Go fig or go home! Black Mission, Calimyrna, Kadota, Brown Turkey and Sierras. Yes, that’s fig talk and they’re in season in California. Mission figs, with their deep purple skin and sweet, pinkish hued flesh can be found at many a farmers market at the onset of Fall (or “indian summer,” as true Californians call it). The aforementioned are just a few more California grown figs to become acquainted with. As beloved as pumpkins may be this time of year, figs are well worth an equal hype.

Related Searches on Yummly:

• Spiced fig jam
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Foraging, it has found its way into slow food circles and you’ll even see the term on the menus of popular restaurants.

But, What is foraging?

Essentially, foraging takes advantage naturally occurring or otherwise “wild growing” sources of food. To forage would be the act of picking an edible weed or harvesting a wild variety of blackberry, for example. There are even experts who go beyond plant-based foraging possibilities and consider fishing for uncommonly harvested varieties of seafood a form of “sea foraging.”

What can be foraged?

These bloggers have put together some sumptuous recipes using foraged ingredients. Wild growing greens, fruits, mushrooms and more. Take a look.

Foraging Know-How

Here are a few great resources for foraging meet-ups in your area and foraging tips.

• Foraging
• Wildman Steve Brill
• ForageSF

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Enough episodes of Chopped or Iron Chef watched and you’ll start to get a sense that presentation is half of the challenge to creating a good dish. You don’t need TV to tell you though. A visit to an often recommended local restaurant and, Michelin star or not, if the food is well prepared you’ll see it before you taste it.

Since the first sense to taste your food is actually your sight, here a few fun garnishing how-tos to try at home. Consider yourself an artist in the kitchen, and with simple ingredients and a paring knife who knows what you’ll come up with?
 

Eggplant Starburst Garnish

First, you will start with a sharp chopping knife and one eggplant. Begin by removing both the stem and bottom ends of the eggplant.

Next, you will thinly slice the eggplant lengthwise into strips about 1/8 of an inch thick. (If you have a mandolin, you may want to use this tool for evenly thin slices)

Next, take one 1/4 inch strip. Laying it on a chopping board, begin to slice crosswise cuts into the eggplant just nearly end to end. The cuts will be about 1/8 of an inch apart.

Now, roll up the eggplant strip.

Finally, secure the roll with a toothpick at the base end of the rolled-up strip (opposite end to the loosely “frayed” cuts). Sitting the strip on its base, you will now have an eggplant starburst.

Tomato Rose Garnish, in three simple steps

First start with a fresh, washed tomato and a paring knife.

Step two, carefully peel the skin from the tomato in one coiling strip. The strip should be about 1-inch wide.

Finally, tightly roll-up the strip and set it on a plate. The peel should stay rolled into shape. Otherwise, feel free to secure the bottom of what is now a “tomato rose” with a toothpick.

Apple Starfish Garnish

First, start with a fresh, washed apple (the variety and color can be of your choosing, any will do). Chop-off the top of the apple, about 1/4 of the length of the apple from the stem.

Next, remove the stem and cut 5 oval-shaped impressions into the apple’s top (these impressions could be of any size depending on your preference, note a few variances in the example).

Next, begin to shape each “leg” of the starfish by cutting away a triangular shape between each impression. You’ll notice that cutting each triangle at a rounded angle changes the aesthetic of the garnish.

And there you have the step-by-step rundown of three wow-your-friends garnishes.

America has a sweet tooth. I dare anyone to try and contradict that statement. Just look at these desserts from eras past. All of them are classic confections, and some of them are still being replicated and reinvented in home cooks’ kitchens across the 50 states. Sometimes you have to stick with the tried and true treats for a truly sweet experience.

Related Searches on Yummly:

• White chocolate blondies
• Apple dumplings
• Vanilla angel food cake
• Butterscotch pudding
• Key lime pie

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Aside from satisfying hunger, food inspires.

Newfound ingredients inspire culinary innovation. Cooking (and eating) inspires countless bloggers and professional food writers to share their experiences. Cooking in itself is an act of sharing. Food also inspires emotion. Each time it is prepared, a family recipe invokes emotions and perhaps memories of one’s past, upbringing or missed loved ones.

Its inspirational quality must be the reason why food is often depicted in art. Whether crafty folk art or infamous pop art, food had been printed, painted, stamped, molded, and created in so many ways.

Here’s a look at some of those creative little crafts, and the dishes one could only imagine they would taste like.

Related Searches on Yummly:

• Mac and cheese
• Chocolate strawberry cake
• Hamburger cakes
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Whether you are tailgating near the stadium or throwing a game day party at home, here are the recipes to get you through halftime. Of course we included the must-haves like brats, potato skins and slaw, but you have got to try the re-fashioned classics like chicken salad sliders and Coca-Cola wings.  Game on!

Related Searches on Yummly:

• Cheddar bacon nachos
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If you’re a professional or at-home cook, you must agree that there is something about preparing food that is satisfying, fun even. There’s this feeling of accomplishment from baking a perfectly airy souffle. There’s a comfort to having a table of guests clean their plates with a satisfied “mmm.”

It’s as fun to cook a new dish as it is to eat and share with friends. Just as fun as the times when making a mess in the kitchen with the kids – or the kid-at-heart in all of us – is as much a tradition as the meal itself. Just as fun as the molecular gastronomy gadgets and geekery that are both science experiment and cooking technique. Now, there are kitchen tools to match those carefree, anything goes meals. Here they are:

Meet the hedgehog vegetable brush: Veg-Hog

Go from chopsticks to fork to spoon in a snap with Klipo

Kickass cookies a.k.a. Ninjabreadmen

Scooner, The Cook’s Spoon. This nifty gadget is a spatula parading as a ladle

A storage saver, the collapsible funnel

Dress up your desserts and add a personal touch with this food decorating pen

The Throwing Knife Block, chop veggies and put on a circus sideshow at the same time.

The Tupperware Sushi Maker allows you to roll perfect sushi and nigiri at home 

The Rab Mixer is one bunny you wouldn’t want to cuddle with (while its plugged in)

We covered the basics of day old bread not too long ago. It turns out, a crusty loaf could make a fine ingredient for several meals. Now let’s take a look at the other carbs that tend to go to waste: rice and pasta. Ever cooked more than enough rice or pasta for dinner, then packed up the excess only to get lost in the back of the fridge and eventually tossed away?  Take those day-old carbs and turn them into a soup, stir-fry or salad.

Good for lunch or dinner, this Asian-style fried rice is flavored with Kecap Manis soy sauce.

Next-day rice served cold can also be incorporated into salads. The trick here is to keep the rice from drying out by storing it in the fridge in a sealed, air tight container.

Likewise, pasta served cold can be used in a salad that takes little time or effort to throw together for a quick lunch.

If the next-day pasta or rice has gone a bit dry, use them as you would a dry ingredient in soup.

Related Searches on Yummly:

• Brown rice soup
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Americans come from a place where breakfast takes on many forms. Some would say it is the grab-and-go meal of the day, coffee and a bagel. Others might say, it is the most important meal of the day – and a short stack of pancakes, two eggs and a few slices of bacon would treat it as such. It could be argued that a simple bowl of oatmeal is all one needs for a morning boost of energy. Though, for late starters, brunch buffets and mimosas might be more fitting.

Perhaps breakfast is all of the above – a meal defined by choices. A savory omelet or french toast doused in sweet maple syrup with a liberal sprinkle of baker’s sugar. A meat-indulgent cornbeef hash or a veggie frittata. So many choices, in fact, that when we happen upon those days the question of “what’s for dinner?” seems too taxing to answer we throw up our hands and figure why not just put together a late night breakfast.

So here they are, hearty, breakfast for dinner recipes:

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• Bacon breakfast pizza
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Every tomato lover has a personal favorite – the green zebra, a sweet cherry variety or maybe a preference for heirlooms. Equally delicious when  sun-dried, sauced or slowly baked. Though a true tomato lover also savors their taste raw, fresh off the vine. This is the season where no one, no one should have any excuse to settle for hot house “tomatoes.” And to that end, here’s some recipe inspiration.

Related Searches on Yummly:

• Heirloom tomato salad
• Roasted tomato bruschetta
• Tuscan tomato soup
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• Pico de gallo

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