is likely to lose its lid at some point throughout the decades. If you encounter a cow creamer with the lid intact, it’s a well-kept piece and likely to show few telltale signs of wear (scuffed hoofs, faded paint, etc.).

The post 3 Vintage Cow Creamers to Look for at the Thrift Store appeared first on Taste Recipes.

Luckily, I have one concern for you to cross off the list: a chicken that’s brown near its bones. That brown stuff in chicken, it turns out, is pretty normal and fine to eat.

What is the brown stuff on my chicken?

Many concerned cooks have taken to the internet to document this odd phenomenon found in roasted and fried chicken: a “bloom” of reddish-brown on the interior, in the center near the bones.

It’s an unpleasant surprise to find beneath the surface, especially after you’ve taken a bite.

However, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reassures us that the discoloration is normal. It’s pigment from the chicken’s bone marrow that has leaked out into the surrounding meat during the cooking process.

The USDA explains that this happens primarily when cooking younger chickens. Their bones, which are still porous and uncalcified, have more areas through which the reddish-brown marrow can leak. It also occurs more frequently in chicken that’s been frozen and thawed. This is because thawing poultry can cause the pigments to seep out further.

Is the brown stuff safe to eat?

This bone marrow seepage, in addition to being common, is safe to eat. (People pay big money to eat bone marrow in fancy restaurants, after all.) The primary factor in determining whether poultry is safe to eat is cooking temperature—keep it above 165°F and don’t leave it out at room temp for more than two hours.

If you still feel iffy about that discoloration or the thought of bone seepage is off-putting, opt for boneless cuts like chicken breasts. Or, cook your bone-in chicken right away, rather than freezing it to cook later.

The post If Your Chicken Has Brown Stuff Inside It, This Is What It Means appeared first on Taste Recipes.

In this subreddit, the Costco self-checkout is a source of endless speculation. It stymies even the most seasoned wholesale shoppers!

What is the self-checkout rule?

Earlier this month, one user took to the Costco subreddit to ask about a recent shopping trip. The OP explains that they went to the self-checkout line with “maybe 20 items” and said the employee overseeing self-checkout personally scanned all the items instead. The Costco employee said there’s no official rule about how many items can be taken through self-checkout, but that 20 is “really too many.”

“Is this an unspoken rule?” the OP asked the subreddit.

It’s a query that has made the rounds on the subreddit for years, and the responses are equally passionate in all directions. On this month’s thread, which so far has nearly 700 upvotes and almost 300 comments, users’ responses range from “I’ve always viewed self-checkout as an express checkout lane” to “If they have a policy they should post it.”

Some shoppers report that their locations have signage indicating a 15-item limit but this seems to be at each store’s discretion. Even people who oppose an item limit admit that a practical line could be drawn somewhere around 20 items, after which the shopper slows down the self-checkout line for everyone else.

In addition to greater efficiency, imposing a limit on self-checkout can be a loss prevention tactic for many stores, as Costco employees say that the self-checkout lanes are where the majority of thefts occur. Fewer items allowed at self-checkout means fewer high-value products sneaking through unpaid.

There’s also a space issue at self-checkout. The small area for scanned purchases simply can’t accommodate upwards of 20 items. It’s not as simple as moving the items directly into shopping bags on the ground after scanning because items have to stay on the scale until after you pay.

The Costco website’s FAQ does not say that self-checkout lanes have an item limit. However, the question lumps self-checkout and express lanes together, perhaps indicating that they should be treated the same way and used for quicker trips and low-volume purchases.

To have the best Costco self-checkout experience, stick to a small number of items. Have your membership card and payment method at the ready. Don’t expect to use a hand scanner, as many locations don’t make those available to customers.

As always, be ready to present your receipt to an employee at the door before leaving. If the process stresses you out, you can always grab a $1.50 hot dog combo as a treat.

The post The Costco Self-Checkout Has Just One Unspoken Rule appeared first on Taste Recipes.

The French company has ingeniously made its signature product customizeable, offering its cookware not only in a variety of hues and seasonal shapes, but also with lid knobs that can be removed and swapped out at will. The knobs serve different aesthetic purposes, but they also have different cooking applications. Here’s what to know about each one.

What do the different Le Creuset knobs mean?

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As Le Creuset explains on its blog, there are two main categories of knobs: Classic and Signature. Your standard pot might come with the Classic Phenolic knobs. These are identifiable because they have the brand name Le Creuset on them and also feature the circular Le Creuset logo (all the other knobs just say Le Creuset). These standard-issue knobs are only safe up to 390°F, which is lower than many Dutch oven recipes call for. If you’re doing any medium- or high-temp cooking, you’ll want to swap out this knob with something more heavy-duty.

Here are the other options:

• Stainless Steel Knob: The least fussy of the knobs, this one is oven-safe up to 500° and is dishwasher safe. (NOTE: When paired with a Glass Lid, the oven-safe temperature is only 425°.)
• Gold Knob: Oven-safe up to 500°; Hand-washing is recommended, as a dishwasher could damage the finish.
• Copper Knob: Oven-safe up to 500°; like the Gold, it should be hand-washed.
• Signature Phenolic Knob: These are dishwasher-safe but have a slightly lower heat resistance at 480°.
• Iridescent Knob: This unique rainbow-sheen knob is a relative newcomer to the collection. It’s oven-safe up to 500°, but like the other metallic options, you should hand-wash this one.

Some of these knobs are also available in adorable heart, flower or star shapes. Prices range from $22 to $28—just make sure you buy the right size knob for your pot, as there are multiple options.

Can you replace Le Creuset knobs?

Swapping out your Le Creuset knobs is a simple process, and one that can be undertaken as often as you like. As seen in this step-by-step instructional graphic, it’s as easy as loosening the screw underneath the lid with a screwdriver, then twisting off the old knob and placing the new one onto the exposed screw.

As the instructions note, however, you should only use your hand to tighten the new knob onto the pot lid, rather than using the screwdriver to tighten it once it’s applied; the latter could cause damage to the enamel, and the pot can only be safely used if there are no chips in its surface. Trust us, manually twisting the knob onto the lid will leave it plenty secure!

The post This Is What the Knob Color on Your Le Creuset Means appeared first on Taste Recipes.

What is a mustard sommelier?

Like a sommelier who knows the ins and outs of the wine list, a mustard sommelier knows how to prepare and eat mustard. Collins works for Maille, a mustard brand that has existed in France since 1747. (You’ve no doubt seen the fancy jars before.)

In order to build Maille’s presence in the U.S., the brand needed a domestic mustard expert, and Collins was tapped for the role.

“I spent time with the mustard sommelier we had on staff and learned from him the proper techniques of eating mustard, of preparation, the different styles, the different seeds, the history of [Maille] and of mustard itself,” Collins says. “The predecessor was very picky about who he was going to bestow the title to…I fell in love with mustard. About three years into my training, I was actually able to start utilizing what I’d learned.”

Collins also serves as something of a mustard ambassador, sharing what he’s learned with chefs and the general public to build an appreciation for this mighty condiment.

“As I became a mustard sommelier for Maille, I was also becoming an expert across the category,” says Collins. “I’m not only going to speak about Maille or Dijon when I talk about brands, though I probably hold Dijon dearest myself, because to me it’s the superior of all mustards.”

“I get way too excited about mustard,” he adds. (Hey, if you’re going to be a sommelier, having an infectious enthusiasm doesn’t hurt.)

The Best Ways to Use Mustard

Because there are so many varieties and brands of mustard, choosing the right one depends on what you’re making—so it helps to have plenty of options on hand.

“Currently, at home, I have probably 14 different mustards,” Collins says. “A dill pickle mustard from Terrapin Ridge Farms, Colman’s Mustard, four or five different Mailles in my fridge. There’s a pineapple mustard from Hawaii that’s absolutely killer, with a Dijon base.”

For the typical backyard cookout, he says, a classic yellow mustard like French’s will work great. Its high turmeric and vinegar content plays well against salty meats like hot dogs and hamburgers. Incorporating it into a recipe, however, isn’t ideal, as its high acidity level can overpower the other ingredients. In those cases, it might be better to try Dijon, which Collins refers to as the true “workhorse” mustard because its slightly mellower flavors complement a wider variety of dishes.

Don’t forget about whole-grain mustards, which are ideal for charcuterie boards. It’s also “absolutely killer” on top of smoked salmon, Collins says.

What’s the most unexpected use for mustard?

As a sommelier, Collins has a wide range of recommendations—some of which even the biggest mustard fans might never have heard of before.

“I’m a huge proponent of this: After doing a bunch of research, I realized that mustard reacts with chocolate the same way that espresso does,” Collins says. “So whenever you have a chocolate cake recipe that calls for instant espresso powder, and you don’t have any… add a little Dijon mustard to your brownie mix or to your cake mix. It enhances that chocolate flavor, but it doesn’t taste like mustard. You’re just going to have a chocolate brownie that tastes really good.”

And if you thought chocolate mustard brownies were the only dessert-oriented suggestion, you’d be wrong.

“Whenever you’re talking about grainy mustards and similarly textural things, I tend to put them on top of premium, high-fat vanilla ice cream, because it adds a cool texture and complements the sweetness,” Collins says. “That tends to be a little bit more of a stretch for some people, but it’s more or less the same as drizzling olive oil on top of ice cream.”

Even if these suggestions haven’t made you want a Dijon brownie, the variety and versatility of mustard is undeniable, and it’s unsurprising that someone could make a whole career out of learning more about it.

Perhaps mustard’s greatest attribute, according to Collins, is that it’s “so much better than ketchup.” Chicagoans who are passionate about their regional hot dogs certainly understand what he’s talking about.

What’s the best mustard for people who hate mustard?

Many people who don’t like mustard might have tried an assertive yellow variety once and been put off forever. To convince the mustard skeptics, Collins recommends spreading Dijon on a sandwich along with some mayo to diffuse its flavor profile.

Alternatively, people on the fence about this condiment can opt for a honey mustard, as long as it’s a brand that’s not too cloyingly sweet. From there, a mustard newbie can decide to work their way up to the stronger flavors, like spicy horseradish and Chinese-style hot mustard.

The post Meet North America’s Only Mustard Sommelier—Yes, It’s a Real Job appeared first on Taste Recipes.

What is Netflix’s new restaurant?

Netflix Bites, located inside the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino, is a new collaboration between MGM and the world’s largest streaming service. The restaurant features a menu inspired by Netflix’s original series and films, including Bridgerton, Squid Game and Stranger Things, among many others. It’s billed as a quasi pop-up; the press release describes the opening as the start of a “one-year culinary residency.” (It’s got the hang of the Vegas lingo already.)

The new concept expands on the Netflix restaurant launched in 2023. That iteration of Netlix Bites was a Los Angeles-based pop-up, and its menu was crafted by the celebrity chefs whose shows lived on Netflix’s platform. It was good synergy, but perhaps the inherently gimmicky nature of the restaurant will feel even more at home in Las Vegas.

What’s on the menu?

Since the idea of a Netflix restaurant is already stunt-driven, the menu itself is in on the joke. Take, for example, a lava cake dessert inspired by the Netflix show Floor Is Lava, whose name is “The Dessert Is Lava.” Or the “Netflix & Chil-aquiles,” a breakfast entree that takes its name from a suggestive date night idea.

Beyond wordplay, there are dishes that reward fandom of a particular film or series with more deep-cut references, such as “Eleven’s Feast,” a meal that combines some of the Stranger Things character’s favorite foods (including fried chicken and waffles), or the Dalgona Rum Buzz cocktail, “needle not included,” referring to the candy featured in a nail-biting challenge from Squid Game.

Like the Netflix streaming catalog, the menu for this restaurant is almost inconceivably massive. Offerings include breakfast, lunch, shareable apps, pizzas (Surfer Boy, of course), desserts, VIP cocktails, seasonal cocktails and even a full multi-course Bridgerton-inspired Regency tea service. Here are some other highlights:

• Orange is the New Mac: Mac and cheese dusted with Hot Cheetos, “To honor our favorite ladies who make orange look so stylish.”
• Too Hot to Handle: A bloody Mary that lives up to its name with plenty of cayenne and a habanero-infused vodka.
• WWE Smashburger: This is an Oklahoma-style onion burger, which is a must-try for anyone who isn’t on a date.
• Red Bite, Green Bite: A gamified Squid Game experience that invites guests to spin a wheel to determine how spicy their chicken dipping sauces will be.
• Selling Caesar Salad: This is essentially a Caesar salad with bacon on it, but props must be given for what is probably the biggest stretch of wordplay on the entire menu.

How can I eat at Netflix Bites?

Netflix Bites is currently open for walk-ins and reservations, so Las Vegas visitors can build a trip around this tasty marketing stunt.

The restaurant is open every day. Breakfast and lunch run from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., and dinner runs from 5 to 10 p.m. (on Friday and Saturday, it’s open until midnight). Dishes range from $15-$85, and cocktails start at $18, so consider putting it all on The Oppenheim Group’s tab.

The post Netflix Just Opened a Restaurant—and These Menu Items Are a Must-Try appeared first on Taste Recipes.

Fans will be in her debt once again, because she leaked the secret ingredient for perfect mac and cheese.

What is Martha’s secret ingredient?

In this Instagram reel of a TV clip, she reveals that the secret ingredient for perfect mac and cheese is tomato paste, which most of us have never thought to add. The tip comes from her mother, Martha Kostyra, aka “Big Martha.” The culinary matriarch made several appearances in her daughter’s shows before she passed away in 2007.

In the clip, we see that her mac and cheese recipe contains 4 tablespoons of tomato paste, added to the milk right at the start. Once the tomato paste is whisked with the milk and spices over medium-low heat, the cheese (a combo of cheddar and Swiss) is added to create the sauce—no roux required.

You know tomatoes and dairy work well together—think of a grilled cheese with a fat slice of tomato or a creamy pasta bake with cherry tomatoes and feta. The reason they’re so complementary is that dairy has a primarily fatty, savory flavor while tomato (which is a fruit, after all) adds a balancing acidity and brightness. The slight sweetness of the concentrated tomato paste helps cut through the richness of a pan of mac and cheese, lending more complexity to the final dish.

What else makes Martha’s mac and cheese special?

You can find Martha’s family recipe on her website. In addition to the tomato paste, the recipe also calls for 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper to add the slightest bit of heat, much as the tomato paste adds that welcome acidity. (You may have noticed, Big Martha says on the show that she doesn’t use cayenne in her recipe. That ingredient still shows up in what Martha Stewart’s website calls “Mrs. Kostyra’s Mac and Cheese.”) Instead of bread crumbs, Martha simply tops the dish with a few dots of butter, and she likes to add plenty of black pepper as well.

There’s one more unconventional ingredient in this recipe: sour cream, for serving. You know, in case there’s not enough dairy on the plate already!

The post This Is Martha Stewart’s Secret Ingredient for a Perfect Mac and Cheese appeared first on Taste Recipes.

What is the KitchenAid Color of the Year?

The KitchenAid Color of the Year for 2025 is Butter, a soft yellow shade intended to be comforting and reminiscent of baking—which is fitting, since the stand mixer is synonymous with creating homemade baked goods. While a brighter, more vibrant yellow might come off as loud, this milder shade with a satin finish is instead described as “energizing.”

“Whether it’s butter boards or butter candle appetizers, the 2025 KitchenAid Color of the Year spreads warm flavors and cherished memories to the table, creating a heartwarming atmosphere,” the brand says of its new hue.

Butter, by the way, is hardly the only KitchenAid Color of the Year that takes its cue from food. Other recent selections include Honey (2021), Beetroot (2022) and Blue Salt (2024). The third, by the way, was “inspired by the way a pinch of salt can open your senses to new depths of flavor,” according to the KitchenAid website. (All of the Color of the Year press releases are similarly poetic: In 2018, the Bird of Paradise color was described as a shade that “ignites one’s desire to be free.”)

Where do I find it?

KitchenAid’s new Butter color will grace the Artisan Series 5-Quart Tilt-Head Stand Mixer, which has an MSRP of $499.99 and will be available online at KitchenAid.com and through Williams-Sonoma. If you’re on the fence, here’s our KitchenAid stand mixer review by Josh Rink, Taste Recipes culinary producer and former pastry chef.

You can also compare and contrast every stand mixer model using the handy chart on the KitchenAid website. The Artisan Series is available in a wide variety of colors—39 possible shades, to be exact—while the Classic, for example, is only available in two. It also has a larger mixing bowl capacity of 5 quarts.

How long will it be available?

KitchenAid’s Color of The Year options are not a limited-time offering, and will remain available as part of the Artisan model’s color portfolio.

Given this map of the most popular KitchenAid colors by state, we’ll be interested to know how the Butter shade performs relative to past releases. It’s a color that will undeniably draw the eye to your countertop, and in today’s kitchens of gleaming white quartz and subway tile backsplashes, it will provide a welcome pop of sunshine.

The post KitchenAid Just Revealed Its Color of the Year—and No One Saw This Coming appeared first on Taste Recipes.

Right now, though, things are bad at Waffle House. Not even one of the oldest chain restaurants in America can withstand shifting market forces. For the foreseeable future, the restaurant will add a surcharge to every egg it sells.

Why is Waffle House charging more for eggs?

The Associated Press reports that starting this week, Waffle House has enacted a temporary surcharge on all egg orders—an additional 50 cents per egg.

Users on Bluesky and other social media outlets shared images of the new sticker placed on the Waffle House menu alerting customers to the price hike: “Due to the nationwide rise in cost of eggs, we’ve added a temporary 50¢ per egg surcharge,” reads the menu notice.

That nationwide rise in egg costs is one that American shoppers feel at the grocery store, too. The AP notes that the average cost of a dozen eggs hit $4.15 in December and is expected to rise by a whopping 20% in 2025. The prices reflect a general egg shortage, one that has caused some grocery chains to limit shoppers to only two or three dozen eggs per trip.

This shortage and resulting price hike are the result of an ongoing bird flu outbreak. While birds of all kinds are affected, the close quarters on chicken farms cause diseases to spread rapidly, forcing farmers to cull their egg-laying flocks.

When will Waffle House stop charging extra for eggs?

“While we hope these price fluctuations will be short-lived we cannot predict how long this shortage will last,” the company told the Associated Press. The surcharge could be adjusted, or removed entirely, if market conditions change, but there’s no indication that things will take a favorable turn in the near future.

Said one Reddit user about the surcharge, “Since they started this trend, I’m sure all restaurant chains will follow this.” That could mean markups on Egg McMuffins and other fast-food breakfast sandwiches.

The post Waffle House Just Put a Surcharge on Every Egg It Sells appeared first on Taste Recipes.

The same goes for your kitchen towels. You might spread germs with your dish towels every time you clean up.

What makes dish towels so dirty?

The abosrbency that makes kitchen towels effective is the same factor that makes them hazardous, holding in all the dampness and creating conditions for harmful bacteria to spread. If you use the same towel to dry your hands that you use to dry your dishes, you’re only compounding the issue, increasing the likelihood of fostering salmonella, E. coli and staph.

This 2015 study from Kansas State University observed subjects moving through the kitchen and found that towels were “the most contaminated of all the contact surfaces tested.” When we clean up the kitchen, those towels pick up contaminants. Then, when we wash our hands and dry them on the same towel, we transfer those contaminants back onto ourselves. The reverse is also true, where our nasty hands (and fingernails!) transfer gunk to our clean dishes via the towel used to dry them. Either way, not great.

How do I keep separate towels straight?

The issue of cross-contamination has an easy fix: Dedicate one towel in the kitchen to hands, one to dishes and one to countertops.  America’s Test Kitchen recommends a simple color-coding system so that everyone in the household knows which towel is for which purpose.

Even once everyone in the house learns to keep the different towels straight, that alone won’t keep your kitchen sanitary. You’ll also need to wash all the towels frequently enough to combat the spread of germs.

How do I clean dish towels?

Wash your dish towels and hand towels every day or every few days, depending on how much cooking you do and how much foot traffic your kitchen sees. Towels should be washed in hot water to kill any bacteria lurking in the fabric. Remove the towels from the washing machine promptly and send them through the dryer. Make sure they’re completely dry when removed because if they’re still damp, they’re more likely to foster bacteria. After using a towel while cooking, hang it somewhere that air can circulate and dry it fully. Folding it up or leaving it crumpled on the counter will keep it damp and more hazardous.

The Kansas State University study also noted another troubling kitchen habit: using our phones while cooking. Since our phones go with us just about everywhere, they, too, should be sanitized before using them to consult dinner recipes.

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Grapes

My aunt used to microwave grapes because she had sensitive teeth, but there are dire warnings against this practice all over the internet. Any food with a high water content carries a certain amount of danger in the microwave, since water can quickly come to a boil and scald bare skin—but grapes take it to a whole other level. The heated fruit creates sparks from the excitation of molecules caused by the microwaves. The structure and small size of grapes also create the conditions for molten plasma to form, which, on top of being a dangerous substance in itself, can also ruin your microwave. If you don’t want cold grapes, try them at room temp before wreaking havoc in the kitchen.

Fish

Fish can technically be cooked in the microwave, but you have to take special care. Don’t just plop a fillet on a plate and hope for the best.

Oddly, an easy tutorial for the best method can be found from Stephen King’s social media, where he posted these instructions a few years ago: “Dinner: Get a nice salmon filet at the supermarket, not too big. Put some olive oil and lemon juice on it. Wrap it in damp paper towels. Nuke it in the microwave for 3 minutes or so. Eat it.”

Having followed his instructions, I can attest that the damp paper towels, combined with the olive oil, ensured the cook was just fine—the fish stayed tender from the steamy heat rather than becoming tough and dry.

Chicken Wings or Ribs

Bone-in meat has a distinct advantage over its more easy-to-eat counterparts, and that’s the fact that the bone itself retains heat well. (That’s why chicken wings are such a common takeout and delivery offering.) That advantage also makes them tough to microwave, because the bone will cause microwave heat to distribute unevenly.

If you’re able, slice the protein off the bone and microwave on medium so you don’t dry it out. You still need to make sure the internal temperature is in a safe range, because harmful bacteria can form in any cold spots; use a meat thermometer once it’s out of the microwave.

Kale

Kale can “arc,” or spark, in the microwave. NPR dives into into the physics of this phenomenon, but suffice it to say that kale’s unique structure, and its ability to retain iron from the soil in which it’s grown, can turn it into something like a lightning rod inside your microwave. That, by extension, can cause a power surge in the rest of your home. This can also happen with carrots, peppers and green beans, depending on their iron content and how they’re sliced and arranged in the microwave.

Fried Food

The only foolproof way to enjoy the satisfying, crispy crunch of fried chicken or french fries is to eat them within an hour of their exit from the fryer. If you’ve got leftovers to contend with, use the slower, outward-in heat of the stove, oven or air fryer instead of the microwave. Even the best microwaves can’t keep the fried exterior crispy. Most chefs don’t recommend even attempting to recapture the magic of first-day fried food. Luckily, fried chicken tastes just as good cold.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service has a helpful FAQ all about microwave cooking, detailing how to cook certain foods, how to ensure food safety at different wattages and which items don’t belong in a microwave oven.

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It seems that a new TikTok trend emerges at least once a week. The latest home accessory to be caught up in a rapturous TikTok trend: candle warmer lamps. This style of candle warmer is a tiny lamp with a fixed plate underneath. When a candle is placed on the plate, the concentrated heat from the bulb melts the wax and distributes the scent around the room without having to light the candle.

There have long been candle warmers with a heated plate rather than a lamp, but the latter offers an opportunity to further design one’s space, so it’s also a stylish accent piece. Now, candle warmer lamps are a stylish…kitchen tool?

In a recent TikTok video, creator @nataliemarceta fills a bowl with Hu Dark Chocolate Gems and a Lindt bar, then places the bowl on the base of a candle warmer lamp. Once the chocolate melts, she dips strawberries into the bowl for a tasty shortcut to chocolate-covered strawberries.

Is this a good way to melt chocolate?

On one hand, using the ambient heat from the candle-warming bulb to slowly melt down chocolate is undeniably clever. TikTok creator @bekmarsden tried melting chocolate after claiming to have seen other people using the warmers to create queso dip, and the platform is replete with different culinary applications. The thing is, there are many different ways to melt chocolate that don’t involve using small appliances in ways they’re not tested or intended for. At the very least, anyone using a candle warmer to heat food should make sure they use the proper type of heatproof bowl.

Besides, are that many people more likely to have a candle warmer on hand than, say, a slow cooker, a hot plate or a mini fondue pot? And more often than not, a treat like chocolate-dipped strawberries or chocolate-covered Oreos is preferably served once the chocolate covering has set—in which case, it’s not necessary to keep the chocolate at a liquid state for any longer than it takes to dip the fruit or cookies. Melting, then, is as easy as turning to the microwave or the stove.

Remember, the word “hack” implies that there’s a secret, better way of doing something. This TikTok trend, meanwhile, is more about flair than genuine utility. The population of bakers who 1) own the right kind of candle warmer for this to work, 2) don’t have alternative means of melting chocolate and 3) require melted chocolate to stay melted for a prolonged period of time is surely narrow enough that this method isn’t worth changing the way you make chocolate confections.

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What is sumo citrus?

It’s a fruit that was originally cultivated in Japan in the 1970s, where it was called the Dekopan. It arrived in the United States in 1998, but since produce can take a long time to scale and prepare for mass distribution, it didn’t become available in U.S. supermarkets until 2011. Here, it’s known as sumo citrus, so named because the fruit has the “top knot” of a sumo wrestler.

It’s a bumpy, wrinkly variety of citrus, looking generally disheveled (in a charming way). Ever since its introduction here nearly 15 years ago, it’s enjoyed a steady uptick in popularity as its availability expanded from Whole Foods to other national retailers, occasionally going viral online as people eagerly share what they love about sumo citrus.

One big reason they’re so beloved is the flavor. Compared to some tart varieties of orange, these are super sweet. They’re also easy to peel, and they’re cultivated to be both seedless and juicy. Enthusiasts note that the fruits with the most prominent “top knot” and a slight give when squeezed will be the ripest and most delicious.

Citrus researcher David Karp told The Guardian that the distinctive look of sumos has helped make the fruit a phenomenon—they’re instantly recognizable even to the casual fruit consumer, and they stand out among the more spherical offerings at the grocery store.

When is sumo citrus season?

In Japan, the Dekopan is in peak season from December to February. In North America, the season runs from January to April.

Redditors excitedly herald the return of sumo citrus to Trader Joe’s each year despite the high price point. The Sumo Citrus company readily admits that sumo citrus costs more than other oranges. “Despite its rugged appearance, this delicate fruit requires far more expertise and gentle handling than any other piece of citrus,” reads the website’s FAQ. “Even the trailers used to transport Sumo Citrus are designed to use special airbags that avoid jarring or bumping the fruit and give it a smooth and safe ride to your local store.”

That level of dedication results in a flavor customers love—customers who will buy up the whole supply at your grocery store if you don’t get there first!

The post Sumo Citrus Just Appeared In Your Grocery Store—Here’s Why appeared first on Taste Recipes.

Can you overcook mushrooms?

Not really. Whether you cook with portobellos, shiitakes, chanterelles or any other kind of mushroom, fungi are tough to mess up. You can steam, roast or sautee ‘shrooms for long periods of time without them toughening up or drying out. If mushrooms are stored properly before cooking, the final texture won’t end up all that far from where it started.

America’s Test Kitchen explored this phenomenon by steaming a piece of beef, a chunk of zucchini and a slice of mushroom in a Dutch oven for 45 minutes. The zucchini became an overcooked pile of mush, while the beef was tough, dry and gray. The mushroom remained perfectly tender.

This is because of the unique structure of fungi, explains America’s Test Kitchen. Mushroom cell walls are composed of chitin, a polysaccharide that can withstand a lot of heat. (This compound can also be found in the exoskeletons of insects and crustaceans to give a sense of how resilient it is.) The chitin content of mushrooms means they can be cooked for a long time without breaking down like other foods do.

What’s the best way to cook mushrooms?

Nearly all mushroom recipes are user-friendly. Stuffed mushrooms are a particularly great introductory recipe, though. Separate the stem from the cap and fill the cavity with a mixture of meat, bread crumbs, herbs and cheese. Brush the tops with melted butter before baking. Just be careful when cooking—while a mushroom is hard to overcook, you don’t want to end up with singed bread crumbs!

The post It’s Nearly Impossible to Overcook Mushrooms—Here’s Why appeared first on Taste Recipes.

“I am often asked: What is your favorite food? Although I always answer Japanese, the real response should be and is pierogi, the delectable Polish dumplings that my mother, Big Martha, made so well in many incarnations: potato, cabbage, blueberry, peach, plum and apricot,” Martha says on Instagram.

That recipe has one unexpected ingredient that can’t be skipped.

What is Martha’s secret ingredient?

It’s brown butter. Traditional pierogi are filled with potato and cheese, then are cooked in boiling water and served with salt and melted butter. Using brown butter instead of plain melted butter lends rich, toasty notes that elevate the humble dumplings. In her recipe for Pierogi with Potato Filling and Brown Butter, the brown butter is treated like a finishing sauce, drizzled over the cooked dumplings to add flavor.

Like Martha says, you don’t have to eat all the butter. It has a functional purpose, too: It keeps the steamy, starchy pierogi from sticking together.

How do you make brown butter?

It sounds like an elegant upgrade, but it’s not hard to execute. Just melt unsalted butter in a saucepan over low or medium heat, stirring gently with a rubber spatula or whisk. The butter will take on a progressively darker hue and then turn golden brown. This happens because the milk solids separate from the butterfat and begin to toast.

All those toasty bits add flavor, so while you’re welcome to strain them out before serving, it’s often beneficial to leave them in. Besides, when incorporating brown butter into something like chocolate chip cookie dough, the brown speckles are less visible in the final product anyway.

Next Up: What I Can’t Stop Thinking About After Watching Martha Stewart’s Documentary

The post This Is Martha Stewart’s Secret All-Time Favorite Food appeared first on Taste Recipes.

Not much, in fact. Though Deadline announced the project in April of 2024, no substantive updates about With Love, Meghan surfaced until last week, when the trailer dropped. Anyone keeping track of Meghan’s assorted ventures was surely expecting her next announcement to relate to American Riviera Orchard, her lifestyle brand announced in March 2024 but about which no further information has been provided since.

With Love, Meghan will consist of eight episodes, all of which will drop at once on January 15. Created by Archewell Productions—the media company owned by Meghan and her royal husband, Price Harry—it’s the first Meghan-led nonfiction media project since her podcast, Archetypes, which ran for 12 episodes before Archewell and Spotify announced their split in 2023.

What is Meghan’s new Netflix series about?

Netflix describes the series as one in which “Meghan reveals how even the most minute details can help add beauty to our lives and, most importantly, help bring people together.” This is underscored by the trailer, which depicts Meghan drizzling olive oil onto hummus, arranging berries on a cake and inspecting hydrangeas.

“We join Meghan in the kitchen, garden—and even at the beehive—as she prepares to host friends both old and new,” reads the press release in part. For anyone eager to get a glimpse of Meghan’s Montecito lifestyle, it’s worth noting in advance that the series is not filmed at Meghan’s real house, but rather this $8 million farmhouse. It’s an understandable production decision that preserves Meghan and Harry’s privacy, but one that diminishes the series’ apparent desire to convey authenticity.

Using the trailer alone as our guide, it’s hard to pin down what we can expect to take away from this series. With its high production value, bathing all the fruits of California in a golden glow, perhaps it doesn’t need to serve any loftier purpose. It’s soothing to look at, aspirational content for the home chef or entertainer. Who doesn’t want to carry an elegant wicker basket through a backyard garden?

Who appears in the trailer?

“I’m going to share some little tips and tricks,” Meghan says in the trailer, implying that each episode will contain some degree of instruction. Since guests include Roy Choi, Alice Waters and “additional acclaimed chefs and special friends,” we can hope these experts will share with us and Meghan what they know about home entertaining.

Entertainer Mindy Kaling and actress Abigail Spencer (Meghan’s former Suits costar) can also be seen in the trailer, as well as Delfina Blaquier, whose polo-player husband was featured in Prince Harry’s 2024 Netflix series Polo. Other Southern California entrepreneurs, various associates and some tight friends, like Meghan’s Suits makeup artist Daniel Martin, round out the cast.

Prince Harry can be seen at the tail end of the trailer as well, embracing his wife with what looks like a mimosa in hand.

“We’re not in the pursuit of perfection—we’re in the pursuit of joy,” says Meghan’s voiceover in the trailer. But the only real imperfection that can be seen is when Meghan accidentally sends a bit of lemon juice spurting out the side of her citrus squeezer. If “love is in the details,” as this series insists, then hopefully at least a few of those details will be real, honest and imperfect.

The post This Is Everything We Know About Netflix’s ‘With Love, Meghan’ appeared first on Taste Recipes.

Fans of the Chick-fil-A Key Lime Frosted Lemonade should take advantage now!

What is Chick-fil-A’s Frosted Lemonade?

January additions to the Chick-fil-A menu include Key Lime Lemonade and Key Lime Frosted Lemonade. The Key lime flavor is offered in addition to the classic Lemonade and Frosted Lemonade, which are available year-round.

Chick-fil-A describes its Key lime flavor as a “delightfully sour and refreshing” option. For folks who have never had a Frosted Lemonade, heads up: It isn’t like frozen lemonade, which uses ice to create a slushy texture. Instead, Chick-fil-A combines its lemonade with Icedream frozen dessert. (Icedream, like other fast-food ice cream treats, can’t technically be called “ice cream.” It lacks the minimum butterfat percentage to qualify for that designation.)

When will the Key lime beverages be available?

Chick-fil-A plans to drop the Key Lime Lemonade, Key Lime Frosted Lemonade and Grilled Spicy Deluxe Sandwich on January 7.

Bringing a bright, tropical flavor to the menu at the start of the new year seems to be a winning strategy for Chick-fil-A. If you remember, the chain kicked off 2024 with the return of its Mango Passion Sunjoy drinks. Starbucks is doing something similar with its Cran-Merry Orange Refresher right now, too. Despite the cold weather, many consumers prefer iced drinks year-round.

How long will they be available?

While the press release notes that the Key Lime beverages will be around for a “limited time,” last year’s Mango Passion lineup apparently stuck around until March in some markets, with the spring lineup announced in April. However, since these offers are often only available “while supplies last,” your best bet is to arrive soon after launch.

The post Chick-fil-A Will Bring Back Its Most Popular Frosted Lemonade Flavor appeared first on Taste Recipes.

What is jadeite?

Real jade is a naturally occurring green mineral found primarily in Southeast Asia. It’s prized for its color and often used in jewelry. The dishes, meanwhile, are made of tinted milk glass and named for their green shade.

The MSU Campus Archaeology Program explains that starting around 1930, jadeite dishware was produced by three companies: McKee Glass, Jeannette Glass Company and Anchor Hocking. The latter’s “Jadeite Fire King” line rose to prominence in the 1940s, because it didn’t contain uranium glass like earlier iterations. Martha Stewart’s collection is centered on Jadeite Fire King.

As noted on the official Martha Stewart Instagram account, Stewart’s daughter Alexis began collecting this dishware herself around 20 years ago, and much of that collection has since made its way to Stewart’s home in Maine. By displaying the pieces on her TV shows over the years, Stewart has sparked renewed public interest in jadeite. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, she even sold a line of Martha’s Green Glass through her Martha By Mail catalog, which featured a lighter tint and more color variation than the opaque, consistent Fire King designs.

Like vintage Pyrex, these jadeite dishes are sturdy and durable. Their popularity is such that vintage pieces can sell for hundreds of dollars on the secondary market, and even lookalikes get ink spilled about them as outlets compare the knockoffs to Stewart’s preferred jadeite. Such is the power of a Martha Stewart endorsement!

Where do you find jadeite pieces?

Anyone looking to start a jadeite collection of their own will find plenty of modern-day reproductions at virtually every home goods store; Joanna Gaines’ Hearth & Hand brand, for example, released a jadeite line at Target a few years ago. If only vintage would do; however, the treasure hunt will take a bit more legwork.

Secondhand stores, thrift shops, garage sales and estate sales are all excellent places to look for antique dishware, as are online sources like eBay, Etsy and Facebook Marketplace. The Martha Stewart website has a nice guide to jadeite and offers a snapshot of what’s out there, from citrus reamers to salt and pepper shakers.

How much is jadeite worth?

One factor that influences the price is whether the jadeite was produced with uranium, a practice that ended during WWII rationing. Uranium glass glows with fluorescence under UV light, making it easy to determine the genuine article.

On eBay, the most expensive jadeite items sell for hundreds of dollars. Prices depend on the number of pieces within the lot, the condition of the included items and the rarity of the pattern. A Fire King jadeite dinner plate might go for $45, while a single vintage spherical ball pitcher can sell for $200 to $400.

Crowdsourcing outlets like Reddit can be useful for determining whether a piece is authentic and what its value might be. Reddit is also where folks can show off their hand-me-down family heirloom collections, so be prepared to grow jade green with envy.

The post This Is the Most Impressive Thing Martha Stewart Collects appeared first on Taste Recipes.

Building on that success, the world’s largest fast-food chain is experimenting with all kinds of ways to reassure spend-weary customers—which is why, for a limited time, you can grab 10 Chicken McNuggets for just $1.

How do I get a 10-piece McNuggets for $1?

Right now, anyone who uses the McDonald’s app is entitled to an abundance of poultry. A 10-piece Chicken McNuggets costs only $1, provided users opt into the McDonald’s Rewards program. The offer is good until December 30, and customers can redeem the deal once per week until then. Assuming that “once per week” pertains to calendar weeks, anyone who acts fast can take advantage of the offer 3 times between now and the end of the year. That adds up to a lot of money saved, considering a typical 10-piece order of nuggets costs between $5 and $6 here in Chicago.

There’s another chickeny offer worth taking advantage of, too: When first-time Rewards members make an initial in-app purchase of $1 or more, they can add 10 Chicken McNuggets to their order for free. This offer, unlike the previous one, is a one-time thing.

See how McNuggets stack up against other fast-food chicken nuggets.

What is McDonald’s plan for 2025?

McDonald’s wants to keep drawing customers in with deals, rather than centering on promotional swag. To kick off 2025, the chain has announced McValue, a brand-new ordering platform that puts all the current promotions into one interface. This means that the app will show all national deals, special offers at your nearest location, in-app exclusives and a special “Buy One, Add One for $1” section of the menu where certain combinations of items are deeply discounted.

 That gamification of the ordering process makes the act of spending more pleasurable for consumers who have come to view it as a slog, and it entices larger ticket sizes, aka the amount ordered per customer—a crucial metric for any fast-food chain.

While the 10 McNuggets for $1 deal ends soon, McValue launches on January 7, meaning there’s hardly a moment in which McDonald’s won’t be beckoning. Between this and the Wendy’s Frosty Key Tag, a dollar might stretch a little further in 2025. A little.

The post McDonald’s Is Selling 10 Chicken McNuggets for $1 appeared first on Taste Recipes.

What are Sabrina Carpenter’s Christmas cookies?

To be fair, Sabrina Carpenter is probably not the first one to make these Christmas cookies, but a step-by-step TikTok video of Carpenter baking up a batch scored 10 million views and nearly 1 million likes.

@sabrinacarpenterwhich cookie u want santaaa

♬ A Nonsense Christmas – Sabrina Carpenter

These are standard chocolate chip cookies, with red and green M&M’s adding holiday flair. In fact, the steps appear identical to the standard chocolate chip cookie recipe, the one developed by Nestlé Toll House in 1939. Its appeal lies in its simplicity: The ingredients are minimal and commonplace (flour, butter, sugar, brown sugar, eggs, baking soda, salt, vanilla, chocolate chips) and the steps are foolproof. For example, although the recipe says to use softened butter, Carpenter appears to use mostly melted butter, and it doesn’t seem to affect the end result.

How do I make her Christmas cookie recipe?

Though the recipe is straightforward, Carpenter does make some savvy choices with her baking:

• Quality ingredients. The TikTok video shows King Arthur flour, beloved by home bakers, and since she’s starting with new, still sealed packages, the ingredients are probably at peak freshness. This is particularly important with something like brown sugar, which can dry out and clump up. (Here’s how to keep brown sugar soft.)
• Parchment paper. The Christmas cookies are rolled into tidy balls on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Parchment paper is an important baking tool, as it minimizes mess and keeps cookies from sticking to the pan.
• Holiday-themed serving tray. OK, this is hardly a requirement, but it heightens the overall effect of your Christmas cookies (and distracts from any less-than-perfect ones).

Making a batch of these Christmas treats takes less than half an hour, so it’s a worthwhile activity on a winter afternoon. Following Carpenter’s lead will result in some delicious holiday cookies, though it should be noted that having a cat supervise the process is purely optional.

The post You Too Can Make Sabrina Carpenter’s Easy (and Adorable) Christmas Cookies appeared first on Taste Recipes.

What butter does Martha Stewart use?

In an Instagram post prior to Thanksgiving, Martha can be seen posing with an entire kitchen island full of freshly baked pies, each one looking like it leapt from the pages of her magazine. “Total pies baked 35,” reads the caption. “Chocolate pecan, brown butter maple rum pecan , pumpkin phyllo , apple crumb , and cranberry!” She then goes on to list some impressive pie stats: two days of labor, 100 eggs, 25 pounds of flour and three ovens used to bake them all. But buried within the data points was an important product callout: “thirty pounds plugra butter.”

Plugrà is a European-style butter (it can’t be called “European butter” because it’s made in the United States, albeit using European techniques). It’s a high-quality product preferred by many cooks and bakers, and is the star of at least one restaurant menu. It’s regularly ranked as one of the very best butters for American home cooks, comes highly recommended by iconic chefs and is sold both salted and unsalted, depending on your needs.

Why use European butter for baking?

European and European-style butters have higher fat contents than the leading U.S. brands. A good rule of thumb, whether cooking or baking, is that fat equals flavor. This is one reason why margarine, which was once used liberally in mid-century cooking and baking, has mostly fallen out of favor: Its higher water content means less flavor is imparted to the final product.

While typical American butter has a milk fat content of 80% (the minimum required by USDA guidelines), U.S.-made Plugrà goes up to 82%, which is the minimum amount required for butter produced in the European Union. The EU stipulates that butter must have between 82% to 90% milk fat, so European home cooks (or Americans importing butter directly from Europe) can find even richer, creamier options. Plugrà is, meanwhile, widely available at leading U.S. grocery stores and is also within a more attainable price point, making it a great option for U.S. consumers.

Real European butter can have additional advantages, beyond butterfat content. It tends to be made in smaller batches. European cows are more likely to have been raised on pastures than fed commercial feed, which may influence the flavor of their milk. European butter can be made from cultured cream (which gives it a slight tang), and has a salt content that adds complexity to any dish.

With so much flavor and richness, it’s worth splurging on imported European butter on special occasions, like when you’re aiming to present your guests with true showstopper. The New York Times’ Wirecutter service recommends Isigny Sainte-Mère from northwestern France, highlighting its “cheesy” flavor. The brand also makes a cultured butter that offers “a sweet, dairy-rich flavor and a slight tang at the end.” This butter is available at select Whole Foods locations and at specialty markets.

However, if you’re short on time or don’t want to spend an eye-popping amount on butter, Plugrà is a fantastic option. After all, it’s good enough for Martha’s pies, so it ought to work just fine for the rest of us.

The post Martha Stewart Uses This Kind of Butter for Holiday Baking appeared first on Taste Recipes.

What causes the rainbow sheen on ham?

That metallic-looking rainbow that often appears on sliced deli meat is known as iridescence, a phenomenon in which changing your position to the object causes its colors to “shimmer” and shift.

You probably also encounter this whenever you see a bit of gasoline splashed onto wet pavement. In that example, the gasoline doesn’t mix with water, but sits on top of it, forming a thin floating layer of liquid that reflects light differently from the way the surface of water does. The rainbow coloring comes from the fact that different areas of the gasoline layer have different thicknesses, and each area reflects a different band of the white light spectrum (ROYGBIV!). To the human eye, this looks like the gasoline takes on many different colors at once.

The same can happen in deli meat, as a thin layer of fat or oil from the animal tissue can sit on the surface of our cold cuts and reflect light differently. Deli meat sliced from whole cuts of an animal is prepared by cutting against the grain of the tissue, leading to exposed, severed fibers that diffract the light and cause us to see rainbows. (This, by the way, is why you don’t see shiny bologna—those fibers have long since been emulsified by the time you eat a slice.)

Slate explains that these severed fibers only create a metallic sheen when the grooves between them are properly aligned to diffract light. This iridescence is more likely to occur in cooked or cured meat, like cold cuts, because the fibers are rendered firm in the cooking process. While other meats might undergo the same phenomenon, we tend to associate it most with ham and roast beef where the shiny reflections are most pronounced.

Does the rainbow color on deli meat mean it’s bad?

The presence of a metallic sheen on your ham or roast beef is nothing to worry about in and of itself; diffraction doesn’t make food any less safe. The USDA notes that “spoiled cooked beef would probably also be slimy or sticky and have an off-odor.” For best results, fresh sliced deli meat should be kept refrigerated at all times and used within three to five days.

The post If Your Ham Has a Rainbow Sheen, This Is Why appeared first on Taste Recipes.

In theory, anyone willing to do the legwork can achieve the success of vintage ornament collectors and flippers. You just need to find the right stores and consult the right guides. The thrill of the hunt counts for something, too! It might not even take a trip to the store—if you’re cleaning out your basement or attic, double-check any vintage Christmas decorations destined for the donation bin. You wouldn’t want to part with something worth hundreds of dollars!

Here are some ornaments that might be more valuable than you think.

The Most Valuable Christmas Ornaments

Dresden ornaments

These die-cut fiberboard ornaments might not seem valuable, since they lack the blown glass and bejeweled exterior of other collector’s items. But Dresden was one of the major brands to pop up in the early 20th century as mass-produced Christmas ornaments gained steam in the United States. They were a popular option for families with kids since they wouldn’t shatter if they fell off the tree. Though their cardboard-like material might sound dull, Dresdens boast a surprising level of detail and are often painted in sparkling metallics. The rarest vintage Dresdens sell for thousands of dollars on eBay.

Jay Strongwater ornaments

The benefit of scouting out Jay Strongwater ornaments in the wild is that they’re so distinctive and instantly identifiable. Their creator began in the luxury fashion and jewelry realm, so it makes sense that his ornaments are similarly striking. Metal, enamel and crystals create a unique visual signature. Strongwater ornaments come in hundreds of forms, but the animals often fetch the most at auction, netting $1,000 to $3,000 if they’re rare and/or pristine enough.

Christopher Radko ornaments

Since the 1980s, Radko ornaments have been treasured for the exquisite skill of the Polish artisans who produce them. Christopher Radko himself did not start off selling holiday trinkets; only after his family’s Christmas tree fell, shattering more than 2,000 heirlooms that hung from it, did he begin to source European glass ornaments to replace them and, later, to sell to American buyers. These days, Radko ornaments vary wildly in resale price, but there’s a cottage industry of flippers ready to tell you what each piece is worth. (Hint: Look for the Christmas tree shaped ring on top of the hanging cap and the attached golden tag with a starburst insignia.)

Gladys Boalt ornaments

Each Gladys Boalt ornament is completely handmade in the United States, featuring a soft doll-like figurine with a hand-painted face and hand-sewn clothing. That level of craftsmanship has made them popular since the early 1980s. On eBay, they often resell for over $100. Luckily, it’s easy to tell if you’re looking at a genuine Boalt, as each one is signed and dated (usually on the figure’s foot).

Kugel glass ornaments

These German blown-glass ornaments often resemble a bundle of grapes or a bumpy berry, or they take the form of simple but oversized baubles about 8 inches in diameter. Kugels can sell for hundreds of dollars if they’re in good condition. As Martha Stewart explains, their interior silver coating lends them a unique luster prized among collectors, reflecting the lights of a Christmas tree as few other ornaments can.

Star Trek/Star Wars ornaments

Not all of these will be rare and/or valuable, but it never hurts to keep an eye out for Star Trek or Star Wars holiday trinkets. Knowing that there’s a perennial fandom surrounding these sci-fi properties, brands like Hallmark often manufacture collector’s items with the scarcity built right in, limiting certain product runs to a few hundred pieces. If you find the right ones, you could net thousands of dollars at auction. A Jean Luc Picard collectible sold in September for $2,850, and multiple listings for a 2011 Star Wars ornament exclusive to San Diego Comic-Con have sold above $1,000 this year.

Anything with clips

These aren’t guaranteed to be rare finds, but you should keep an eye out for ornaments with a spring clip as opposed to a hanging cap. The advantage of seeking these out is that the clips tend to show their age a bit more, looking creaky or worn, thereby helping determine when something is truly vintage. Many German ornaments from the early 20th century were affixed to the tree with clips instead of hooks, and antique ornaments of German origin are among the most valuable to collectors.

How to Tell If an Ornament is Vintage

Verifying that an ornament is truly vintage will not always be as simple as checking a tag. Sometimes, antiques like Shiny-Brite are reissued by major retailers, and the modern versions carry none of the vintage value. But there are some tells. Fading, scratches and cracks often occur in blown glass ornaments of a certain age, their metal caps dulled by years of use. Antiques might use materials that are less common now, like a styrofoam core, spun cotton or large-grain mica coating for a texture that looks like snow. And while modern ornaments are crafted for durability, the mercury glass of a century ago was more brittle and fragile. The more vintage ornaments you scout out, the more you will be able to look past the claims of the seller and determine the true age of these Christmas collectibles.

The post 7 Vintage Christmas Ornaments to Look for at the Thrift Store appeared first on Taste Recipes.

The state of California recently passed a bill, scheduled to take effect in 2026, that bans ambiguous expiration labels on food packaging. From then on, “sell by” and “best before” will not be allowed to appear on the label.

We now see that happening at the federal level, as the FDA and USDA mull a change to expiration dates on food packaging.

Why are expiration dates so confusing?

There are many phrasings that get stamped on various food packages: “best by,” “best if used by,” “best before,” “sell by,” “use by” and so on. None of these mean the exact same thing—and none of them are regulated at the federal level. This understandably leads to confusion among consumers, who throw out food that’s still safe to eat past its sell-by date. Food waste has increasingly become an issue, not to mention all the money wasted on food that goes uneaten.

In California, the label “Best if Used By” will be required to indicate that the product will lose peak quality after the given date (but will likely still be safe/good to eat), and “Use By” will be the only label related to product safety after the given date. The term “Use By” will be the only label that amounts to an “expiration date” in the strictest sense.

California state representative Jacqui Irwin stated that this bill will be “a monumental step to keep money in the pockets of consumers while helping the environment and the planet.” Now, the federal government is on board, too.

Food Business News reports that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the U.S. Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) have issued a joint request for public feedback regarding food labeling. These agencies know that the current, relatively unregulated labeling system is confusing, but in order to potentially improve the situation, they have to know what’s tripping us up the most.

Right now, the recommendation from both FSIS and the FDA is for food manufacturers to voluntarily apply the “Best if Used By” label, “which notes the date after which quality may decline but the product may still be consumed.”

A 2019 study from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that “Best if Used By” is understood by most consumers to convey the quality of an item, and “Use By” is understood by a good proportion of consumers to convey the safety of an item. However, “many had different interpretations.” Whatever regulations are adopted, the public would need to be educated on the meaning of each label.

Comments can be submitted to the FSIS and the FDA at this portal from now until February 3, 2025.

How this change to food labels could help us

In June, the Biden-Harris administration released the National Strategy for Reducing Food Loss and Waste and Recycling Organics, aiming for a 50% reduction in food waste and food loss by 2030. Clarifying our food labels won’t get us all the way to that goal, but it would have a significant impact. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that the retail, food service and residential sectors wasted 66 million tons of food in 2019, with an additional 40 million tons of waste generated at the manufacturing level. Squeezing even a few extra days out of our grocery haul could keep food out of landfills—and keep us from wasting a chunk of our personal budgets.

The post The FDA Might Ban ‘Sell By’ Dates on Food Labels appeared first on Taste Recipes.

It’s the best way to save money all through 2025!

What is the Wendy’s Frosty Key Tag?

The tags are an annual Wendy’s tradition that went nationwide in 2014. For $3, customers can purchase a physical plastic key tag or a digital version that entitles the user to a free Jr. Frosty with purchase at any participating Wendy’s location. You’re limited to one Frosty per visit.

The tags are on sale now and can be purchased until February 16, 2025. No matter when you buy one, it’ll be good until December 31, 2025.

The free Frosty can be any available flavor, including the Salted Caramel Frosty, but can’t include any mix-ins, swirls or toppings. To be honest, those are three things I was unaware I could ever include in a Frosty, regardless of its cost. Have I been missing out on something?!

Though the fine print also stipulates that the Frosty is only free with purchase, this TikTok claims that some locations don’t enforce the rule, and key tag holders can, depending on the restaurant, claim a free Frosty without buying anything. But anyone who plans on buying fries to dunk into the Frosty needn’t worry about a thing.

How do I buy one?

The Frosty Key Tag can be purchased at the register in any participating Wendy’s restaurant or by going to the Wendy’s app. Proceeds fund the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, a nonprofit organization that helps connect children in foster care to adoptive families. (Wendy’s Halloween Boo Books also raised funds for this charity.)

The idea is that by making the tags so inexpensive, customers will buy a few—not only for themselves but also as stocking stuffers throughout the holidays. They can even be purchased in bulk, either at the Wendy’s register or online at the foundation’s website. For its part, Wendy’s doesn’t make any profit from the promotion.

The tags will only be available while supplies last, so it’s better to purchase them before the holiday rush. Here’s a tantalizing takeaway from the Frosty Key Tags FAQ page: While there’s a limit of one free Jr. Frosty per visit, that doesn’t mean you can’t make more than one visit per day. “After you use your digital Key Tag, it will be temporarily removed from your offers set,” the website reads. “But don’t worry. It will return in about an hour or so.” For the true Wendy’s devotee, this should come as welcome news…if you didn’t know all about it already!

The post This Wendy’s Key Tag Is Only $3—and It’s Good for Free Frostys All Year appeared first on Taste Recipes.

Not every restaurant concept made it through, though. Chi-Chi’s, a popular Tex-Mex chain founded in Minneapolis in 1975, didn’t end up thriving in the 21st century. But recently, CNN reported that Chi-Chi’s wants to reopen for business.

Is Chi-Chi’s coming back?

For many Americans, especially those in the Midwest, Chi-Chi’s was our first encounter with Tex-Mex cuisine. When it opened, the restaurant intended to capitalize on the public’s budding taste for Mexican flavors, and it even helped turn this craving from a nascent trend into an established part of the American culinary landscape.

The Midwest popularity of Chi-Chi’s led to an expansion nationwide and even overseas, yet the chain didn’t prove quite as popular elsewhere as it did in its original market. Part of that was because other areas of the country presented more competition in the Tex-Mex realm, not to mention the general rise in casual full-service competitors like Olive Garden. Chi-Chi’s declared bankruptcy in 2002 and has operated only a few scant international locations since 2004.

In 2024, there’s hope yet for diners who carry a torch for Chi-Chi’s. CNN’s reporting noted that Michael McDermott, son of Chi-Chi’s co-founder Marno McDermott, has requested permission from Hormel, current owner of the Chi-Chi’s brand, to use the name on new restaurants opening in 2025. Hormel has granted this permission, though specifics about the new restaurants have not yet been provided.

“We have seen the impact our restaurant has had on individuals and families across the country and believe there is a strong opportunity to bring the brand back in a way that resonates with today’s consumer,” McDermott said in a press release, describing the new venture as “an updated dining experience with the same great taste and Mexican flavor.”

When can I order Chi-Chi’s salsa again?

For fans of the brand, there’s one place it never went away—the grocery store. Hormel owns the Chi-Chi’s brand, so it can continue to sell salsas, tortillas, chips and queso under the restaurant’s name. While we wait for more details about the restaurants, we can still get a nostalgic taste of Chi-Chi’s food.

The post Chi-Chi’s Is About to Make a Comeback—Here’s What We Know appeared first on Taste Recipes.

Such was the case when Ronzoni Pastina was discontinued last year. But now, fans are rejoicing because the product is back on shelves!

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What is pastina?

The word pastina generally refers to any small pasta (that’s the literal translation from Italian). Ronzoni Pastina, which has long been a leading brand in the U.S., features small star-shaped pieces known as stelline. This pastina cooks quickly, appeals to young kids and makes a great addition to soups. Of all the pasta shapes that exist, stelline has to be the cutest.

In January 2023, Ronzoni posted a message to social media that read in part, “After extensive efforts, we regretfully announce that Ronzoni Pastina is being discontinued…our long-term supplier informed us that they would no longer be making Ronzoni Pastina as of January 2023.”

The public was understandably upset. Elegies were written, and more than 3,600 people signed a petition to save the product. That level of fan devotion might have worked, because Ronzoni Pastina has reappeared in grocery stores.

Where do I find it?

As Parade notes, Ronzoni Pastina fans are posting photos of themselves holding boxes of the precious pasta with captions confirming its return. One Instagram user even called it a “Christmas miracle.”

“We were previously unable to deliver Ronzoni Pastina,” reads an emailed statement from 8th Avenue Foods, owner of the Ronzoni brand. “However, our customers’ passion for our pastas continually inspires us to provide the shapes you enjoy. We understand how much Ronzoni Pastina means to our customers, and we’re excited to welcome it back to Ronzoni.”

The statement confirms that the pasta is an active part of the product line and that it is not a limited time re-release. There’s even a brand-new webpage heralding Pastina as a “beloved star.”

As for where to buy Ronzoni Pastina, availability varies by region and will depend on which stores choose to carry it. Using the store locator can help. If you don’t see it at your local grocery, 8th Avenue recommends speaking with store management about potentially stocking the product.

The post This Beloved Pasta Shape Will Return After a Year-Long Hiatus appeared first on Taste Recipes.