John Cox

Blogs · @wyome

Tagged food · everything

www.mentalfloss.com

It’s Grilling Season, Which Means It’s Also Clean-Your-Grill Season—Here Are the Best Ways To Do It

Regular grill cleaning prevents buildup that degrades flavor, reduces heat efficiency, and risks foodborne illness, with a practical approach involving quick cleanups after each use plus deeper monthly maintenance. The guide recommends scrubbing hot grates with a brush or aluminum foil, vacuuming out ash and debris, scraping the grease trap, wiping the exterior with mild cleaners, and soaking removable parts seasonally, with an optional trick of using a halved onion to break up stubborn gunk.

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www.mensjournal.com

The best and worst foods a man can eat

Men’s Journal’s guide rates 54 common foods to help men choose what to eat by assigning letter grades across meal categories—breakfast, lunch, snacks, and dinner—based on nutrient profiles and health impacts. The list highlights winners like [[bananas]], [[eggs]], [[chicken]], [[spinach]], [[tuna]], [[fish]], and [[berries]] for protein, vitamins, and omega-3s, while calling out losers such as [[fast-food burgers]], [[french fries]], [[margarine]], [[buttered popcorn]], and highly processed baked goods for excess fat, sodium, and added sugar. The piece emphasizes whole foods, lean proteins, fiber-rich plants, and healthy fats like [[olive oil]] as better daily choices, and recommends limiting fried, charred, and sugar-laden items to protect cardiovascular health and maintain muscle and performance. It also notes occasional treats such as [[dark chocolate]] and [[pizza]] can fit in moderation, and advises watching portion sizes, added salts, and cooking methods to reduce risks.

Permalink foodnutritionhealthfitness

www.lonelyplanet.com

The ultimate guide to BBQ in Texas

Texas barbecue tradition emphasizes slow-cooking beef over low wood heat for 12-16 hours, with regional variations in wood type (hickory or pecan in the east, oak in central Texas, mesquite in the west) creating distinct flavor profiles. The guide covers the importance of rubs—both wet and dry—as seasoning foundations that are equally crucial to sauce, though sauce itself is regionally debated; authentic joints are identified by their smoke-blackened simplicity, meat sold by the pound, and an ethos that the meat's natural quality should speak for itself. Dining etiquette demands embracing the mess, wearing stain-forgiving clothing, and eating with hands or fork depending on the cut, with some legendary establishments like Kreuz Market refusing to provide forks entirely.

Permalink foodtraveltexasbarbecue

www.islands.com

Here's How Anthony Bourdain Always Found The Best Local Restaurants When Traveling

This piece offers practical strategies inspired by Anthony Bourdain for finding authentic local restaurants and avoiding tourist traps when traveling. It suggests visiting local markets, seeking advice on community boards, talking directly with locals, and being adventurous with unfamiliar dishes—while steering clear of restaurants with telltale tourist-trap signs like prominent English menus, tourist-heavy locations, and high table-to-staff ratios. The article frames these approaches as ways to eat authentically and affordably like Bourdain did throughout his travels.

Permalink foodrestaurantstraveladvice

www.huffingtonpost.co.uk

17 Simple Food Swaps For When You Run Out Of Ingredients

This quarantine-focused guide provides practical ingredient substitutions for common baking and cooking staples, recognizing that grocery shopping becomes difficult during lockdowns. The substitutions cover basics like butter, eggs, dairy, flour, and sugar, as well as aromatics, herbs, and proteins, with specific measurements to help maintain recipe integrity. While acknowledged as imperfect flavor matches, these swaps allow home cooks to continue cooking with ingredients already on hand rather than abandoning recipes mid-preparation.

Permalink foodrecipescookingadvice

www.foodandwine.com

27 Delightful Recipes with White Wine

This roundup of 27 recipes shows creative ways to use leftover [[white wine]] to elevate everyday meals, from bright, citrusy preparations to rich, creamy sauces. The collection runs the gamut — simple one-pot pastas and risottos, shellfish-forward plates like [[mussels]] and baked clams, elegant preparations such as [[Lobster Thermidor]] and Coq au [[Riesling]], and weeknight-friendly roasted or pan-seared [[chicken breasts]] finished with wine-based pan sauces. The recipes explore how different varieties — including [[Sauvignon Blanc]], [[Pinot Grigio]], and [[Riesling]] — interact with ingredients like mushrooms, shallots, herbs, and cream, and teach techniques such as deglazing, braising, and poaching. Notes on substitutions, wine choices, and pairing suggestions make this a practical guide for home cooks seeking to add depth and acidity to savory dishes without wasting a partial bottle. It also highlights vegetarian options.

Permalink foodrecipescookingwine

www.foodandwine.com

What It Was Like to Eat with Anthony Bourdain

[[Laurie Woolever]] remembers traveling and eating with [[Anthony Bourdain]], describing moments that ranged from decadent to domestic. She recounts filming at [[Aqueduct Racetrack]] where they ate mass-produced [[Jamaican beef patties]] off wobbly plastic cups, an oddly perfect scene, and a swanky scavenger hunt for [[Dungeness crab]] with [[caviar]] and Champagne before a private jet departure. In Vietnam she chased a bowl of [[Bún bò Huế]] at a market counter, slurping broth alongside a local cook. In Japan he chased novelty canned coffee from a [[Shinkansen]] platform vending machine, and in Sri Lanka he led a crew rooftop feast after finding a nearby [[KFC]] following a long shoot at the [[Madai Festival]]. [[Woolever]] conveys his generosity, humor, and the permission to choose simple pleasure over spectacle.

Permalink foodtravelmemoirdining

www.foodandwine.com

The Best Sandwich in Every State

David Landsel presents a state-by-state tour of America's sandwich culture, celebrating regional icons and long‑running shops. From New Orleans' [[muffuletta]] to Maine's chilled [[lobster roll]], Tampa's classic [[Cuban sandwich]] and Los Angeles' hand‑carved [[pastrami]], the piece profiles the origin stories, signature ingredients, and local rituals that make each bite worthy of pilgrimage. Landsel emphasizes enduring institutions and homegrown inventions—like Chicago's [[Italian beef]] and the Midwest [[pork tenderloin sandwich]]—while excluding burgers, hot dogs, burritos, tacos, and most barbecue to focus squarely on sandwiches proper. The tone blends history, travel dispatch, and appetite-driven reporting, offering readers a road map to favorites, recommended purveyors, and the cultural reasons these sandwiches resonate in their communities. He spotlights small family businesses, historic delis, roadside stands, and coastal shacks, connecting food, place, and memory.

Permalink foodrestaurantsroad tripssandwiches

www.esquire.com

Esquire’s Best Martinis in America: 2025 Edition

Esquire's guide celebrates martinis being creatively reimagined by bartenders across America rather than treated as a sacred, untouchable classic. The piece showcases over twenty exceptional martinis from restaurants nationwide—ranging from faithful traditional versions to inventive variations featuring ingredients like za'atar, pineapple amaro, pickled okra, matcha, and even anchovy-fat-washed vodka. Rather than prescribing one correct way to make a martini, the collection demonstrates that the drink's enduring appeal lies in its flexibility as a canvas for seasonal ingredients, local flavors, and bartender creativity.

Permalink foodcocktailsrestaurantstravel

www.eater.com

The Way You’re Making Fresh Pasta Is Needlessly Fussy

The article argues that the traditional "well method" for making fresh pasta—creating a flour mound with an egg-filled center—persists largely because it looks photogenic and romantic rather than because it's actually the best technique for home cooks. While pasta authorities like Marcella Hazan defend the method for its ability to control flour absorption, the author points out that many professional chefs now acknowledge bowl-mixing works just as well, especially for smaller home batches, and that the well method's association with Italian tradition has been partly invented to serve nationalist identity-building rather than culinary necessity. The piece suggests a practical compromise: mixing eggs and some flour in a bowl first, then transferring to a floured counter to knead, which gives you control without the yolk-explosion disasters most home cooks experience.

Permalink social mediafoodrecipescooking

www.apartmenttherapy.com

We Tried 8 Ways to Cook Bacon and Found an Absolute Winner

Food writer Ann Taylor Pittman tested eight methods for cooking bacon—including skillet, microwave, oven-baking, air fryer, sous vide, and cast iron—to determine which produces the best results. Baking bacon on parchment paper at 400°F emerged as the clear winner, delivering evenly cooked, consistently crisp or chewy strips with virtually effortless cleanup and the ability to save drippings. Cast iron and sous vide methods also performed well for specific uses, while quicker methods like the microwave sacrifice texture control and drippings preservation.

Permalink foodcookingmartha stewartbacon

www.allrecipes.com

6 Southern Gravy Recipes Made for Biscuits

This gallery gathers beloved Southern [[gravy]] recipes and approachable variations that uplift breakfasts, brunches and dinners, from creamy [[sausage]] and country gravies to deep-flavored [[brown gravy]] and brisk [[red-eye gravy]]. Step-by-step directions highlight how simple pantry staples — rendered pan drippings, flour or cornstarch, milk or stock, butter and basic seasonings — transform into silky sauces to ladle over warm [[biscuits]], flaky [[chicken-fried steak]], creamy [[mashed potatoes]], buttered [[greens]] or coarse [[grits]]. The collection includes pork-forward options, chicken-based gravies, mushroom-enhanced versions and meatless cream gravies, plus tips for achieving smooth consistency, adjusting seasoning and reheating without separating. Serving suggestions, shortcut techniques and notes on texture make these Southern classics practical for weekday meals, holiday spreads and family-style comfort cooking.

Permalink foodrecipesbreakfastchicken

www.afar.com

The Best Things to Do in Mexico City

This is the Arena México write-up, covering Friday-night lucha libre matches in the Doctores neighborhood — a piece that pitches Mexican wrestling not as kitsch but as a legitimate window into the country's mythology and performance culture, complete with dancing girls, costumed characters, and real athletic skill. It's worth keeping for practical tips (buy tickets in person, arrive early, shop the outside stalls for masks and capes) as much as for the argument that skeptical concierges and cabbies undersell how worthwhile the spectacle is.

Permalink foodartarchitecturetravel

www.theguardian.com

Why do people love spicy food – even when it hurts to eat it?

Spicy food isn't a taste at all but a pain response: capsaicin hijacks TRPV1 receptors designed to detect tissue-damaging heat, triggering sweating, tearing and a full alarm reaction in the nervous system. The piece explains why humans nonetheless crave this via genetic variation in receptor sensitivity, desensitisation with repeated exposure, and "benign masochism" — the brain learning the sensation is safe and rewarding, releasing endorphins much like cold showers or rollercoasters. It ends with practical relief tips, noting milk, yoghurt and even mint ice-cream neutralise capsaicin far better than water or beer.

Permalink foodscience

www.foodandwine.com

Skip the Wine: Here’s What Ina Garten Brings to a Dinner Party Instead

With the holidays approaching, Food & Wine editor Katie Brown highlights what [[Ina Garten]] prefers to bring to a dinner party: thoughtful, non-immediate-use host gifts. Rather than a bottle of wine or a charcuterie board, Garten opts for items the host can enjoy later—examples include [[Graza Glass Duo Gift Set]] with cooking and finishing olive oils, the decorative [[Bialetti Dolce & Gabbana Blu Mediterraneo Coffee Gift Tin]], the Brooklyn-roasted [[Nguyen Coffee Supply The Original Vietnamese Coffee Trio]], cozy [[Art of Tea Festive Chai Bundle]], indulgent [[Fran’s Chocolates Smoked Salt Caramels]], and a whimsical [[M&S Luxury Gold Tea Light-Up Tin]]. The piece lists price points and retailers, suggests options for coffee, tea, and sweets lovers, and rounds out recommendations with additional curated gift boxes and specialty food brands.

Permalink foodholidayhostingcoffee

noogatoday.6amcity.com

thepointsguy.com

How much should I tip when I travel?

This is TPG's practical breakdown of tipping norms across travel contexts—hotels, tours, cruises, all-inclusives, and flights—rather than a single-country etiquette guide. Key takeaways worth remembering: housekeeping deserves $3-5/day, tour guides 10-20% of cost, flight attendants generally can't accept cash tips (Frontier being the exception), and cruise/all-inclusive gratuities are typically already baked into the bill via daily service charges. It also flags cultural variation, noting tipping is unwelcome in Japan and Australia but expected across much of Europe, the Middle East, and Latin America.

Permalink foodtravelhotelshospitality

gearjunkie.com

The Best Backpacking Meals of 2025

GearJunkie's annually updated ranking of freeze-dried and pouch backpacking meals, built from taste-testing thousands of options across thru-hikes of the PCT, CDT, and AT plus blind panel tests. Peak Refuel's Chicken Pesto tops the list for its calorie-to-weight ratio, with Readywise's Still Lake Lasagna as the budget pick and newer additions like Bowl & Kettle's Crawfish Étouffée and tinned Patagonia Provisions seafood rounding out splurge and protein-boosting options. Worth keeping mainly for the comparison chart (price, calories, water needed, prep time) and the buyer's-guide breakdown of calorie-density rules, cooking methods, and dietary-restriction picks.

Permalink hikingfreeze-driedfoodbackpacking

theboutiqueadventurer.com

83 European Bucket List Ideas for Travellers - The Boutique Adventurer: Luxury Adventure Travel Blog

This article compiles 83 European bucket list ideas, blending iconic landmarks, natural wonders and immersive experiences across the continent. From chasing the [[Northern Lights]] in [[Iceland]] and cruising a zodiac among icebergs at [[Jökulsárlón]] to exploring ancient amphitheatres like the [[Colosseum]] in [[Rome]], readers are guided through memorable moments: sipping wine in [[Montepulciano]], driving coastal routes on the [[Isle of Skye]] and soaking in sunsets on [[Santorini]]. It highlights architectural marvels such as [[Sagrada Familia]] and the [[Eiffel Tower]], historic mysteries like [[Stonehenge]], and unique cultural rituals from opera in [[Verona]] to spa culture in [[Baden-Baden]]. It also suggests coastal drives on the [[Amalfi Coast]] and climbs like [[Ben Nevis]]. Practical tips on timing, tickets and seasonal considerations are interwoven with evocative descriptions to help travellers plan a once-in-a-lifetime European itinerary.

Permalink foodhistoryarchitecturetravel

carolinas.eater.com

18 Best Restaurants in Charlotte, North Carolina

This is a curated guide to 18 restaurants across Charlotte representing various cuisines, price points, and styles, from the historic Original Chicken & Ribs (the only remaining Green Book establishment in the city) to fine dining destinations like the Michelin-starred Counter- and newly acclaimed spots like Rada and Albertine. The list reflects Charlotte's cultural growth, with additions highlighting Mediterranean, Spanish-Italian, Vietnamese, Szechuan, and high-end omakase options alongside Southern heritage cooking and wood-fired Mediterranean fare. The selection emphasizes both established neighborhood institutions and newer arrivals that signal the city's expanding culinary sophistication and economic development.

Permalink foodnorth carolinarestaurantsdining