Around the World Breakfast Memories

By Sandy Hu

When Dave was seven and Chris was two, we took them on their first trip to Europe. Since they were so young and likely to forget the experience, I made them a travel scrapbook incorporating a collage of tickets, brochures, daily diary and photos.

And since food can evoke a powerful sensory memory, when we got home, I replicated for the boys breakfasts we had on our vacation, having tucked away appropriate props in my suitcase: chocolate milk packets, little jars of jam, and sugar packets decorated with famous French paintings from our hotel in Paris. From Amsterdam, I had purchased fake Delft egg cups.

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Southeast Asian-inspired Stew Cooks up in a Hurry

By Sandy Hu

When I want dinner in a hurry, there's nothing like a quick, one-pot dish. Curried Chicken and Potato Stew cooks up in just 25 minutes and there are few dishes to wash afterwards.

Potatoes and chicken marry well with the sophisticated flavors of coconut milk, fresh ginger, garlic and cilantro -- bright seasonings inspired by the cuisines of Southeast Asia.

If you think of potatoes as a starch, think again. Potatoes are really a vegetable. They're an excellent source of vitamin C and a good source of potassium. A medium potato has just 110 calories and no fat.

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Moonstruck Frittata

By Marilyn Hunter

One of my favorite food moments in film is the breakfast scene in Moonstruck. Olympia Dukakis is cracking eggs into slices of crusty Italian bread cooked in olive oil with roasted red peppers, onions and garlic, all while the conversation centers around Cher’s “love bites.”

Leave it to Hollywood to take something so simple and romanticize it into a fabulous gourmet moment. It’s delicious moments like these that inspire us to try something new in the kitchen.

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Another Kitchen Sink Dinner

By Lori Powell

Yes, yet another kitchen sink dinner using ingredients that are always in my pantry: oil, bacon (you can keep it frozen and then chip off what you need), dried herbs and spices (keep them fresh by buying small quantities and replace after four months), garlic, Parmesan, and some form of tomato product and pasta.

I happened to have fresh basil on hand, so that just helped seal the deal of what to cook for dinner. Also, it was Monday (and a long one at that) so I just wanted something quick.

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All Hail the Bench Scraper

By Katie Barreira

If you’re a cooking newbie, chances are you don’t own a bench scraper. Perhaps you’ve never even heard of such a thing, and unless you’re a closet baker, why would you have?

The simple, but highly utilitarian tool was conceived by and for pastry chefs, who use the thin metal blade to cleanly portion bread dough, gently lift the edges of a sticking pie crust and scrape up the pesky scraps from their kneading surface. For these functions alone, I would highly recommend the $8 investment to any budding baker.

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