CandaceWest.com

The Tipsy Boar's Lobster Mac 'n' Cheese. You can do it at home. Seriously.

National gourmet macaroni and cheese month is now behind us, but it doesn't mean we have to return to eating those irradiated looking cheese sauces and powders you find lining grocery aisle shelves.

Your basic cheese sauce is cheap, easy and quick to make. It can be as thick or as thin as you like, and because you choose the cheese the sky is basically the limit. Hello blue cheese sauce with bacon.

See also:
- The Tipsy Boar: The Sardellis Roll the Dice on a Hollywood Gastropub
- Slideshow:The Tipsy Boar in Hollywood

After the jump we'll show you how to make your own basic roux and reveal the Tipsy Boar's Lobster Mac 'n' Cheese recipe.

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Easter weekend is about to begin. With it comes a celebration of all things Easter Bunny: Easter Bunny cards, Easter Bunny cakes, Easter Bunny chocolates, Easter Bunny decorations. It doesn't freaking end.
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B Ocean Fort Lauderdale Hotel

Real (Irish)men eat Ruben quiche.

This St. Patrick's Day, the B Ocean Fort Lauderdale Hotel is asking you to drink (and eat) outside the box.

Sure you could go anywhere and have some green beer and corned beef and cabbage, but have you ever asked yourself, "why on earth would I want to consume cheap beer laced with green dye?"

Instead, how about starting your St. Paddy partying with an innovative, yet still appropriately-themed brunch?

Read Also: Top Ten Irish Bars

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ABC

Ludo Lefebvre gives tips to contestant Sarah Schiear.

Home town contestant Sarah Schiear was on fire both literally and figuratively on the first day of full-blown competition on ABC's The Taste.

The home cook and blogger, who hails from Fort Lauerdale, managed to make two great dishes in-between setting fires in the kitchen. 

Schiear, who is on Ludo Lefebvre's team, presented a macaroni and cheese in the first round that mentor Ludo chose over her teammates' dishes to represent his group (although it ultimately was shot down by guest judge Gabrielle Hamilton from Prune restaurant).

In the second round, the mentors-turned-judges praised Schiear's shrimp and grits. The secret to her dish's success?

Bourbon, of course.

Clean Plate Charlie snagged the recipe, straight from The Taste's kitchen to yours.

Read Also: The Taste: Blogger Sarah Schiear is on Fire (Literally)

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Amazon.com

Fiscal cliff woes? Start cooking!

Just at the last possible minute, the House pulled the United States back from the brink of the dreaded fiscal cliff.

During a vote late Tuesday, 172 Democrats and 85 Republicans voted for the bill, while 16 Democrats and 151 Republicans opposed it,  raising taxes for the wealthiest Americans, while maintaining tax cuts for average citizens.

The bill is expected to be sent to the White House for the President's signature sometime today. The President, however, is on his way back to Hawaii to finish his family vacation, so not a lot more will happen this week.

So what does this mean to us? Well, it means unemployment will be extended to one year, people making $400,000 or more will have a higher tax rate (thereby making tax accountants richer), and many tax credits for the middle class are safe. 



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chad_k via Flickr Creative Commons

Don't you dare underestimate the power of the lemon to cure your booze-fueled ails.

Is everything too loud this morning? If you partied so hard on New Year's Eve that your hair hurts, you need to act fast to ensure New Year's Day isn't spent shriveled in a ball on the couch. Clean Plate Charlie has been searching high and low this week to find as many tips and tricks as possible to help readers battle the dreaded hangover. (See links below.)

Raw food private chef Nina Kauder -- of Palm Beach County based Rawsome Eats -- has given us the nitty gritty details on the ultimate hangover menu, and why these foods are what the body craves. After the jump, find details on what you should consume from the start of the day to the finish, so that you'll feel back to 100 percent by the time the evening rolls around.

See Also:
- Raw Thanksgiving Recipe: Butternut Squash and Apple Soup from Rawsome Eats Chef Nina Kauder
- Five Crazy New Year's Hangover Cures From Across the World
- New Year's Day Hangover Cures: Let's Get Scientific
- Want a Better 2013? Five Good Luck Foods for New Year's

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Laine Doss

Make this super easy candy bark.

Christmas is upon you and you still have to give something to the neighbors, the babysitter, the dog walker, the mail person, the hairdresser, the karate instructor, the crossing guard, your office Secret Santa, and your kid's best friend's mother (sigh).

You could go to the mall and get them some tacky plastic thing they'll never use....or you could make peppermint bark that everyone will love.

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Christina Mendenhall

Don't feel like making your own latkes? Pick up a dozen from Ben's.

With Chanukah in full swing you've probably had your fill of gelt, the chocolate coins given to children on the holiday. Your fingers and wrists are swollen and sore from all that dreidel spinning, but thankfully it earned you a bank account full of shekels.

The fried potato pancakes, called latkes, are as much a symbol as the holiday as lighting the menorah each night. They're consumed en masse during the eight-day celebration. If you haven't yet consumed one all hope isn't lost. We spoke with Ronnie Dragoon, owner of Ben's New York Kosher Delicatessen in Boca Raton, who has the answer. Buy them from him by the dozen, or make your own using his recipe.

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Courtesy photo

Daniel Naumko, of Sybarite Pig, dishes on how to cook up an entire leg of lamb. You can do this!

Roast turkey. Pot roast. The ham with the little pineapple-ring hats. These are the makings of your standard -- read: predictable -- holiday dinner. Step up your game this season with an insanely decadent (but totally doable) lambchetta recipe from Daniel Naumko, owner of the Sybarite Pig, coming soon to Boca Raton.

"This is a very family-friendly recipe that can feed a good six to eight people depending on how hungry they are," Naumko said. "My grandmother was from the Ukraine and during the holidays she would always use a mixture of sweet and savory ingredients as stuffing on beef, pork, and lamb applications. This is an interpretation of what I remember we always ate together as a family."

See Also:
- The Best Florida Beers & a Craft Beer Geek's Holiday Wish List: Sybarite Pig's Daniel Naumko Shares His Picks
- Sybarite Pig Opening Soon: Owner Daniel Naumko Talks Beef, Beer, and Why He Chose That Name
- Put Some Lamb in Your Hamburger

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mcb_smith via Flickr Creative Commons

Do you like it raw?

Busting out a raw, vegan recipe for Thanksgiving probably seems incongruous given that the holiday basically centers around cooking a dead bird for hours on end. But in case you want to add a lighter option to the menu or you just got word that your health-nut sister-in-law is coming to dinner, raw food private chef Nina Kauder has a recipe for "a simple and quick soup" that she promises is the "perfect dish for most everyone."

Kauder, creator of Palm Beach County based Rawsome Eats said her Thanksgiving-appropriate butternut squash and apple soup is gluten-free, as well as free of soy, nuts, and dairy. "All you need is a knife and a blender," Kauder said.

See Also:
- Awesome Thanksgiving Recipe For Sweet Potatoes From The Rebel House's Michael Saperstein
- Restaurants Serving Vegetarian Thanksgiving Dinners in South Florida: Darbster, Sublime, and Le Bistro
- Q&A With Raw Foods Chef Christopher Slawson of Christopher's Kitchen

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