The Splendid Table

My fruit sinks to the bottom whenever I add it to cake batter. It never looks like the picture. I must be missing something in the recipe. What am I doing wrong?

Should you drink if you are being toasted? When my mother toasted our engagement, I said "thank you" by raising my glass and sipping. My fiancé didn't drink. Instead, he stood up and thanked her. He claims...

I need a starter set of good knives for my blossoming 17-year-old chef. She dreams of having her very own. Your help figuring this out would be welcome because I am seeing single knives for $15...

How long should I marinate things? Some recipes say only, "marinate," with no time frame. Obviously a big roast has to marinate longer than a fish filet, but how much time is too long, or too...

I ate out last night and ordered French Onion Soup, something I haven't had in ages. It was delicious but a bit sweet and I am wondering what makes it that way. I have looked at...

How do you create a stupendous lemon curd? Are you supposed to cook it in a saucepan or in a bowl over boiling water? A chef on TV did it in a saucepan. When...

This is an odd season to do it, but I am a frozen-to-fresh vegetable convert. I like things in butter sauce, but don't want the fat, and want to eat greens. Can you walk...

What's exciting about cabbage? Cheap though it may be, it seems like a lot of work to make anything worth eating.

How do you get the grit out of dried mushrooms? Even after soaking and straining, my super expensive porcini sauce tasted like it had been through a sand storm.

Is there any truth to the tale that vegetables have secret messages for lovers? I heard you said something on your show about this. Could it change my bummed out love life? Please...

Is the only difference between gelato and ice cream in the language you speak and the higher price for an Italian word?

Since we relegated meat to weekends, weeknights we've gone the plant route -- veggies, beans and grains -- but mainly beans because we love them. Except lately we're hitting the wall. We've stewed, marinated,...

Everybody calls me the Cookie Queen which is why I am embarrassed not knowing this. What is cake flour and why would I use it?

Have you a side for a vegan buffet that doesn't have to be kept hot? Thanks for any thoughts.

How do you buy olives? Prices are all over the map, so how do you judge them? Then how do you decide which types to have for parties and for giving?

How do you clean a cutting board? How long can you keep it, and what do you think of boards with anti contaminants?

What is the big deal with bouillon cubes? Cookbook authors seem to hate them. Evidently if I try risotto with cube broth the sky will fall in.