Great vacation spots all seem to have one thing in common: Whether it’s on a beach or in the mountains, East Coast or West Coast, there’s always a top-notch ice cream store where tourists and locals assemble to eat.

Not many kitchen appliances have a pop song celebrating their virtues, so it’s pretty special that R&B singer John Legend has just released a sultry ode to the slow cooker.

Just like everything else in 2020, summer vacations are looking a bit different. More people are opting to drive to a remote vacation venue rather than spend time in a crowded airport and on a plane.

Shrimp lovers are getting ready for the peak of the crop: Gulf shrimp season opens today, bringing mature, sea-soaked crustaceans to local markets.

As more of us have returned to, or maintained, quarantining measures, meal planning becomes more home-focused as well.

The Fourth of July is always the time to break out the red, white and blue, even if the celebration just involves drinks and chips.

The almanac will tell you that June 20 is the first day of summer. That may be literally true, but summer truly begins with the first bite of a perfectly ripe, vividly colored, messily juicy watermelon.

As the temperature rises, the enthusiasm for turning on the oven and cooking can wane. Icebox cakes can come to the rescue with a no-bake, sweet alternative to baked desserts.

“Biology is destiny,” Sigmund Freud said, but cookbook author Dan Buettner finds that geography might have even more to do with it, especially in determining a longer, healthier lifespan.

Sunny summer days are calling, and food is answering. Easily transported food makes any meal a picnic, even if it’s in the backyard.

If you’ve ever thought that, in a perfect world, huge boxes of chips and dip would appear at your doorstep, well, the world just inched a little closer to perfection.

The shock waves sent by the coronavirus pandemic throughout the community and the world have had profound impacts on all segments of the food industry.

Marvelous milestones deserve marvelous meals

Americans are baking more than they have in decades, and banana bread has become the most searched for recipe, according to Google.

If a month of quarantine has you, or someone near you, lamenting that “There’s nothing to do,” it’s time to consult with Christine Hopkins and Heidi Lutz.

By now, many of us are relying on shelf-stable pantry items to stretch the time between grocery runs, while others are making an effort to use up canned goods before restocking with the staples for hurricane season.

Binge-watching television series has become a popular pastime, and “Breaking Bad” and its spinoff/prequel “Better Call Saul” are at the top of many lists. Both shows immerse the viewer in the seedier side of Albuquerque, New Mexico, and the real-life city revels in the depiction.

It’s an understatement to say that Easter and Passover will be celebrated somewhat differently this year. But many of us are searching for at least a few snippets of our annual traditions to mark the occasions.

As we’ve all found out in the past few weeks, some “virtual” experiences are better than others.