RECIPE: Vietnamese Summer Rolls

What do you do on the first day of summer? Make summer rolls! In soft rice paper wrappers, Vietnamese summer rolls are light, crunchy and filled with healthful ingredients. Called gòi cuðn (pronounced GUY kwun), summer rolls are often confused with spring rolls. The confusion starts at the restaurant level, where the listing on the…
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Mellow & Magnificent Castelvetrano Olives: How To Enjoy Them

[1] Castelvetrano olives served with drinks at Maiden Lane | NYC (photo © Maiden Lane). [2] We could eat the whole bowl (photo © Musco Food). [3] Castelvetrano olives, cherry tomatoes, and garlic sautéed in EVOO make a delicious snack, appetizer, or topping for proteins and grains.   Olive connoisseurs love Castelvetrano olives (pronounced kah-stell-veh-TRAH-no).…
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JULY 4TH FOOD: Red, White & Blue Sorbet Float

What happens the day after Father’s Day? We start planning our Independence Day menu. Tee up this Red, White & Blue Sorbet Float for July 4th or any hot summer day. The recipe is courtesy Van Gogh Vodka and uses Van Gogh Açai-Blueberry Vodka. But if you have another blueberry-flavored vodka at home (or a…
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TIP OF THE DAY: More Affordable Champagne Cocktails

A yummy Prosecco cocktail that can be adapted into a mocktail. Photo courtesy Harvard Common Press.   Champagne cocktails make any occasion more festive. And they don’t require Champagne, per se, but can use more affordable bubblies such as Prosecco and Asti Spumante from Italy, Cava from Spain and Sekt from Germany. You can also…
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TIP OF THE DAY: Shredding Cheese

If you’re fond of making cheese omelets, chili, pizza, quesadillas and other dishes requiring shredded cheese, you may have noticed that shredding semisoft cheeses can be more taxing than it should be. Cheese gets stuck in the large holes of the box grater, requiring ongoing unclogging. Here are two solutions: Spray the grater with nonstick…
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