what’s cooking | bitter spring cocktail | K.I.D. Collective.

The truth about caramelized onions and How to cook onions: Why recipe writers lie and lie about how long they take to caramelize. – Slate Magazine. Via The Morning News.

Sprinkle Bakes: Deep Dish Berry Pie Tart.

Imbibe Unfiltered: Drink of the Week: Strawberry-Basil-Gin Lemonade.

Expert Advice: Non-Alcoholic Cocktails | The Kitchn.

Vintage Millinery Cupcake Toppers · Edible Crafts.

Have you seen these yet? The genius pinata cookies? The sort of idea that makes me furious that I didn’t think of it first? I love these. The whole how-to by Sandra Denneler is over at She Knows, bravo.

Happy Cinco de Mayo! I’m still on painkillers so have an extra margarita for me.

These are all prettier versions of the foods I’m eating after getting my wisdom teeth out this week, pulled from my Pinterest boards.

Coffee jello from That Winsome Girl. I’m going to be making this to be the first thing I eat because, grrrr, need caffiene.

Julia Childs Mousse Au Chocolat from Sprinkle Bakes

Citrus Sorbet from The Cinderella Project

Rainbow Jello Shooter from Jelly Shot Test Kitchen

Layered Cheesecake Popsicle from Cutest Food (though the seeds here would technically pose a problem, I’m loving the idea)

Gelatin Typography at Plenty of Colour

Ice cream scoop on a stick at Martha Stewart

Sky Jello at Belladia

Thank you GLAD for sponsoring this post. Learn how you can reduce waste at your next party!

A few years back I baked pies in jars because I thought it was a cute idea. Later I brought pies on a weekend getaway and found the jars were a handy way to transport and serve them. I’ve been using jars as serving containers for parties and picnics ever since. I’ve talked about my love of jars before but I have not laid out all the reasons why, so here they are:

• You can seal them up to contain any potential mess while transporting food.
• After the food is eaten you can close the jars and contain any leftover stickiness until you get home to wash them.
• If you’re making a baked good you can bake it right in the jar ahead of time. If you’re headed out to a vacation home you can prepare and freeze the dessert, then bake one at a time as people get hungry. I’ve found that particularly nice as it allows people to graze if they’d like.
• If you’re seated on a picnic blanket I find them easier to eat out of than trying to keep a plate level. (I am a clumsy person and always end up tipping a plate at picnics.)
• They are water tight so you can fill them with ice cream or pudding and stick them in a cooler without worrying that water from melted ice will ruin dessert.
• They are a fun way to present the foods. Jars have become pretty well known on blogs and Pinterest but people at bbqs will appreciate the novelty and declare you a genius.
• Individual portions eliminate the need to bring extra serving utensils or use plastic wrap to cover a serving dish that doesn’t have a lid.
• Something I found at the last bbq I attended: it’s very simple to send extras home with people because the treat is already ready to go, you just hand them a jar.
• Similarly if you bring home leftovers they are ready to be stuck in the freezer for later.
• You can use jars to give out food as favors or as great packaging for a bake sale item. (Tip: I’ve discovered people are happy to pay a bit more for something in jar packaging.)
• If you’re setting out a few dips jars work wonderfully. For a cookbook club I brought pretzel sticks with three different kinds of mustard and jars worked perfectly for serving containers.
• My favorite: I have a very small kitchen and don’t have space to store the sorts of serving dishes that would be great to have for picnics but I can store a few stacks of jars in the back of my cabinet.

Small tip: Keep the box the jars come in, it makes the best tray to carry the jars either to your back yard or to a friend’s house.

The pies pictured above were ones that I brought to a friend’s house for a backyard cookout. After I got home and washed the jars I realized that nothing ended up being thrown into the trash through the whole process save the excess flour I wiped off the counter. Oh yeah, racking up those environmental points.

If you are using the jars for favors you can include a list of uses for after the contents have been eaten. Here is a list I included with a bunch of cobblers I made for a bake sale:

• Shake a vinegrette for a salad (1 part balsalmic + 4 parts olive oil + salt and pepper + maybe a touch of mustard + a drop of water).
• Use it to store dried annuals seeds in the back of the fridge until April rolls around.
• Use it to store leftover lemon juice or zest in the freezer.
• Use it to store that last 1/2 cup of buttermilk leftover from making pancakes.
• Throw loose coins in it and save up for a really good chocolate bar.
• Keep a stash of cinnamon sugar or vanilla sugar.
• Sip some nice bourbon out of it while sitting on a shady porch.

We use ours for salad dressing and bourbon more often than I would have suspected.

You can also use a larger jar to collect used flatware and transport it home where you can wash it:

Picnic season is almost here (yaaaay)! Do you have any tips for entertaining? Any clever things you’ve found that help keep trash to a minimum? Share so we can ooooh over your genius.

The Fastest Way to Chill Wine [VIDEO] | The Feed.

I’m searching for the creamiest, smoothest plain yogurt. | Ask MetaFilter. And I and always seeking the most French-like yogurt.

Yummy gluten free quinoa salad at Petite Elefant.

Sweet! How to Make a Chocolate iPhone – Hello Brit – Food. This is adorable, and I even have an old case I can use for this project.

pasta with garlicky broccoli rabe | smitten kitchen. This pasta with healthy green thing style of cooking is one of my long time go-tos.

Mini Furniture Waffle Iron · Edible Crafts.

Dinner for Two: Hot Hot Hot Chipotle Steak Tacos | Serious Eats.

Pretzel Ice Cream Cones! by The Cone Guys. Via Love From the Oven

A collection of cinnamon related goodness culled from my Food board at Pinterest.

Cinnamon Roll Pie Crust from Taste for Adventure

Pie Fries from Munchkin Munchies

Bacon rolled up in a cinnamon roll from Rainy Day Gal

Cinnamon Twists from Experimento 96

Heart Shaped Cinnamon Rolls from Poppies At Play

Cinnamon rolls in pretty tins from Pie Wacket. which TinEye could only track back to here but left uncredited. If anybody knows where this originated let me know. Thanks to Aryn and Liz for finding the source!

Salty Sesame and Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies — Joy the Baker. Mmmmmm.

The best artichoke dip recipe | helenjane.com.

A Fresh Look at Food Coloring – FineCooking.com. How to color food from edible sources. Via The Kitchn.

What’s In Your Well? – Voracious. Solid spirits for mixed drinks, good information to keep around because booze is very expensive here in Washington state.

The Easiest Poached Egg Recipe « i am a food blog. Slow poached in the shell. Via Tracy over at Pinterest.

Kale and Quinoa Cakes — Joy the Baker.

Sprinkle Bakes: Like Porcelain, Royal Icing Nests.

Need a basic stir fry sauce – Chowhound.

Because We Love Kale: 15 Kale Recipes | Serious Eats.

Orangette: This is important. Yeasted buckwheat waffles, I am a long time fan of buckwheat pancakes so this waffle is next on my list of weekend breakfast experiments.

When a rooster comes along… | Jim Drohman. A very detailed set of instructions with photos for making coq au vin from a chef here in Seattle.

Lucy Knisley – All Kindsa Stuff!. An illustrated recipe fro her Mom’s Crack Cookies.

Pigeon Toe » Porcelain Popsicle Sticks. So nice! Via 101 Cookbooks.

Brussels Sprouts & Bacon Pizza › shutterbean. Well hello there lovely.

Mastering the Sweet Life: Jessie Moore Oleson – Our Finds. Yay Jessie!

not your mama’s coleslaw | smitten kitchen. For some reason I’ve been craving cole slaw lately.

Sprinkle Bakes: Spring Flower Lollipops. Edible flowers inside a lollipop, so amazing.

Easy Party Appetizer: Roasted Edamame with Sea Salt and Cracked Pepper | The Kitchn.

Parmesan and Herb Cheese Straws — Joy the Baker. These are so pretty!

the apple Pi. I’m late to this one but it’s worth a look – the apple is cut into number shapes using cookie cutters. Amazing.

Shaping Up Homemade Oreos | The Feed.

Looking ahead to warmer days I made a gelatin version of the Fishbowl cocktail, go see it over at ModCloth!

Hello Little One included the pie dough lattice cookies I created for Styled magazine last year in a round up of pie goodies for today, Pi Day. Smart girl, I hadn’t thought of that!

Best peanut butter cookie recipe | Ask MetaFilter. Great suggestions and I was so happy to see Joy the Baker mentioned in the recipe links!

ciao samin: Home Ec: How to Shop for Olive Oil.

The Wine Scout: If Anyone Orders Merlot… | The Hairpin. Merlots are coming back into fashion, they have three great suggestions under $15. (Also, yay Washington state.)

Booze Bites: Irish Car Bomb Jell-O Shots. Via Recipe Girl on Twitter.

Sam Calagione, Dogfish Head, and extreme beer : The New Yorker. Via Give Me Something To Read.

Does anyone have a tried and true recipe for the kind of pepperoni balls you get in Erie, PA? | Ask MetaFilter. The answer is yes, the thread links to recipes from Erie residents over at Chowhound. Gotta try these.

The Hungarian grail of cheese pastry – Pogácsa » delicious:days.

Shaping Up Freezer Chicken Pot Pie | The Feed. I need to get back to having my freezer stocked with homemade meals.

Not So Humble Pie: Macarons Framboise – Ladurée’s Recipe.

ciao samin: Resource Guide for Home Ec: Understanding Salt.

Black Bean Burgers Recipe – Laurence Jossel | Food & Wine. Via Ciao Samin.

Old Fashioned 101, a truly wonderful single serving website. Via Kottke.

I have been known to prep and freeze kale but I have to admit there are long stretches of time where my laziness wins over. Rather than be a kaleless household I’ve found some convenient options. The first is chopped frozen and bagged kale from Whole Foods. This is chopped a little smaller than I prefer but it’s good sauteed with a little garlic and hot pepper flakes or mixed in with pasta and olive oil. The other option is shredded kale from Cut ‘n Clean. It has a good recipe on the back of the package and we also use it for steak salad, or just mash some avocado into it for the simplest salad ever. Kale 4ever!

Happy Birthday! | at One Food and Life. For Top Pot Donut’s 10 birthday Jess shares the recipe that started it all: Top Pot’s Glazed Sour Cream Old Fashioned Doughnuts. Yum.

Shaping Up Seven-Layer Dip | The Feed.

How To Make a Sourdough Starter « Tea & Cookies, and Part Two, with delightfully detailed photographs of how it should look at all stages.

Clove-Scented Sidecar › shutterbean. Yes please!

Milk Tea with Tapioca Pearl Ice Pops Recipe – CHOW.

Citrus Salt Recipe – 101 Cookbooks.

lasagna bolognese | smitten kitchen. Oh my goodness, I am going to make the heck out of this.

Party Popcorn | She Wears Many Hats. Colorful sprinkles on popcorn, so smart!

Cakes Throughout U.S. History [INFOGRAPHIC] | The Feed. The page has lots of links to recipes, yum.

Orangette: I am here to tell you, at Orangette. “…that a person can never have too many granola recipes. Or, I don’t know, maybe you can, but hey, four is a totally reasonable number.”

What cookies go well with scotch? | Ask MetaFilter.

How to make bacon | Poise.cc.

Bake and Shake: How to make Really Great, Really Wonderful No-Knead Sourdough Bread.

Chocolate Royal Icing · Edible Crafts.