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These macarons are sweet, tangy, and bursting with a freshly grated lemon zest flavor. It’s sure to brighten up anyone’s day! Macarons make for a super special treat to give as a gift or share for a special occasion. They look impressive and serve as beautiful dessert centerpieces for any celebration from brunch to afternoon tea. What is a French Macaron? A French macaron is an airy cookie that can be made in a wide variety of flavors and colors, which is one reason they are so popular....

The Secret to Tasty Potato Salad? Sour Cream The recipe couldn’t be easier. It’s just boiled new potatoes tossed with a dressing of sour cream, vinegar, green onions, fresh dill, salt and pepper. What’s surprising is how much mileage you get out of so few ingredients. The credit lies with the sour cream, which provides a perfectly tangy base for the potatoes. Many thanks to my friend Kathi for sharing this recipe with us....

These peanut butter fudge cookies never last long in our family due to the fact that everyone keeps sneaking into the kitchen to steal just one more. If you like peanut butter and chocolate you have got to try these. I am a big fan of peanut butter cookies, but add some chocolate and I am in heaven. See for yourself! There is no resisting this cookie! They are the perfect blend of peanut butter and melt-in-your-mouth fudge....

Not one to have torn up bread with it when one could easily make buttered croutons, I made some croutons for it as well. Okay, bacon, eggs, and buttered croutons and it counts as a salad? I inhaled it. Devour. Related Video

The school cafeteria served many things that one would never encounter in the states (natto spaghetti, for example), but one thing they did serve that I couldn’t get enough of was seared ahi tuna, prepared fresh to order. It was usually served with white rice, a little shoyu, some radish sprouts, a few slivers of nori, and some toasted sesame seeds. One ample serving may have cost as much as 200 yen (~$2) but I think it was probably less....

Always a huge hit with guests! The one ingredient that makes a surprising difference is the sliver of lemon peel on each piece of salmon. The added zing from the lemon peel perks up the salmon and completes each bite. Related Video

Oh, and then there is the bacon. If you’re part of the ‘everything goes better with bacon’ club, you won’t be able to resist this dish. Here are a few tricks that make poaching eggs stress-free. One, salt the water generously: the salt makes the eggs buoyant. About 10 seconds after you’ve dropped the eggs into the simmering water, drag a wooden spoon around the edge of the pot. It creates a gentle whirlpool and the eggs float freely instead of sticking to the bottom of the pot....

The squash, or syrup, in this drink is made from Seville oranges, which impart a sour and slightly bitter taste. The syrup gives a bittersweet flavor to the drink, making this squash mocktail a lively start to your meal! What Is an Aperitif? An aperitif is a pre-dinner drink, as opposed to a digestif (which is an after-dinner drink), and are thought to stimulate the appetite. Aperitifs are not sweet, nor are they very high in alcohol....

The Best Dough for This Pizza There are many different pizza dough recipes out there, but for my money (and time) I like No-Knead Pizza Dough. Generally, I’ll make it a day in advance so it has plenty of time to rise slowly. Then I take it out at least an hour before I’m ready to make pizza so it can come to room temperature. If you don’t want to bother with homemade dough, you can buy dough at most supermarkets these days, or if you have a local pizzeria, they will most likely sell you a few dough balls for a few bucks....

That wasn’t even ten years ago, but since then a multitude of accessories designed just for Instant Pots have popped up. Which ones are worth bothering with? I tried out a dozen, and here’s what I liked best. (And, before you go on an ordering spree, always check to see if the accessory is compatible with your model. These things are not always universal.) 1. Hadrigo Steamer Basket Accommodating everything from broccoli to tamales to beets, here’s the One Steamer to Rule Them All....

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Better yet, it’s super easy to whip up with pantry ingredients. Grab your blender—yes, blender—and get set for a pumpkin pie you’ll want to make again and again. No Eggs? No Problem Pumpkin pie is a custard pie, one that relies on eggs for a filling that holds its shape. There are a few options for replicating the body of an eggy custard without using eggs. For this pie, silken tofu is the secret ingredient....

So fast that I got caught once as a boy purloining several. When I proclaimed my innocence, mum noted the powdered sugar on my face. Busted. The Best Nuts to Use for Snowball Cookies We always made these cookies with walnuts, but pecans are also customary. While we always called these “nut balls,” I’ve seen similar cookies called Mexican wedding cookies and Russian tea cakes. No matter what you call them, these cookies are addictive....

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Goat cheese melts into the cream sauce to make it even creamier. The lemon juice brightens the sauce, and a glance of nutmeg adds a final note. Feel free to play around with this one! Swap out a different cheese, or experiment with different herbs like thyme or basil, or even add some heat with a few chili pepper flakes. Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper Reserve a half cup of the cooking water for adding back to the pasta if needed....

Cooking with cola or root beer is common, so we figured why not cook with Dr Pepper? Using soda as the base for a barbecue sauce does two things right off the bat: You get sugar and you get acid. You can literally make a glaze out of nothing more than soda. We went a little further with this recipe, making it a full-on BBQ sauce. If you don’t like Dr Pepper, you can substitute another dark soda; I’d recommend root beer....

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Well, of course, buying hamburger buns isn’t labor intensive so go ahead and use them for your random neighborhood barbecue, but make THESE to treat your family or friends to a totally different experience when you have more personal gatherings this summer. In fact, even for the novice baker these are easy enough to make. A stand mixer with a dough hook does all the heavy lifting. If you don’t have a stand mixer yet, here is a guide to help you choose the best mixer for all of your baking needs....