Let us take a walk down memory lane to revisit “the freshman 15,” that first year in college when we are faced with a new routine, environment and stress. We are away from home full time without adult supervision, and we live on an unlimited meal plan, so we eat, eat and eat and gain weight.

There haven’t been many celebrations in the Northwest wine industry this summer, but a few glasses were raised Sept. 2 when the federal government established the Royal Slope in Washington state’s Columbia Basin as an American Viticultural Area.

Nearly 200 food suppliers, including some of the largest producers in the world, have pledged to reduce their food waste by half before 2030. The companies, who make products such as Rice Krispies, Hellmann’s mayonnaise and Spam, have joined the 10x20x30 initiative.

Oktoberfest, the annual two-week Bavarian folk festival that draws visitors from around the world, was canceled this year for the first time since World War II. Amid mounting global coronavirus cases in April, German officials deemed the Munich beer tents, oompah concerts and food stalls too risky to continue.

Nigel Slater is a food writer’s food writer. The prolific British author’s famously brief recipe introductions read like haikus: “Roasted pumpkin. Smooth, silky mash.” “Autumn mushrooms, ribbons of pasta, a breath of aniseed.” “Crisp pastry. Warm banana. The scent of maple syrup.” 

One upside of working from home, as many of us are these days, is the ability to upgrade your lunch from what you might normally tote to the office. Take a sandwich, for example. At home, you can incorporate small transformative elements typically impossible at work.

Everyone should have a handful of go-to appetizers for potlucks, parties, snacking or game days, and especially those that require minimal ingredients, pack big flavor and can be made in advance. Jalapeño poppers, with their kick of spice, are one of my favorite apps but are quite tedious to make.

Latin American cuisine is just about as American as apple pie by this point – ever heard of Taco Bell? It’s obviously not authentic by any means, but its widespread presence of more than 5,000 locations across the United States goes to show that the taco, along with other Latin American staples, has had a profound influence on what foods are popularly eaten in the United States.

This is likely the first and last time I will use lyrics from Zac Brown Band’s “Chicken Fried” for a headline and story, but it is appropriate for the topic at hand this week: fried chicken. Lacy Muszynski, writing for MSN.com, recently named Park Inn as one of the best holes-in-the-wall for fried chicken in America.

Seattle-based Ethan Stowell Restaurants is opening its first Tavolata restaurant in Spokane. Tavolàta will be the new anchor tenant in the Old City Hall Building at 221 N. Wall St., occupying more than 5,000 square feet on the first floor that formerly housed an Olive Garden.

Hard seltzer was the defining drink of the summer of 2019. Demand for the bubbly, low-calorie quaff is showing no signs of going flat, and 2020 has seen a flood of new brands hoping to get in on the party. The category is still dominated by White Claw and Truly.

Josh West of Elephant Seven Wine in downtown Walla Walla has a pretty good idea what he’ll hear from vineyard manager Kenny Hart when the news breaks about the best wine at the 2020 Walla Walla Valley Wine Competition.

My husband had just finished roasting summer squash from our garden. As he spooned the squash into a storage dish, the alarms blared: carbon monoxide, aka “the silent killer.” He called 911, evacuated the house and waited for the firefighters to show up.

These are not typical flapjacks with bits of apple and carrot mixed in for seasoning. Here, the produce leads the way with mounds of shredded green apple and carrot bound into tender, lightly browned skillet cakes with just enough egg and whole grain flour to hold them together in pancake form.

Prohibition Gastropub's John Leonetti announced on Prohibition Gastropub's Facebook page on Thursday that chef Michael Wiley will assume ownership and operation of the restaurant on Oct. 1, as Leonetti and his family are moving to Phoenix after operating the business located at 1914 N. Monroe St. for five years.

Fried chicken is my all-time favorite food, so it’s no surprise that I’ve tried dozens of recipes looking for that perfect batch. While some were OK, others produced overcooked – er, burnt – crusts and dry meat or delectably crunchy crusts with pink, undercooked meat.

When buying chicken at the grocery store, most people purchase a specific cut. Buying a whole chicken probably doesn’t appeal to most as a lot of us save cooking a whole bird for that one special annual occasion – Thanksgiving. OK, maybe you do it twice, Thanksgiving and Christmas.

If the coronavirus pandemic was not already enough (and it really is), this last weekend’s record-setting hazardous air quality in Spokane made me give up (for the most part). Like much of the population, I have become a shut-in now to keep myself and others safe.

Eating vegetables raw fits not only our summer mindsets but also the produce available. Radishes, cucumbers, tomatoes, green beans, celery and lettuces: Take a bite from your market bag, and if they’re ripe, they’re pretty good. Snappy-sweet. Crunchy-crisp. And we didn’t have to do anything to get there.