Weekly food rail, with a critique of Burger King's latest offering, tips on choosing lettuce, an easy recipe for fresh strawberry sauce, and more.

July is the promise of beach weather. And paperback books that you don’t mind filling with sand and splashing with salty water when you get so lost in a story that you forget the incoming tide. Just thought I’d share my summer reading list, which includes some beach reads and a few porch reads, books too heavy to lug out to the shoreline and too good to miss.

Fresh fruits, crunchy veggies and lean meats are becoming some of the highest priced foods in grocery stores. Meanwhile, heavily processed foods sport prices that appear more appealing to the college student living on her own or the financially strapped mother of four looking for a bargain in a sour economy. However, it is possible to eat healthy — without paying the price — by putting health first, shopping smart, and making the most from your meals.

Road trip nets memorable brews in the Steel City.

Rule No. 1: There really are no rules. The old adage of white meat/white wine, red meat/red wine is pretty much out the window.

 Springfield State Journal-Register staff tests new products.

When choosing strawberries, look for brightly colored, plump berries that still have the green caps attached.

Edible flowers were popular during the Victorian era, but you don’t need a complicated recipe to cook with them. In fact, the simpler, the better.

July is National Berry Month, and one way to celebrate is with a zabaglione. Strange word, I know. Here’s how to say it: zah-bahl-YOH-nay. Accent on the YOH.

You’ll find two families of head lettuce on the produce counter — the Crisphead and the Butterhead.

You may find this French word for “house” describing menu offerings.

The Chef’n garlic cutter tackles the nasty chore of mincing garlic in a new way. A piston with a knife on the end crushes the cloves with a few twists of the handle. Your fingers will never touch the clove.

Weekly food rail, with items on bacteria-inhibiting molecules in coffee, an easy recipe for Spanish Rice, tips for making safe, tasty burgers, and more.

Chef shows how to make grilled Scottish salmon with smoked tomato jam and lentils with asparagus vinaigrette

Recently a young couple asked me to cook a special occasion dinner featuring one of their favorites, penne alla vodka. They explained that they felt this particular dish honors both their Italian-American backgrounds and also celebrates their love story, meeting during one frozen winter in Russia.