Friday Love List

Friday Love List: Week 2

1. My brother Scott introduced me to the Bon Appetit Test Kitchen videos on Facebook and YouTube. I could spend hours watching their chefs cook everything from a simple poached egg to gourmet snicker bars and apple pie and snow balls.  – Melissa
2. Speaking of videos, I’m obsessed with the Thrillist series A Little Help. Lee Kalpakis is funny, smart and knows her way around the kitchen. This episode about cooking pasta the right way is such a great primer, no more mushy and flavorless spaghetti. As she says, it’s a love story between the pasta and the sauce.  – Marcia
3. I just stumbled across the BBQ State of Mind podcast from the Houston Chronicle, with J.C. Reid, Alison Cook and Greg Morago.  In a recent episode, they chat with Brett Jackson, the owner of Brett’s BBQ Shop in Katy. His brisket sells out daily, so get there early. Call it homework for the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo and the world famous BBQ cook-off, where more than 250 teams compete in the World Championship Bar-B-Que Contest, February 21-23.  – Melissa
4. King cake started out roughly 300 years ago as a dry French bread–type dough with sugar on top and a bean hidden inside. A mainstay of New Orleans Mardi Gras, the best king cakes have a sweet brioche dough and are topped with a thick glaze and a bevy of colored sprinkles, and in some cases, strands of Mardi Gras beads. Tradition says, whoever finds the baby tucked inside buys the cake the following year. New Orleans consumes hundreds of thousands of cakes during the carnival season. Looking to order a “real” Mardi Gras king cake, straight from the heart of New Orleans? My Nola friend Tricia says that nothing is better than Randazzos. Their king cake comes in several flavors, including strawberry, apple and pecan praline, but Tricia swears cream cheese is the BEST. Better hurry as they sell out!  –Melissa
5. Ending here with a supremely interesting read. For those of you who devoured The Woman in the Window, this one’s for you. Just wow. — Marcia

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