Twenty percent of people say they often use a food thermometer — but they're probably lying. Used right, a thermometer is the best tool to make sure that food has been cooked long enough to be safe.

'Tis almost the season, and what would the holidays be without our favorite foods? For this year's festivities — from Thanksgiving to New Year's — NPR will feature some of these unique dishes, on-air and online. What special food do you look forward to (or dread) all year long?

Soul food has a rap as being too sweet and heavy. But in reality, the culinary traditions of the African diaspora offer just as many healthful eating options as those of Mediterraneans. That's the word from experts behind a new African Heritage Diet Pyramid, which puts eating guidelines into cultural context.

Even as home economics classes have been phased out of a lot of schools in recent years, some schools are adding cooking classes back to the curriculum. A new study that evaluates a school cooking program says these hands-on classes do more than just prepare students to cook a decent meal.

Cooked meat delivers more energy than raw meat, which may have given our human ancestors a big evolutionary advantage. It may also explain why today's humans have a hard time keeping off the pounds, according to researchers at Harvard University.