A Pastry Chef Makes Her Own Birthday Cake

It was my birthday last week. I love my birthday, but it never really turns out how I imagine. For my 12th birthday, I asked for Donnie Wahlberg, to no avail. For my 18th birthday, my girlfriends tried to plan a surprise party for me, which I ruined mid-car ride…

Wine Condoms Protect Your Bottle

No, that headline is not a euphemism. If you’re fed up with your wine going bad because you overestimated the amount of wine you needed (does that ever happen?) or sick and tired of wine stoppers forcing you to cram your bottle into the fridge in haphazard ways, Wine Condoms…

Corn Tortillas from Lula’s Tortillas: This Week’s Fresh Pick

If we ever moved from the Southwest, fresh, handmade tortillas surely would leave a hole in our hearts. Luckily, we’re Phoenicians, so we’re spoiled by vendors like Lula’s Tortillas, who use years of tortilla-making expertise to bring delicious tortillas to local farmers markets. Though the tortillas currently are available only…

AZ Distilling Co. Releases All-Local Grain-to-Bottle Whiskey

If you’re a whiskey lover finding it difficult to inspire that romantic feeling, there’s good news about getting out of Valentine’s Day doldrums. Since the first release of Copper City Bourbon, it seemed Rodney Hu and his team at Arizona Distilling Co. were excitedly chatting about the all-Arizona-made whiskey they…

Dumb Starbucks Is Shut Down, Revealed as Comedy Central Star’s Gag

The Interweb has been ablaze with talk of Dumb Starbucks, the L.A.-based parody coffee shop specializing in Dumb Frappuccinos, Dumb Norah Jones Duet CDs, and Dumb Venti Dumb Lattes. Two days after everyone caught word of the spoof cafe, Instagrammers posted shots of everything inside and outside the dumb coffee…

Chandler Man Wins Spot in Applebee’s Commercial

The results are in, and a Valley resident will be one of four Applebee’s fans featured in the restaurant chain’s new digital commercial. In December and January, folks were asked to submit Vine videos with the hashtag “BeeFamous.” From all the submitted videos of people making “their most unbelievable reactions,”…

OpenTable and Nara Help You Find Romantic Restaurants in Arizona

You’ve still got time to lock in a Valentine’s Day reservation if you haven’t already. In order to quell the wrath of your significant other, try taking OpenTable or Nara’s suggestions on where to dine to inspire that loving feeling. OpenTable recently released its top 100 romantic restaurants, four of…

How to Make Lamingtons, the Latest Cake Craze

My perfect alone time is at the end of the day, in bed with a glass of wine and Instagram. There are so many amazing pastry chefs, bakeries, and home bakers out there creating gorgeous product and uploading pictures to be scrolled through and drooled over. It is one of…

7 Tips on How to Become a Pastry Chef

Are you crazy? I am so that’s probably why I’m the owner of a small pastry business. More often than I can count, I am approached and told I have the greatest job in the world. I get to play with sugar and butter all day, how can that not…

Draft Beer Jelly Belly Candy Beans Coming February 10

The people in the Jelly Belly flavor development center must be bored — like, really bored. Flavors such as moldy cheese, rotten egg, and skunk spray, along with the popular Harry Potter-inspired line of “Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans,” push the envelope of what people really want in candy. There…

Kumquats from Sri’s Fruites and Vegetables: This Week’s Fresh Pick

One of the most refreshing and exciting parts of hitting up local farmers markets is finding local farmers who have unique offerings that are locally grown and hard to find in traditional brick-and-mortar markets. Sri’s Fruites and Vegetables often has typical produce selections, like kale and cabbage, but also offers…

It Takes 636 Gallons of Water to Produce One Dozen Eggs

Just about everything we eat contains “virtual water,” or water that goes indirectly into the production of food. In fact, water that goes into the agricultural industry accounts for 70 percent of water consumption worldwide — and you might be surprised to find out just how much H20 goes into…

Sunchokes from McClendon’s Select: This Week’s Fresh Pick

After watching an episode or two of any at least semi-professional competitive cooking show, it’s likely you’ve heard the name sunchoke dropped. Also known as the Jerusalem artichoke, this knobby, brown tuber (or thick stem) of a sunflower varietal really doesn’t look like a big deal. While culinary-types have been…

6 Super Bowl Desserts for Your Game-Day Party

When I was younger I loved the Super Bowl parties that my grandfather threw every year. He would invite all his employees, family and friends to a potluck dinner and viewing party. The thing I waited for all year, were the “monkey balls” that my grandfathers shipping manager brought. I…