Blog Posts by The Daily Meal

Do some cooking...with your dishwasher.Guys, we totally know what to do with that otherwise-useless dishwasher you have. Do some cooking.

RELATED: 20 Tips for How to Be a Better Home Cook

Consumerist brought us to this fascinating story from Real Simple about what can and can't go in your dishwasher, and two items stood out to us: potatoes and salmon.

RELATED: 15 More Ridiculous Kitchen Gadgets That You Don't Need

According to the masters of multitasking, "Potatoes can get nice and clean in the top rack with a rinse-only cycle (no detergent). Sound crazy? It makes mashed potatoes for 20 a lot quicker," they write.

RELATED: America's 15 Most Beautiful Home Kitchens

As for salmon? Wrap it up in some foil with some lime juice, salt, and pepper, and run the dishwasher on normal. Why you would, according to Real Simple: "It's an Internet cliché that happens to work. Impress friends! Make kids laugh!"

RELATED: Mars Bars, Pickles, and 11 More Things That Are Better Fried

But of course, this tends to leave your dishwasher

For tomato lovers, there is no better time of year than late July through September.For tomato lovers, there is no better time of year than late July through September. Also known has the heavenly tomato months (OK, I may have made that up), but it is when tomatoes are in season and taste the best. Yes, you can get them year round, but they don't have that incredible flavor that you get with heirloom and vine-ripened tomatoes.

Most tomatoes from the farmers' market really only need a sprinkle of good quality salt when they are perfectly ripe - anything more dilutes the lovely flavor of them. However, they can also be used in a variety of dishes that taste infinitely better when made with fresh tomatoes in season. When shopping, look for tomatoes that are firm but with a slight give and without blemishes or bruises. And please, do not commit the sin of refrigerating them. They should be kept at room temperature, otherwise they will turn mealy in the cold and lose their flavor.

Tomatoes are not only tasty but also incredibly healthy: They are full of the carotenoid

The Pioneer WomanLike it or not, we're living in the "Era of the Blog." In a country where just about everyone has the ability, with the click of a mouse, to not only consume but create content, it seems like anyone with an opinion to voice has taken to their laptop and started a blog. This is obviously nothing new (as anyone who used to have a Xanga account can tell you), but the fact alone that anyone, anywhere, can set up a platform and instantly reach millions of readers is one worth celebrating. So for the fourth year running, we're ranking the top food-oriented blogs, ranked according to readership and social media following.

RELATED: 50 Best Cookie Recipes

There's plenty of time to argue the merits of what makes a food blog great, be it the amount of breaking news, quality of the recipes, layout, industry usefulness, or wide appeal, but for today's (and previous years') purposes, we took a very objective approach: we tracked down nearly 200 leading food blogs, using "best-of" lists from sites

Ben and Jerry's GraveyardHigh on a hilltop overlooking the Ben & Jerry's plant in Waterbury, Vt., is a small plot of land surrounded by a picket fence. Inside, tree limbs cast ominous shadows over a collection of nearly 30 gravestones, each bearing a solemn epitaph. This admittedly spooky place is none other than the Flavor Graveyard, the final resting place for notable flavors that have been cast aside.

RELATED: 25 Best Ice Cream Parlors in the World

These flavors found their way into the graveyard for reasons as varied as the flavors themselves. Some were longtime favorites whose popularity declined over the years (Devil's Food Chocolate); others popped up to take advantage of a fad or trend that quickly faded (Makin' Whoopie Pie). Still others were released with high hopes but just didn't sell (Peanut Butter and Jelly). Some were made only available in scoop shops (White Russian). And while once in a blue moon a flavor is taken out of retirement, the vast majority of these flavors will never see the light

Club Sandwich: Most expensive room serviceThe fact that ordering room service will make for a costly meal is nothing new. But a less-known fact is just how much the average room service price can fluctuate depending on the location of the hotel. A report conducted by TripAdvisor reveals the most and least expensive cities for room service, and the results might surprise you.

RELATED: 101 Best Hotel Restaurants Around the World

New York City, often perceived to be one of the most expensive places in America for a night in a hotel, is actually not even in the top three when it comes to the average cost of room service. In fact, hotels in New York City had the lowest average price on one particular minibar item: peanuts. Though peanuts might not be the top item in mind for most hotel guests, if staying in New York, this might be the best choice. A closer look at the statistics reveals that if guests at a New York hotel are craving a club sandwich, they'll have to shell out an average of $21.75 - the second-highest price in

There are so many delicious things you can make with artichoke.When you think of artichokes, what comes to mind? Some people may think "ugh, spiky" or "too much trouble, not worth it" or simply just "ow." It's true; this relative of the thistle family does not seem to want to be eaten, with barbs at the end of each tough, outer leaf, and sharp little hairs on the inside (aka "the choke") that, if one isn't careful, just scatter all over the kitchen countertop or floor. Never mind those warnings of "piso mojado" telling you to watch your step at the pool - there could be spikes on the floor of your kitchen!

Artichokes are kind of like the oysters of the vegetable world in that way; lots of risk for seemingly little reward. But encased in that tough, protective outer covering is a hidden jewel of eating nirvana that is oh so amazing. And so people love them anyway. Besides, if you've ever enjoyed an oyster without having to shuck it yourself, you know that if someone else is doing the work, it doesn't really matter how much toil and trouble went

3 Fall SmoothiesOftentimes, when the weather gets chilly we are guilty of becoming couch potatoes. There is something about the cold that makes our blankets plead with us to stay under the covers and snuggle up. The kids are back in school, and Saturdays feel like they should just be lazy. But did you know that the percentage of children in the United States ages 6 to 11 who were obese increased from 7 percent in 1980 to nearly 18 percent in 2010? And the percentage of kids ages 12 to 19 who were obese increased from 5 percent to 18 percent? Too much couch potato-ing definitely will not help battle the odds.

RELATED: 5 Superfoods to Add to Your Smoothies

But autumn is no time to sit inside anyway - there is a world of fallen leaves to rake and jump in, there are brisk soccer fields ready for eager little feet to play on, and there are orchards of apples just waiting to be picked. The fall season calls for action, and you and your family should be eager to conquer it all. And when you map out a full

We owe it to the universe to make sure that these potato chip flavors are never forgotten.It's hard to imagine, but there was once a time when sour cream and onion-flavored potato chips were considered outrageous. Yes, the noble potato is one of the most amazing flavor vessels known to man, but adding flavored seasonings to potato chips is still a relatively recent invention. We've come so far in just a few years, though, as companies have released chips flavored with everything from dill pickle to chocolate marshmallow, with varying degrees of success. These days, it sometimes seems like flavor plays second fiddle to outrageousness when it comes to potato chips, and we've rounded up the most insane potato chip flavors ever released to the unsuspecting public.

RELATED: 7 Things You Didn't Know You Could Make with Potato Chips

Before we dive into the abyss of modern potato chip insanity, let's take a step back to those halcyon early days of the chip, when the simple fact that it was crunchy was enough to make you say "Wow!" (or "Bully!" or whatever people said back then).