“I love toast,” exclaims writer Rick Casner. And he loves his toast in A Very Particular Way: toasted, butter, and toasted again. What is your way?

The 2011 James Beard Award nominations were announced today at the Oregon Culinary Institute in Portland, OR. Congrats to all the happy nominees.

It requires culinary gymnastics and a degree in chemistry to create a military care package of brownies, as writer and baker Garrett McCord found out.

Le Marathon du Médoc, the boozy run through France’s Médoc region, attracts all kinds of runners and lushes. Our own Cynthia Furey recounts her maiden voyage.

Bluegrass Soy Sauce is a brew made the traditional Japanese way with one exception: It’s fermented in bourbon-infused oak barrel. A new southern comfort.

Pancake Day, Mardi Gras, Shrove Tuesday–they’re all about indulgence before Lent. So it’s time to haul out the butter, eggs, and milk and start cooking.

Wendy Costa’s whimsical tiles are hand-painted one-of-a-kind works of art. But these works are functional, as trivets, as well as decorative, as wall art.

Mafe, a West African stew, is what haunted Sean Timberlake’s reverie after an aunt introduced him to it. It took three decades to finally recreate it.

March 1 is Saint David’s Day, a Welsh holiday in which the devout tip their collective hat to the eponymous saint by wearing leek corsages.

Ever wonder why you can’t lose weight? It’s not for lack of resolve or willpower. It’s because some Roman king long ago decided to mess with the calendar.

Milkshakes, a passion of Adam Ried, proved troublesome to find and make after moving to Paris. It took a flaming adaptor for him to finally succeed.

Join us as Leite’s Culinaria turns twelve. And while you’re here, drop us a line as to what you enjoy most about LC.

This ain’t your childhood caramel sauce. Goat’s milk meets sugar as they’re slowly cooked down into a tangy, earthy, oomphy sauce. Booyah.

Pot obsession is what writer Ed Bruske faced when his wife fell for vintage Raymond Loewy designs. The result: a trip to France to fetch this fetching cookware.

Amy Krouse Rosenthal serves up some delightful, charming, and four-second-fast ways to show your love–with heart-shaped food. Sigh.

Love of words. It’s part and parcel of a writer’s soul. Writer Nora Maynard adopts a word–prandicle–and finds 1,001 uses for it in her everyday life.

Animal fat is good for you, says author and fat advocate Jennifer McLagan. She’s hell bent on converting fat-phobes into fat fanatics. Will you change?

What happens to Allison when her husband has to work every single Valentine’s Day at a restaurant? A lot of warmed-over mac & cheese, reading, and an early night.

Famed editor Judith Jones muses on the joys of cooking for one, since her husband passed. This Valentine’s Day the lucky one will be her Havenese puppy, Mabon.

Valentine’s Day becomes an excuse for two college couples to share the cost, work, and pleasure of a home-cooked dinner. Mousetraps and all.