Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

I've been obsessed with roasting tomatoes this summer. I eat three tomatoes a day because I love this preparation so much! I prefer plum, but vine-ripened work well too. I cut the tomatoes into quarter-inch slices and liberally season with coarse sea salt, freshly ground black pepper, garlic-infused olive oil, and herbs de provence, and roast for about 30 minutes at 400 degrees. I swear, I fantasize about my tomatoes all day long! Totally worth the time and turning the oven on, even at the end of a long day at work.

I have the Beater Blade and I absolutely LOVE this gadget. When I bake I usually make cookies, and I found this so helpful!!! You really don't have to scrape the bowl at all and the ingredients come together in at least half the time they would take with the ceramic beater. That said, I found that when I use my Beater Blade my mixer wobbles a little on the counter, as if the engine is working harder to combine the dough using a plastic beater as opposed to the ceramic. Has anyone else noticed that? I have not noticed a degradation in the performance of the blade or the mixer, however.

Anyways, this is a great gift for the casual baking lover!

Thanks for this article! I'm glad to know the staffers at Serious Eats will succumb to the microwave now and then - now I don't feel like a bad foodie!

I agree that 80/20 tastes best, but when I am preparing burgers as a quick go-to meal for weeknights, I use 90/10 to avoid the fat. I've always been perfectly happy with the taste. I recently tried 93/7, not thinking it would make much difference, and I thought the results were AWFUL and dry, although my husband didn't complain. The next time I made them, I cooked them in tablespoon of butter - MUCH better! :)