Irene Yoo – FoodWatcher

The Whisky-Tea Highball I’ll Be Sipping This Thanksgiving

We teamed up with Johnnie Walker to share a cocktail that’s a twist on the old-school highball. With a mix of smoky flavor, ginger, and spice, it’s a cozy special-occasion drink you can sip throughout the holidays and beyond.

For me, Thanksgiving ha…

We teamed up with Johnnie Walker to share a cocktail that's a twist on the old-school highball. With a mix of smoky flavor, ginger, and spice, it's a cozy special-occasion drink you can sip throughout the holidays and beyond.

For me, Thanksgiving has always been about gathering with and giving to others. I’ve been hosting and cooking a Thanksgiving meal for over 10 years now, no matter the size of my home or the state of my kitchen. My first was in a teeny East Village apartment, where I stirred gravy and cooked cranberry sauce over a hot plate that the landlord had dropped off after five months of no heat or gas.

These Sourdough Starter Crackers Are a Cheese’s BFF

We’re partnering with California goat cheese maker Cypress Grove to show you delicious ways to enjoy goat cheese throughout the season. Here, food writer and recipe developer Irene Yoo shares her recipe for sourdough starter crackers with thyme and bla…

We're partnering with California goat cheese maker Cypress Grove to show you delicious ways to enjoy goat cheese throughout the season. Here, food writer and recipe developer Irene Yoo shares her recipe for sourdough starter crackers with thyme and black pepper. Pro tip: They pair up perfectly with Cypress Grove's limited-edition Humboldt Fog Haze Remix.

I have never heeded the siren call of the sourdough starter. Not for lack of opportunity—a colleague once told tales of his 80-year-old starter from Alaska and offered to cut me in. I seriously considered it, but did I have room in my life to take on another living, breathing entity that I would have to fretfully nurture? My apartment is already teeming with too many plants as it is.

Your Pantry Is a Treasure Trove of Cocktail Ingredients

We’ve teamed up with Tequila Don Julio, makers of top-shelf tequilas since 1942, to highlight creative (yet totally doable!) ways to shake up your cocktail game. Here, food writer and recipe developer Irene Yoo shares three summer-ready drinks all made…

We've teamed up with Tequila Don Julio, makers of top-shelf tequilas since 1942, to highlight creative (yet totally doable!) ways to shake up your cocktail game. Here, food writer and recipe developer Irene Yoo shares three summer-ready drinks all made with—wait for it—pantry ingredients.

I’ve always been a saver. The “What if I could use this in the future?” possibility applies to all aspects of my life: a denim skirt from high school, some outdated aux cords, scrap pieces of paper (they could be used for origami one day!), you get the idea. This mentality finds its way into the kitchen, too.

The Hallmark History of Christmas in Korea

In South Korea, as Christmas nears, the nation’s many singletons have been known to lament, “I want to go to sleep on the 22nd and wake up on the 26th.” It’s not to avoid trite family probing about nonexistent wedding bells around a roast ham. Rather, …

In South Korea, as Christmas nears, the nation’s many singletons have been known to lament, “I want to go to sleep on the 22nd and wake up on the 26th.” It’s not to avoid trite family probing about nonexistent wedding bells around a roast ham. Rather, it’s because Christmas is a couples holiday, one more romantic than even Valentine’s Day in the States.

For Christmas, couples dine out at fancy restaurants with prix fixe menus and share sweet treats. Hotels promote special romantic package deals to the more amorous (and moneyed), while cheaper “love motels” will book up months in advance. There’s even a Galentine’s-style backlash to the heavily promoted romanticism—small circles of young single friends will gather in cramped studio apartments to throw “home parties” featuring finger foods, cream cakes from the bakery, and lots of group selfies.