Our Favorite Award-Eligible Stories From The Takeout This Week

The internet operates on hyperspeed—as fast as it takes for your thumb to flick up your phone screen. It means you may have missed some of The Takeout's award-eligible food and beverage writing. Fear not! We've rounded up some of our proudest pieces of reportage from this past week.

Foods Science columnist Dave McCowan answers a question that's always vexed me: Do I need to throw away food from the freezer that's developed a burnt icy surface?

Staff writer Kate Bernot lives in a cozy home in Montana, and her countertop doesn't have space for a microwave. This is how she's gotten around it just fine.

This is one of my favorite recipes I've made this year. It's taking the New Mexico green chile cheeseburger and mashing it up—well, figuratively—with the classic Tex-Mex queso. I know of a certain sporting event this weekend, of which there will be viewing parties, that could use this dip.

Staff writer Gwen Ihnat has made it through an entire month without a sip of alcohol. As her Dryuary comes to an end, she looks back at the pluses and minuses—and there's way more of the former than the latter.

Our most-read story this week.

We eat every part of the pig with reckless abandon. Why don't we drink its milk?

We are pleased to introduce The Takeout Investigative Unit, and our first reporting project involves matching the correct chip to the correct dip.

A crash course into the easy-drinking delights of Japanese beer, as well as a look into its burgeoning craft beer scene.

Gwen Ihnat defends the delicious simplicity of the tuna casserole, and offers her take on this Midwest favorite.

Our Taste Test feature checks out Campbell's line of skillet sauces for chicken. One's really good, one's really bad, the other two are meh.

We solicited the advice from some of our favorite chefs around the country for their tips, tricks, and wisdom for chicken-wing sauces and techniques.

Kate Bernot reverse engineers the perfect party beer cooler, and tells you exactly what and how much to bring to ensure a happy crowd.