I've recently become a full-time coupon clipper. I used to do it haphazardly, but in all honestly it was mostly limited to bringing in the voucher for a free pair of Victoria's Secret underwear or stealing the 10% off coupons that Banana Republic sent my mother in the mail. Those actually seemed like value plays—who doesn't want free cheeky bikinis?—whereas remembering to bring in the 50 cent coupon for bananas wasn't worth my time. More

The last time I was at my parent's house, I decided to do a little search and rescue operation through my mother's old recipe hoard. I was in need of inspiration, and she needed someone to pull the trigger on Easy Microwave Cooking. Between a recipe for Dutch Apple Cake (keep) and Tricolor Bean Casserole (toss), I found a recipe for Baba Rum's Date Caps. More

I like to play this game where I imagine what I would have done if I had been born in a different time or place. For example, if I had been born in medieval times, would I still be so interested in food? Would I have sat at the table, complaining that someone had under-seasoned the boar or overcooked the mutton pie? More

This week marks the first anniversary of Cookie Monster. From rich, chocolaty, espresso-filled sandwich cookies to buttery vanilla bean sables, it's been a very sweet year. So which were my favorites? Which cookies could I not stop eating (or making over and over again?) Well, I don't like to play favorites, but if you insist. Here are my top 10 cookies from Cookie Monster's first year. Go ahead and try them all. More

I love the combination of salty and sweet flavors. When I take a bite of something like a chocolate-covered pretzel, my head kind of explodes. I momentarily blackout and all I can think is YUM. In fact I blame a bag of salted caramels for why I didn't get the movie Momento. More

Growing up in New York City, I didn't have frequent access to fire pits, fire places, or campfires. That's part of why, for me, making s'mores took on a level of excitement that I imagine other children felt about going to see Phantom of the Opera or Cats. More

My 90-year-old grandmother has a secret: She's in love with Walker, Texas Ranger. She's seen every episode countless times (not hard after we set her up with a DVD player and the series in a boxed set) but if the show happens to come on TV, she is always eager to watch it again. More

Last week I learned what it's like to eat like a pregnant woman. No, I'm not pregnant, but my lovely sister is, and she came to visit me in California. It was a glorious weekend of eating for four. More

There are certain things that I struggle to comprehend. It's not that I doubt that they're true, but I just can't wrap my mind around their existence. For instance: We're on a planet. That is spinning. In space. This totally blows my mind. Why can't we feel the Earth's rotation? Why don't we fall off? What happens at the edge of the universe?* More

Mad Men, electric toothbrushes, springform bundt pans—occasionally things come into my life that make me wonder how I ever lived without them before. That's how I feel about Biscoff Spread, which appeared out of nowhere at a bizarre yet awesome time when it seemed that Biscoff cookies were taking over my life. More

No matter how many desserts we make ourselves or how long we've toiled, a box of cookies from Rocco's, the local Italian bakery, is always on the Vasios holiday table. No wonder: the baked cookies are both nutty and sweet, and the chewy texture gives them a certain lightness and finesse. More

Even people who aren't cluttered by a nostalgia for roughly woven three-ply yarn will love these cookies. It's hard not to—they're a buttery shortbread imbued with finely diced pieces of chocolate covered toffee. More