Most of us in America know this dish in its cream-based form, with a little nutmeg sprinkled on top. But did you know that the original fettuccine Alfredo sauce didn’t use cream? Just butter, Parmesan, and black pepper. Fettuccine Alfredo: A History The “Alfredo” in fettuccine Alfredo is Alfredo di Lelio who operated a restaurant in Rome. Legend has it that he fancied up a basic pasta with butter-and-cheese to appeal to his wife, who was suffering from morning sickness....

I’ve long been making a version of these pretty cookies, especially around the holidays. It was inspired by a dark, sticky gingerbread cake with warm lemon icing—something my mother makes for Christmas. This dessert combines ginger and lemon. The gingerbread cookies contain fresh ginger and molasses and have a soft, chewy texture. The buttery filling is bright and lemony with fresh lemon zest and juice. Tips for Making Tidy Sandwich Cookies The key to a professional-looking sandwich cookie is consistency....

This is a traditional St. Louis-style gooey butter cake. That means it has two layers. The bottom layer is a sweet yeasted cake and the top layer is an ultra-buttery batter that doesn’t fully set when baked—it becomes an almost pudding-like filling. Gear up for a treat that is about to become a staple in your household. Unproven Origins, Happy Outcome One rumor is that gooey butter cake is the happy accident of a St....

The farmed variety began appearing on American restaurant menus a in the early 2000s, when the European farming operations ramped up production. How To Tell if Branzino Is Fresh Branzino, which is the fish’s name in Northern Italy, generally runs about one pound each and is almost always sold whole and gutted. This is a good thing, since it’s far easier to discern whether a fish is fresh when it still has its eyes and gills....

Here is a variation of that classic theme, but using aged Gruyere Swiss cheese on dark rye bread, with added sauerkraut. Yum!

These spicy grilled jalapeño poppers are stuffed with an addictive mix of barbecue sauce, cheddar and cream cheese, and glazed bacon before being grilled until hot and bubbly. Video: How to Make BBQ Bacon Jalapeño Poppers The Best Jalapenos for This Recipe When you buy your jalapeno peppers, pick through the bunch and find medium- to large-sized ones that feel firm and have no signs of wrinkling. Also, here are some good tips on gauging the hotness of your peppers!...

This apple pie is my family’s most requested pie during the holidays. I usually make two of them so we can enjoy one for leftovers. Nothing better than pie for breakfast, right? What Are the Best Apples for Apple Pie? It’s best to use a mix of different types of apples in your pie. Some apple varieties cook up faster than others. Some cook up firm, some more soft; some apples are more tart, some more sweet....

The Secret to Homemade Applesauce The secret to my dad’s applesauce is that he adds a couple strips of lemon peel to the apples, as well as some lemon juice or apple cider vinegar, while they are cooking. The tartness of the lemon or vinegar serves to intensify the taste of the apples, and helps balance out the sweetness of the sauce. The result is a refreshing, utterly delicious applesauce....

Hot Dogs With a Kimchi Twist These Korean-style hot dogs are your basic grilled beef hot dog in a bun, but with a really special (and simple) spicy kimchi slaw and creamy sauce. The slaw features daikon radish, carrot, and kimchi – a mix that will taste familiar if you’ve eaten a lot of Korean food like bibimbap! The combination of crunchy slaw and the sweet, spicy, and creamy sauce really makes this hot dog something new and your friends will love it this summer....

Great news: Prepping mushrooms is not as finicky as you might expect. You don’t need to painstakingly clean every speck from every mushroom with a special brush. And they’re easy to chop, especially with a few tips. How to Clean Mushrooms In the wild, mushrooms grow in rotting organic material. Cultivated mushrooms grow in pasteurized organic material. So, don’t freak out about eating horse poop, even though some commercial growers use chicken and cow manure in their compost mix....

My mother raised 6 kids (all born within 8 years) on my dad’s teacher’s salary. Which means she is the master of efficiency in the kitchen. The Key To Making Juicy, Tender Flank Steak This is her favorite method of preparing flank steak! The trick is to put little knife pokes in the meat, breaking up some of the long muscle fibers. When I asked about the juices running out of the meat, it’s not really an issue as the meat is cooked rare, and whatever juices do come out get reduced in the pan and served over the meat....

If it’s your first time grilling produce, here’s what to know to get those sweet, smoky, caramelized results! Grilling Prep Here are a few things to know about grilling fruit and vegetables: Preheat the grill for 15 minutes. Like with proteins, a hot and properly pre-heated grill is essential. Preheat the grill on high heat for 15 minutes before grilling. This allows time for the grill’s grates to take on radiant heat from the grill’s heat source, which they will use to pass on to the fruits and vegetables....

Quietly walking closer to investigate, I found that the squirrel had climbed up one of my tall sunflower plants, the top of which was bending over due to the weight of the squirrel, who, clutching the plant stalk with his hind legs, now greedily was digging into the sunflower flower to eat the ripening seeds. Oh, where is the camera when you need it? By the time I had retrieved mine, the squirrel was already heading down the plant....

Thankfully, he can have eggs if they’re baked into something like a muffin or prepared pasta, but many of his friends can’t, so I’ve gotten good at tweaking baked goods to accommodate everyone at parties and get-togethers. The number one trick for replacing eggs in a baking recipe—but keeping many of the important properties that eggs contribute—is using a flax egg. What Is a Flax Egg? Flax eggs are a mixture of flaxseed meal (ground flaxseeds) and water....

What is this obviously plant fiber-based material that doesn’t shrivel up and burn in the oven? What is this quick-release ability, where cookies popped off instead of needing to be spatula-scooped? Sorcery! I thought. Or just parchment paper, my sister scoffed, before asking me what kind of food writer I was. (Again, not the baking kind, clearly.) But fortunately, I am the inquisitive, researching, nerdy kind, which is what brings me to our titular question: Is wax paper the same as parchment paper?...

Pumpkin is a winter squash that lends itself well to desserts because you can match its natural sweetness with brown sugar, maple syrup, honey, nuts, and warm baking spices. Seasonal baking spices like allspice, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg boost the pumpkin’s mellow flavor. You can add the spices individually or mix up a batch of Pumpkin Spice Blend to have on hand for all of your fall baking needs. Canned pumpkin provides an easy way to make your dessert, but you can also roast fresh pumpkin yourself and create the purée needed for these recipes....

Luckily, these kale and mushroom egg bites check all the boxes: they’re healthy yet delicious, simple to meal prep and reheat, and endlessly adaptable to whatever ingredients you have on hand. Meal Prep Made Simple The greatest part of this recipe is, hands down, how quick and easy these egg bites are to reheat on a busy morning. Their beginner-friendly cooking process comes in a very close second place. Meal prepping can be an incredibly daunting task—gathering a week’s worth of groceries, organizing them flawlessly, and then giving up hours of free time on an otherwise relaxing weekend afternoon isn’t for everyone....

Our refrigerator was filled with proofed dough that my mom learned to make. We had a meat slicer to cut the pepperoni, salami, and Canadian bacon, and the pizza sauce was house-made. At the end of a long day slinging pies, we fed ourselves with our own pizza. Although we served our customers a typical American menu of cheese, pepperoni, and combination pizzas, ours were topped with kimchi. I preferred mine with kimchi and Italian sausage....