Do you have some advice on purchasing a really good knife sharpener for a friend? Before you choose a knife sharpener, you need to know what type of knives your friend has. Japanese style and European style blades are manufactured with a different angle edge. Most European knives have an…
Yesterday in Sweet Talk Chris D’Angeli let us know what she thinks of cupcakes, how she is hungry to compete again on the Food Network Challenge, and why Phoenicians could use a dose of Texas. Chris is the chef-owner of Slice, a custom cake studio where she designs and creates…
Why are we joining the Meatless Monday campaign? We do it for ourselves, (adding a variety of grains, fresh fruits and vegetables is good for our bodies), for the environment (easy way to reduce our carbon footprint), we believe in purchasing humanely raised and slaughtered animals, we love fruits, vegetables…
In her 15- year career, pastry chef Chris D’Angeli has created an impressive resume. Since graduating from the Culinary Institute of America, Chris has traversed the U.S., working in five star hotel properties like The Ritz Carlton, as well as world renown resorts and restaurants like The Trapp Family Lodge,…
LynnRae Ries from Gluten Free Creations has been providing Valley restaurants with gluten free breads and sweets for seven years. Yesterday LynnRae shared the story of her motivation to provide great baked goods to others, like her, who have some form of gluten intolerance or other food allergies. You don’t…
Last week we announced our commitment to participate in the grass root efforts for Meatless Monday. A recap of why we made going meatless one day a week a resolution to kick off our New Year: Personal health is a motivation; we all know that increasing a variety of grains,…
Eleven years ago, LynnRae Ries was diagnosed with celiac disease. At the time she was a business owner peddling pretty nail art and traveling extensively with her life and business partner, Verne. Her business demanded a lifestyle that kept her on the road eating most of her meals in restaurants…
Last week local chefs shared restaurant predictions with Michele Laudig, and Wynter Holden mused about her high hopes for Steampunk cooking to trend in 2011. Taking a look closer to hearth and home, here are trends we think will influence the way we garden, shop, cook, and eat. DIY: The…
Yesterday we chatted with Carol Konyha, freelance dessert designer. Carol’s Hungarian roots and fondness for butter and sour cream drive her approach to baking. Her keen senses and skill with her hands produce desserts as pretty to look at as they are to devour. Best of all, Carol’s baked goods…
We believe in the adage everything in moderation, no extreme exclamations are on our list of New Year resolutions. Which is why we like the idea of Meatless Monday, a movement that has been quietly growing since 2003 appealing to authors, nutritionists, filmmakers, health professionals, athletes, environmentalists, public school administrators,…
Search the translation of “kitchen” from English to Hungarian and you will find the word konyha. Search for the most moist, well-balanced chocolate cake in Phoenix and find Carol Konyha, freelance pastry chef and custom clothing designer. Carol’s classic desserts are featured on the menus of the Coronado Café (triple…
Whatever the plans for New Year’s Eve, a night in with family and libations or a cocktail hour soiree with friends before heading out on the town, you need some simple and elegant bites to accompany the champagne. We have a menu in mind, and recipes for classic Hors D’Oeuvre…
In the spirit of tying up loose ends, we’re recapping some of our favorite food-related finds of the year. We’ve already recapped the Best Books, Battle of the Dishes, and Just Offal favorite posts from 2010; today we bring you our favorite recipes. The recipe picks for 2010 are as varied as our…
Carol Blonder Walnut Spritz CookieCookie exchanges are a staple at every holiday office party, including the offices of Chow Bella. But the contributors to this blog are a cutthroat bunch, and with an inordinate amount of trash talk thrown about, our cookie exchange quickly became a cookie showdown. Today’s our…
Making a list of picks for the top 5 books on food published in 2010 forced us to consider criteria for adding a book to our shelves. With apps for our smart phones in the addition to blogs and Internet sites devoted to cooking, it’s easy to conclude we don’t…
They follow food blogs daily, are the first in line to try new restaurants, and can be found at the farmers market every weekend. What to give your foodie fanatic for the holiday? Click our lists, we checked them twice: tools for the chef, a suggestive sampling of locally grown/made…
At first glance, each photograph in Carl Warner’s Food Landscapes appear to the viewer as a vividly colored, perhaps a touch surreal, pictorial landscape. As the eyes focus, the details of the photograph reveal compositions that are evocative of a landscape, but entirely created from food. The themed photographic landscapes…
Yesterday in Sweet Talk, Julia Baker of Julia Baker Confections talked about following her taste buds to develop chocolates that are balanced in flavor and beautiful. Her new line of signature chocolate bars are both. Just in time for the return of chilly nights and holiday beverages, Julia shares her…
They follow food blogs daily, are the first in line to try new restaurants, and can be found at the farmers market every weekend. What to give your foodie fanatic for the holiday? Click our lists, we checked them twice,: tools for the chef, a and a suggestive sampling of…
We recently visited Julia Baker at her headquarters in the Scottsdale Airpark. The “no talking” kitchen was in full swing preparing holiday confections for corporate customers and Julia Baker’s Chocolate Boutique at The Montelucia. Julia graciuosly gave us a tour, and of coarse a tasting of her signature chocolate including…
Why do all of my cookies come out hard as rocks? Made “chewy” snicker doodles this weekend and they turned out like crackers. What am I doing wrong? A little difficult to determine where you went wrong without being in the kitchen with you while you were baking. Here are…
This week, several interested parties asked, “How do I bake with pot?” A timely question, with the recent passage of Prop 203 and the potential business opportunities for supplying baked goods to medical marijuana dispensaries. Budding entrepreneur, are you? (Note: We’re not saying we’ve tried any of this firsthand. That would…
