Ideas & Tips — Food & Drinks

The thought of a smoothie usually calls to mind the bright colors and tart flavors of the various fruits that are commonly used in blended concoctions, but the smoothie is so much more than that. Namely, the form of a smoothie can be used to convey any number of flavors and ingredients, including thematic seasonal blends. Also, seasonal smoothies are often much healthier than their non-smoothie counterparts, such as pumpkin pie and eggnog, so they are a good choice for people looking to stick to a diet without missing out on the flavors of the holidays. Don't put your blender...

When you spend Thanksgiving at someone's home, you know they've spent all day cooking up a feast and preparing the house for guests, so you'll want to bring something along to show your appreciation of their efforts. When choosing a host gift, it's important to consider your host's particular tastes, but there are a few categories that many good host gifts fall into. Useful in many situations, sometimes even during the meal itself, these versatile host gifts will make your hosts want to invite you back next year: A serving bowl: Oftentimes, hosts who are taking on the Thanksgiving meal for...

We've previously discussed on this blog how to put together your own bar cart, which adds panache to any home. However, if you aren't a big drinker or you don't always keep liquor on hand, you don't have to be left out of this hot decorating trend! Here are 8 tips for making an at-home coffee bar: Delivery is key: Half of the fun of setting up a bar area is finding a pretty table or cart on which to put it. The same principle applies when you are putting together a coffee bar.  Fresh flowers: Fresh flowers immediately elevate...

Along with the colorful leaves, cooler nights and Halloween candy, the autumn season also produces some of the most delectable produce. From September to November, grapes, pears and sweet potatoes spring from the earth in full bounty and supply us with new culinary opportunities to enjoy before winter arrives.  Additionally, it is true that almost any food can be grown somewhere year-round throughout the planet. But packing and shipping fruit to all corners of the world can be costly both financially and environmentally, due to the impact of shipping vehicles. Local food choices, according to an article from Greatist.com, may not only be more...

If you've gone out to a brewpub or into the home of a beer aficionado lately, you have probably noticed that there are a whole bunch of different beer glass styles in heavy rotation these days. Each type of glass corresponds to a particular brewing tradition and is meant to bring out the particular qualities associated with that beer style. That's not to say that you can't serve beers in the "wrong" glass, only that serving them in their intended glassware will give you a better idea of which characteristics the brewers were aiming to bring out in the beer....