National Soul Food Month

What are you cooking?

June is National Soul Food month, the perfect time to whip up dishes like this gooey mac and cheese, which is one of my all-time favorites. I don't know many people who don't love mac and cheese and I'm sure it would be a hit with many of them!

But it's also a great time to visit your local soul food restaurants that are Black-owned and could really use the business right now during social distancing. See if they offer curbside, to-go or delivery options and if you don't know of any in your area, search for something new to try! Ask friends and family for suggestions and enjoy something you haven't yet tried.

What's your favorite soul food or place to get it? Tell us in the chat!

Klat Categories: 
Food & Beverage
Dining Out

Must-Visit Black-Owned Restaurants

Share your favorites in the chat

Sharing Black-owned businesses is important each and every day, and there are so many wonderful Black-owned restaurants in the United States that we could share them that often and never run out of listings.

Where I'm from in St. Louis, there's no chance of running out of Black-owned restaurants to try, and our city is famous for some of the best food in the nation. You might not like provel cheese or T-ravs (many locals don't, either, although I love them both!), but you are bound to find something delightful at Sweetie Pie's, one of Oprah's own favorite places. From BBQ to gourmet food, specialties to sweets, St. Louis is one great place to eat and many places are offering curbside and to-go service.

Where are the best Black-owned restaurants where you live? Share them in the chat!

Klat Categories: 
Food & Beverage

Cool Charcuterie Ideas

Share yours in the chat!

A charcuterie board full of meats, cheeses, crackers, breads, spreads, olives and veggies is always a good idea! It usually has something for everyone and provides fun, bite-sized things to nibble while you mingle and entertain. Sometimes the same old charcuterie board gets boring after a while, so how do you spice it up?

Using a variety of new meats and cheeses is a great idea, especially if you go to a specialty shop and get a few flavors your friends haven't tried yet. Including decadent treats like dates and figs is a great idea, and you can experiment with herbs and spices mixed in hummus, cream cheese and sour cream to use as cracker spreads or dips. If you want to go really exotic, you could provide some seafood if it's safe for your guests, a bit of caviar or tiny quail eggs, and other delicacies.

What do you like to include on your charcuterie boards? Share your ingredients in the chat!

Klat Categories: 
Food & Beverage

Foodie Photo Winners

Check out the winners of the 2020 Pink Lady Food Photography Contest!

Food is life, and as hungry bloggers we all know this. How many of us even plan our trips around places we want to eat? The reality is that food is complicated and in short supply in many areas while it's revered, maybe even worshiped, in others. We've all seen the photos of what groceries for different families around the world look like and it's very humbling.

The 2020 Pink Lady Food Photography Contest really highlights the disparities, as these winners show. Take a look through the photos and see how widely they vary. What does it make you think about food and the way it's treated, not to mention its availability in our society? Share your thoughts in the chat.

Klat Categories: 
Society
Culture

Best Mexican Restaurants In The Country

Which ones would you add?

Like many people, I miss eating out in public with my family. It was one of the highlights of our week. I'd much rather keep them, myself and restaurant employees safe, so I'm fine waiting to eat out again, and we've been using carryout options as much as we can to help support local businesses in the meantime.

I have to say that I miss eating in Mexican restaurants the most. I love the colors, the Spanish, the smells, the chips and salsa... It's just not the same at home. So when I saw this list of 12 best Mexican restaurants in America, I knew I had to pin it for future road trips! Just look at this variety, ranging from the menus to the decor. It's a very exciting list of places to try.

Where is your favorite Mexican restaurant? How can you show them some love right now? Are gift cards an option? Give your favorite restaurant a nod in the chat!

Klat Categories: 
Food & Beverage

Kitchen Gizmos and Gadgets You Can't Live Without

Share your favorites!

Whether it's your Instant Pot or your mixer, your favorite goofy serving utensils or your grill, there's probably something in your kitchen that you feel like you can't live without. We are so fortunate to live in an innovative time with so many cool kitchen inventions that it can even be overwhelming at times. There are definitely items that take up more space for me than they're worth (I'm looking at you, rice cooker and K-cup coffee maker in the back of my cabinet!).

For me, I'd have to say it's all about the coffee. I love my regular drip machine and cheap but effective little frothing wand. I'm also grateful for my fridge and stove, which are obviously used daily, and my dishwasher, which is probably my favorite machine in the house aside from my laptop.

What is your favorite kitchen gadget? Share it in the chat!

Klat Categories: 
Food & Beverage

Fun Cooking Challenges For The Family

Try out one of these activities tonight!

Many Americans are experimenting with new recipes these days while they spend more time at home, and it's the perfect opportunity to not only to learn how to cook, or teach the kids how to do it, but to actually experiment in the kitchen for some fun. There are all kinds of fun challenges you can do, from your own Chopped night with pre-selected ingredients to assigning each member of the family a dish to create a mini potluck.

Pick out some kid-friendly recipes, or set out some ingredients from which everyone can build their own tacos, pita pockets, pizzas or another finger food. Cut up foods into tiny pieces and use skewers to eat them, or create masterpieces of art with your food before you eat it. Try incorporating some natural food coloring for even more whimsy.

What kinds of fun cooking games and activities are you doing at home? Share them in the chat.

Klat Categories: 
Food & Beverage
Home Cooking

The Best Pork Chop Recipes

Which is your favorite?

In our house, pork is a favorite protein, only coming second to chicken. We like to make it in a wide variety of ways, with my favorites being medallions or a nice tenderloin marinated in something delicious, like mesquite barbecue sauce. We would love to try some new recipes for pork chops, so I thought I'd ask how everyone else likes to have their pork!

This recipe for seared chops with creamy cheese sauce looks quite good, as do these bacon and mushroom chops. These creamy garlic parmesan pork chops also look great!

What's the best pork chop recipe you've tried yet? Share it in the chat!

Klat Categories: 
Food & Beverage
Home Cooking

Zaffi Taffy And Pork Clouds

Sugar-Free Products of the Week!

Each week, I've been sampling a new sugar-free snack or two and I thought I'd share some of them with my fellow hungry bloggers. My dietary needs include sugar-free foods, but I know plenty of people like to cut down the amount of sugar in their diets, too. This week I tried Pork Clouds and Zaffi Taffy.

Pork rinds are such a great sugar-free snack, but I've never enjoyed the flavor or how hard their crunch is. Sometimes they feel like eating rocks! So when I heard about Pork Clouds, which are supposed to be much softer and come in a variety of flavors, I knew I had to try them. I tried the Habanero Pepper flavor, which was good, but they were pretty much as hard as any pork rinds as I've had in the past. The package I received from Bariatricpal were also best used by six months ago, so maybe that had something to do with it. I would try them again in another flavor and hopefully a fresher pack to see if I liked them again. 

Zaffi Taffy, on the other hand, was great! It's from the same maker of Zollipops. I am a taffy lover and miss it, so you bet I wanted to try these. They aren't exactly like saltwater taffy but they're fruity, chewy and flavorful without being too sticky, and as a bonus, they clean your teeth with xylitol. After having two after a meal each day, I've already re-ordered some.

What sugar-free products are you enjoying this week? Share them in the chat!

Klat Categories: 
Food & Beverage

Craving Cheese Sticks?

Share your favorite mozz stick recipes!

Lots of people are turning to making their favorite snacks and finger foods at home these days, and mozzarella sticks are one of the easiest, quickest of these foods to make. In a few minutes you can have delicious, greasy goodness just in time for a new TV binging session.

Since I tend to avoid carbs and sugar, I make mine by simply rolling string cheese in beaten eggs, then I dunk them in finely crumbled pork rinds. I add a bunch of spices to the crumbled pork rinds--usually garlic, salt, pepper and whatever else I'm feeling like. Then I fry them up in hot oil and enjoy the cheesy goodness! If you prefer panko or bread crumbs, those would also work, as would many other crumbled chips for flavor!

How do you like making fried cheese at home? Share your recipes in the chat.

 

Klat Categories: 
Vegetarian / Vegan

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