In case you missed them, we’ve compiled our favorite blog posts of the week all in one place so you can read, get inspired — and cook!
Take one of your meals outside this weekend! Whether you’re sitting at a picnic table in a local park or on a blanket at the beach, dining outdoors can be leisurely and fun for families and groups of friends.
Customize your menu with the recipes below, all of which are easy to prepare ahead and take on the go. Our tips will have you enjoying a delicious, perfectly packed meal in no time.
This restaurant classic is infused with plenty of sweet, salty, hot and tangy flavors. You need to marinate the ribs overnight, but after that, nothing takes much time: the ribs spend hardly any time on the grill, and then after a short rest, everybody can eat. The marinade and sauce are great on chicken or pork, too.
Mocktails are similar to cocktails, but without the intoxicating liquors — and they can be incredibly refreshing on a spring day. The beverages are typically delicious combinations of herbs, sugar syrups and seltzer water or juices.
In addition to writing for The Blender, I also work on the culinary team at the Williams-Sonoma store in Short Hills, NJ. The enthusiastic, Short Hills store manager Angelo Manfredi encourages the use of his destination cook-top area to demonstrate many of the store’s prepared food selections. Every day something delicious is being cooked, filling the store with delicious aromas and, in the process, making this space the most popular area of this most inviting shop.
For a recent demonstration, I added cool, freshly filtered water into the glass bottles that come with our SodaStream Sparkling Water Maker, and charged it to create festive bubbles — perfect for mocktails. Or even cocktails!
Get ready to fire up your grill for Memorial Day! We’ve partnered with Tasting Table, a popular food site and daily email publication, to provide you with a Memorial Day menu that will inspire. Tasting Table prides themselves on creating epicurean recommendations that are authentic, trustworthy and actionable, so a fabulous cookout is guaranteed!
The menu will include Watermelon Gazpacho, Grilled Romaine Salad with Cotija Cheese and Lime Vinaigrette, Skirt Steak with Hazelnut Romesco and more! Don’t forget to check out our top tips for a perfect backyard cookout for the ultimate Memorial Day celebration.
Last year, I took my mother to Solvang for her first Mother’s Day brunch in California. Solvang is a quaint city near Santa Barbara founded by a group of Danish settlers looking to get away from the cold Midwest winters. The city reflects traditional Danish styles in its architecture, bakeries, restaurants, and merchants. At the Solvang Restaurant, we had their famous ebelskiver, topped with powdered sugar and olallieberry preserves on the side. I was hooked.
When the weather warms up and the days are long, there’s no better time to take it outdoors. Here are 10 “dos” and “don’ts” from our grilling guru Fred Thompson, author of the book Williams-Sonoma Grill Master. Heed his simple tips, and you’ll be ready for a backyard cookout in no time.
Like asparagus and ramps, green garlic is a hallmark of spring. The delicately flavored allium is simply immature garlic, harvested just before the plant begins to form cloves. With a milder flavor than regular garlic, it complements the delicate flavors of the season in soups, sauces and alongside roasted vegetables.
Pick up green garlic on your next visit to your local farmers’ market — the vegetables look a lot like green onions, with a light pink tinge at the bulbs. Then try preparing it in one of these delicious spring-inspired recipes.
Practically everywhere across the country, summer weather arrived early with temperate breezes and balmy temperatures. So naturally, we’re already dreaming of summer evenings spent entertaining outdoors—the kind where friends and family gather on porches and in backyards to share in easy conversation and delicious summer foods.
To get you even more excited for the season (not that you need pushing), we’ve put together a Pinterest board of our favorite kitchen designs for summer entertaining. From airy layouts to open ceilings, we hope these images inspire you to think differently about your own kitchen.
And after you browse the images, enter Cultivate.com’s newly launched Pinterest contest, which challenges you to design a Pinterest board with images that illustrate your dream kitchen. Prizes include an All Clad D5 10-piece set (value $1,450), Williams-Sonoma gift cards, and a feature on Cultivate.com. Click here for instructions and rules.
On a rainy April morning, I couldn’t think of anything more perfect than to stay inside and bake — except maybe to watch someone else do the baking. So I drove across the Bay Bridge to The Bread Project located in Emeryville. The Bread Project produces bread and other baked treats for organizations in the Bay Area. In March, new to Union Square’s Artisans’ Market, they launched the Social Enterprise line of treats for the public.
The Bread Project provides culinary training to people with low income to help get them on the path of self-sufficiency and eventually obtain jobs in the food industry. I wanted to know more, so I donned a hairnet and was given a grand tour by Mark Chacon, Chef and Director of Bakery Production.