Food and Recipes

Here is a place for you to play with your food -- literally: enjoy, have fun with and celebrate food -- but don't worry, we'll still help you get dinner on the table every night.

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A study showed that people are heavily influenced by the picture on the cake mix box when it came to guessing serving size and calories.

By Kathryn Whitbourne

How does a kudzu salad sound? Or maybe a roasted guinea pig? Both are plentiful, and both don't often appear on U.S. restaurant menus. Should they?

By Sarah Gleim

Were dozens of restaurant owners in China wasting time trying to get diners to ride General Tso's white horse ? What would really happen if you ate opium-laced food?

By Chris Opfer

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Bootlegging alcohol? Sure, we've heard of that, but butter substitutes?

By Candace Gibson

Pass the cellulose! A Norwegian company is using renewable logging waste to replace saturated fat in hot dogs. It could help your health and the planet.

By Maria Trimarchi

Is determining it as simple as adding up the calories in the ingredients and dividing them by the number of servings? Or does the cooking (or even the digestive process) change the final calorie count?

By Melanie Radzicki McManus

Egg in your coffee? It may sound odd, but it's part of an old but enduring method of brewing that devotees say yields a better cup of joe.

By Maria Trimarchi

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What happens when you substitute a blender and a molecular gastronomy ingredient for dairy and steam?

By Sarah Gleim

Many diet and health trends today focus on wheat - how much, how little, what kind. Are there really differences between different types of wheat? Gluten, protein - what does it all mean?

By Bambi Turner

They take leftovers from frigid to sizzling in minutes. But is the microwave oven too good to be true? Some say it takes more than the flavor out of your food.

By Colleen Cancio

Unlike more commonly known taste aspects like bitter or sweet, umami is tough to pin down. But the savory sensation gives rich dishes undeniable oomph. Learn what gives a food its umami nature and how our tongues taste it.

By Christine Venzon

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When the sweet stuff is mixed with water, it suddenly wants to bond with everything it encounters. Why so clingy, sugar?

By Alison Cooper

What's that bagged mass in your freezer - and did you really want to eat 12 chicken breasts right now? Here's how to freeze food in serving-size portions.

By Alison Cooper

The same compounds responsible for ginger's potent taste and smell offer relief to gurgling digestive systems.

By Alison Cooper

The practice has ancient roots - but GMOs as we know them really started taking off after some key discoveries about DNA.

By Alison Cooper

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To a food lover, the idea of trading pizza for a pill isn't exactly appetizing. But in a world where many of us struggle with getting daily nourishment, being a foodie is a luxury. Is a cure for world hunger on the horizon?

By Kate Kershner

These healthy grains can bring new flavors to your plate while providing healthy, whole grain goodness.

By Debbie Swanson

If peanuts are technically not nuts, what are they?

By Debbie Swanson

When you see the increasingly popular label on food products, does that mean you're getting a sugar-free product?

By Christine Venzon

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Kale is a descendant of ancient cabbage. Learn more about kale in this humorous video from HowStuffWorks.

Cheese has a very long history. Learn more about cheese in this funny video from HowStuffWorks.

One "synbio" ingredient - with its computer-generated DNA - got the OK to bear a "natural" label. Could these science-lab concoctions be considered organic, too?

By Alison Cooper

"All-natural" labeling offers a thin slice of reassurance to sandwich lovers who want to avoid nitrites and nitrates. But would deli meat be deli meat without them?

By Alison Cooper

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Shell shocked by the price of eggs these days? So are we, but the good news is you can freeze them. We'll tell you how.

By Alison Cooper & Sarah Gleim

Spoiler alert: Light and heat - not your milk's fat content - are what get bacteria excited.

By Alison Cooper