Food and Fun

A simple food suited for paper plates and disposable utensils has once again become the rage in trendy, high-end restaurants.

Sliders – small, three-bite burgers – have two personalties, said David Gerard Hogan, a professor of American history at Heidelberg College in  Ohio.  

According to Hogan, author of “Selling ’em by the Sack: White Castle and the Creation of American Food,” sliders have become a “bifurcated” food, enjoyed by both the upscale and working class.    

The holiday season is hectic enough without fretting over what to buy for whom and how much to spend on gifts for coworkers, friends, neighbors and teachers. 

Homemade cookies can make a lasting impression.

According to a recent survey, 40 percent of consumers plan to spend less this year on holiday gifts. Holiday baking is a great way to tighten your budget without shrinking your gift list.

Here are a few tricks and techniques to ensure sweet success this baking season.

You just walked by the bulletin board in the break room and saw a big question mark on the list by your name.

You’ve been so busy that tomorrow’s Christmas party at work was forgotten. It’s a week earlier this year since there is one less weekend between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Now you’re in a cooking quagmire. 

In the late 1860s, chili was frontier food. 

The mixture of dried beef, suet, chili peppers and salt was pounded together into compact bricks and left to dry in the hot sun was a regional dish enjoyed by those in Texas and neighboring Louisiana.

Easily transported, these bricks could be dropped into a pot of boiling water on the trail to make a stew-like soup for settlers and cowboys trekking across the Midwest.