
Since moms are so precious to us, the best gift we can give them on their special day is a list of foods to keep our gal pals healthy, happy, youthful and sexy. Here’s a primer on fabulous female foods for all ages to relish on Mother’s Day and throughout the year.

Americans love their shrimp, chowing down 1.7 billion pounds a year. We’re paying homage to this beloved, multi-tasking crustacean that can be dressed up in cocktail sauce at a black tie event or skewered California casual style on the Barbie, by celebrating National Shrimp Day on May 10th. Here’s a primer to help you navigate through the shoals of the shrimp world to get the most out of this remarkable seafood.

Earth Day is celebrated globally on April 22 as folks pay homage to the planet’s bounty with a rekindling of community awareness and commitment to a cleaner, greener, safer place in the universe we call home. So rally your sustainable sensibilities while kicking up your heels and shrinking your carbon footprints.

A die-hard eggovore, I never met one I didn’t love. Scrambled, hard boiled, over easy, poached, Rocky Mountain toast, frittatas, omelets and deviled. Of course, we’re talking about chicken eggs, right? But the latest egg on the celebrity chef’s radar, and dubbed by Bon Appétit magazine as one of the 25 hottest trends this year is the duck egg. That’s no yolk. Here’s an egg primer so you can choose between the hen house and the duck farm. Quack, quack!

Spring gently drifts in, bringing with it a stream of festivals, holidays and sporting events accompanied by a crop of tender shoots and other traditional foods celebrating rebirth, rejuvenation, freedom, the national pastime and the Earth’s bounty. Inquiring culinary minds want to know about spring’s best offerings. Here are the answers.

As a little girl, I hovered around the kitchen after school, especially when my beloved grandma, a governess and trained chef, came over to give my mom cooking lessons. Grandma Eva was one of those old school European cooks who made everything painstakingly from scratch. One afternoon she warned me to steer clear and go outside and play, as this particular lesson was going to be a teary-eyed one.

To most kids, celery is a snack found in nerds’ lunch bags or a prop used for science experiments to show how colored water transports through vascular bundles. To most adults, celery is a stirring stick for a Bloody Mary. But this Mediterranean native — a sibling to carrots, cumin, parsley and cilantro — is an unsung hero in the gustatory world. As March roars in, let’s celebrate National Celery Month with every cook’s best stalk-in-trade.

March celebrates National Nutrition Month, so we can get back into fine form as we shed layers of clothing, along with bad habits and pounds. Here’s a handful of creative and sensible suggestions to maintain a healthy gustatory lifestyle — no ifs, ands or butts!

Welcoming friends and family into your home (or palace) to break bread together and share cordials has been a custom for centuries. Here’s a glimpse into some of the most outlandish dinner parties of all times.

Here is a selection from the arsenal of protective foods that will keep your sick days down and spirits up.