It used to cost me in the neighborhood of $500 to get, arguably, the world's best mac 'n' cheese. That's the rough cost of an airline ticket to Seattle and a take-out casserole from Beecher's Handmade Cheese store at the Pike Place Market. Beecher's recently added an East Coast location in lower Manhattan. (10/23/2011)

WASHINGTON -- Should those salty, fatty chips be X-rated? The Institute of Medicine, an arm of the National Academies, has recommended a new nutrition rating system for the front of food and beverage packages, to help consumers "instantly recognize healthier products." (10/22/2011)

They're one of fall's most visual offerings, foods so colorful you make them the centerpiece on your Thanksgiving table. Or maybe you like to pile these jewel-toned veggies on the stoop next to the jack-o'-lanterns come Halloween. What you really should be doing is eating them. (10/20/2011)

For cave people, Hayley Mason and Bill Staley are pretty plugged in. The young Pittsburgh-area couple, who just moved to Fox Chapel, have a food blog that gets about 1.5 million page views annually. They have 8,100 Facebook fans, 2,000-plus Twitter followers, and do YouTube videos and podcasts. As of today, they also have a cookbook, published by Victory Belt ($34.95), titled "Make it Paleo." (10/20/2011)

CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Most young chefs would consider it career gold to have one high-profile kitchen experience under their toques. But Former Kaya executive chef Sean Ehland has worked in two uber-fabulous restaurants: (10/20/2011)