Man vs. Meat: A burger fan makes it big in the blogosphere

Dining with Sef ''The Burger Beast'' Gonzalez and his buddies on one of their perfect-burger quests is a lot like being on the dais at a comedy roast. If something in your past is embarrassing in a funny way, it will be brought up and discussed at length at your expense.

Literature is on the menu for South Florida book groups

Hungry for literature? The full flavor of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society comes through over bangers and mash. Water for Elephants calls for hot dogs, popcorn and candied apples.

How to keep the flu from crashing your bash

Is it safe to host a get-together when H1N1 flu threatens to crash your party? It's a question many people may be asking this year as the fall party season coincides with an anxiety-provoking flu season.

Cooking at La Casa Blanca with Fiesta Latina guest chef

Culinary historians and food bloggers already are poring over the menus of White House functions to draw conclusions about the First Family's tastes and discern the social and political meaning encoded in their food choices.

Best beer for the buck: Finding maximum flavor at an affordable price

What to do if you want a cheap beer with some flavor? Some of us face this question when looking at $10 four-packs or $8 bombers of craft beer.

Sweet success: Cake queen Edda Martinez expands her domain

When the cakes at the neighborhood dulceria wouldn't do, Edda Martinez decided to bake her own for family celebrations. For a son's autumn birthday, she whipped up a pumpkin cake. For the holidays, she created Christmas trees.

Food Network stars take on a veggie-averse 5-year-old

Could television chefs make my 5-year-old a better eater? After too many meals watching my son skirt the vegetables on his plate -- or, during more pouty dinners, simply shove them off -- I decided to see if Alton Brown, Rachael Ray and company could succeed where I -- like a lot of parents -- seemed to be failing.

3 simple ways to turn fruit into dessert

Peaches, nectarines, melons, figs -- this is a time of year dessert cooks rejoice in. But what about noncooks? How frustrating must it be to see all of this amazing fruit and have no idea what to do with it beyond eating it out of hand.

20 ways to pinch pennies and still eat healthy

Trying to trim your food budget doesn't mean you should give up on making healthy choices. Here is a list of 20 easy ways to help keep your food budget and your waistline trim.

Mother-daughter team makes Rosh Hashana favorites a breeze

Rosh Hashana begins at sunset on Sept. 18, you know bupkes about brisket, nothing about noodle kugel, and the idea of baking a honey cake makes you break out in hives?

MILKSHAKES

Shake things up to fit the new age

There really is no such thing as a bad milkshake, said Adam Ried, author of the new recipe book Thoroughly Modern Milkshakes, (W.W. Norton, $25) and we'd have to agree. Who doesn't appreciate the sweet deliverance of that familiar merger of ice cream and milk?

No butter, no eggs, no problem: Vegan baking comes into its own

When Becca Medvin went vegan at the age of 14, she had no trouble giving up meat. Or milk or cheese or eggs. What she missed was dessert.

Thinking inside the (lunch) box

Blogger Deborah Hamilton has a fresh idea for school-lunch packers: the bento box. She sends her son off every school day with her own version of the compartmentalized Japanese lunch container.

Kiddie foodie movement is bent on broadening young palates

Before she was a year old, Zoe LoSasso was introduced to the sharp, earthy taste of white truffle purée. Now 10, she doesn't remember that, but, like a growing number of American kids, the fifth grader is being raised as an adventuresome eater.

Blogger does 'Julie & Julia' Miami-style

Nitza Villapol, a home economist who was also compared to Betty Crocker, was Cuba's most enduring radio and television cook. Launched in 1951, her Cocina al Minuto (''Instant Cooking'') was on the air until 1995, a year before her death in Havana at age 74.

Pie in the sky: A South Florida guide to great gourmet pizza

I have tasted the future and it is scorched and puffy, layered with red sauce and topped with melted mozzarella. If ever there was a national pizza moment, this is it. It seems serious chefs all got the memo to start studying the ancient craft of pizza making, adding gourmet touches in search of their own piece of the pie.

Jackfruit: It's time to embrace this bounteous behemoth

The jackfruit is the largest fruit on earth, a wonder of nature. Seeing this native of India's sweltering rain forests growing strong and bountiful in South Florida makes our part of the world feel less tame and more tropical.

Dinner for one: Two books explore the pleasures of eating alone

To some, the idea of cooking for one sounds hopelessly dreary. But it also should be gloriously self-sustaining, and to treat the topic of solo cooking as a mere practical dilemma can mean missing out on the freedom and satisfaction it can bring.

Miami Spice Girls: Culinary students vie for national championship

Contrived and cookie-cutter as they were, the Spice Girls managed to inject girl power into the 1990s pop music scene. A decade and half later, the real spice girls of Miami are bringing girl power to the male-dominated culinary world.