Food & Drink category, Page 108
A sweet opening for new Oakmont Bakery
For everyone else, the opening of Oakmont Bakery’s new home sandwiched between Oakmont’s Third and Sweet streets was, well, sweet. For Marc Serrao, the bakery’s owner, the emotions ran a bit deeper as he fought back tears before cutting the ceremonial ribbon to start a new chapter. “This is all...
Bonfire Food & Drink is heating up the South Side
The South Side has added another restaurant to its stacked roster: Bonfire Food & Drink, a much- anticipated new culinary concept by Chris Bonfili, the chef and owner of Shadyside’s former Avenue B and Sewickley’s B Gourmet. After closing Avenue B last year, Bonfili scoured the city for a location to...
Hold up! Candy hearts will be available for Valentine’s Day after all
If you’ve been holding out for a hero to save your Valentine’s Day from being devoid of those candy conversation hearts … well, your hero has arrived. Recently it was revealed that the iconic SweetHearts candy with phrases like “Be Mine” and “Let’s Kiss” wouldn’t be available this season because...
Turn a plain brown paper bag into the perfect popcorn maker
Microwave popcorn is a great idea—in theory. But most packaged options have a long list of unnatural ingredients and don’t taste very good. This fun recipe turns a plain old brown paper bag—the kind you might use to hold your lunch—into a microwave-safe package for popping corn kernels. Make sure...
Passion fruit is a tart, tropical MVP ingredient
I’ve gone on record here as an avowed Anglophile who thinks there are plenty of things that Brits do better than us. Scones. Tea. Cooking competition shows. I have something else to thank them for: Introducing me to the wonders of passion fruit. In the few weeks I’ve spent across...
Can Hempfield’s Gigi Thomas ‘Bake It Like Buddy?’ Tune in to find out
Hempfield professional baker Gigi Thomas, owner of Gigi’s Signature Bakery, and her husband, non-baker Randy Thomas, will appear on “Cake Boss” Buddy Valastro’s television show “Bake It Like Buddy” at 9 p.m. Feb. 16. The couple will compete against another husband and wife team from Chester, Pa., according to Discovery...
A cookie in a skillet? Skeptical? Just try it
A cookie in a skillet? We admit this Internet phenom made us skeptical—until we tried it. Unlike making a traditional batch of cookies, this treatment doesn’t require scooping, baking and cooling multiple sheets of treats; the whole thing bakes at once in a single skillet. Plus, the hot bottom and...
Buffalo Wild Wings offering free wings if Super Bowl goes into overtime
Are you watching the Super Bowl? Do you like wings? Do you like free wings? If Super Bowl LIII - featuring the New England Patriots vs. the Los Angeles Rams — goes to overtime, everyone gets free wings from Buffalo Wild Wings. The chicken wing chain says everyone gets free...
What’s Brewing? Don’t judge a beer by its glass
There are a lot of odd-looking glasses from which to drink beer. There are tall glasses that you might accidentally slam against your front teeth until you acclimate yourself to the approach. There are behemoth beer mugs that will have you feeling like you’re drinking and lifting weights at the...
Pittsburgh chef, former Steelers player team up for ‘Taste of the NFL’ to benefit food bank
In a way, Scott Walton and Andy Russell have been a part of the same team — only at different times. Russell was a linebacker and part of the “Steel Curtain” defense for the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 1970s until he retired from professional football and went into business. Walton...
No Steelers? No problem. Super Bowl Sunday is all about the food
When you’re a Pittsburgh Steelers fan, Super Bowl LIII is all about wings — and chips and dips, pizzas and guacamole — but not so much about football, at least not this year. So while New England Patriots and Los Angeles Rams fans will be cheering for their teams at...
‘Cubcake Wars’ to help Norwin Lions support Kitty Sack Project
The Norwin Lions will hold their seventh annual Cubcake Wars fundraising event from 1-4 p.m. March 3 in the Norwin High School cafeteria. Numerous bakers will make “cubcakes,” available for a $2 donation, all the while competing for best cubcake, best decorations and most funds raised for best in show....
Most popular conversation hearts won’t be available this Valentine’s Day
The conversation is over. At least this Feb. 14. America’s most beloved Valentine’s Day candy — SweetHearts, those cute conversation hearts with phrases like “Cutie Pie,” “Say Yes” and “True Love” — won’t be on the shelves this year. Why? Well, despite SweetHearts being the No. 1 Valentine’s Day candy,...
Flaky deep-dish pizza worth the time it takes to make at home
If you’re from the Northeast, or if you haven’t been to Chicago, you may dismiss deep-dish pizza out of regional pride. That would be a mistake. Real Chicago-style pizza is certainly thick, but its texture and flavor are something special: Instead of being bread-like, the crust offers the contrast of...
Gentle cooking is the key to ultra-tender white bean soup
The people of Tuscany are known as mangiafagioli, or “bean eaters,” a nod to the prominent role beans play in their cuisine. Cannellini (white kidney) beans are the region’s most famous legume, and Tuscan cooks go to extremes to ensure these beans are cooked perfectly, from simmering them in rainwater...
Cheesy nachos turn after-school snack into a fiesta
These nachos are a cinch to make and can turn after-school snack time for a few kids into something of a fiesta. Or double the recipe and use a 13-by-9-inch baking dish, and you’ll have enough nachos to really get the party started! If you like your nachos spicy, layer...
North Hills restaurant Willow transitioning to events center
Willow, an events center and restaurant at 634 Camp Horne Road in Pittsburgh’s North Hills, is transitioning to a full-time events center. Daily restaurant service concluded on Jan. 19. This focus allows Willow to host new and different events on its recently renovated first floor, representatives say. Flexible catering options...
New Oakmont Bakery promises more great food, expanded service
Loyal customers of Oakmont Bakery can almost smell the freshly baked bread, bagels and rolls and taste the buttercream frosting and chocolate ganache as they drive past the soon-to-open facility just off the Hulton Bridge. The new building, located about a half-mile from the bakery’s current location on Allegheny Avenue...
It’s smoking: Ribs, chicken, pulled pork and brisket on menu at Oakmont’s Burk’s BBQ
When Kevin Burkardt was 2 years old, he pushed a chair up to the stove in his grandmother’s house in an attempt to make bacon and eggs for breakfast. When he was in seventh grade, his mother, Meg Burkart, came home from work one day and saw her son and...
Chef’s recipes put hearty meals on your table
Nanny’s Famous Orange Cookies INGREDIENTS 1 cup shortening 1 teaspoon salt 11⁄2 cups sugar 1 teaspoon baking powder 2 eggs 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 cup milk 4 cups flour Juice and rind of 1 orange DIRECTIONS Cream together shortening and sugar. Add eggs, milk, orange juice and rind. Mix...
In the dark and cold, these dishes warm body and soulVideo
Soon enough (we hope), we will be firing up the grill and covering our dinner plates with colorful salads, ears of corn and refreshing fruit salads. But for now, while the wind howls, the sky turns dark early and temperatures plummet, it’s hearty, filling food we order or prepare at...
Celebrate film buffs’ favorite snack on National Popcorn Day
A snack that’s been around for hundreds of years clearly has staying power, and should have its own day, right? Welcome to National Popcorn Day, celebrated annually on Jan. 19, says the Popcorn Board. What was once — and still is — transformed into garlands to decorate a Christmas tree,...
Oakland Restaurant Week returns with 16 sites for six days of lunch
Oakland Restaurant Week returns, with 16 eateries offering $6 lunches for six days, Jan. 28 through Feb. 2, according to sponsors Oakland Business Improvement District and Sustainable Pittsburgh. Diners also can enter to win free lunch for one month, along with other prizes from participating Oakland retail businesses. Also, people...
Dr Pepper petitions to be official soft drink of Texas
Why not? Some states have rather strange official symbols — Mississippi has an official toy: the teddy bear; Maryland has an official exercise: walking; and Utah has an official snack: Jell-O. So, when Dr Pepper started a Change.org petition to become the official soft drink of Texas, it really doesn’t...
Pittsburgh friends show off creative skills on Food Network’s ‘Winner Cake All’
This baking experience definitely was the icing on the cake. That’s what Pittsburgh-area friends Cathy Lucas Burnheimer and Lesley Polinko Wasielewski say about their upcoming appearance on the Food Network’s “Winner Cake All.” The episode airs at 10 p.m. Jan. 21. The two say the experience was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity...
