Side quests. A term from gaming but now a part of cultural moment. Everyone has a side quest, a way to find and fulfill their passions, even as they do whatever they do to pay the bills.

We're Bruce Weinstein & Mark Scarbrough, veteran cookbook authors of over three dozen cookbooks. We've each found this career as a side quest that became our main quest.

We've also got a one-minute cooking tip. And we'll tell you what's making us happy in food this week!

Here are the segments for this episode of COOKING WITH BRUCE & MARK:

[01:10] Our one-minute cooking tip: Microwave lemons and limes for a few seconds before juicing them.

[02:46] Side quests. What are they? Why are they important? How has our career developed out of our side quests? And what are our current side quests?

[25:02] What’s making us happy in food this week? Dried mung bean noodles for Bruce and vegan mozzarella from Three Girls Vegan Creamery in Guilford, Connecticut for Mark.

No doubt, the internet is being flooded with AI recipes. In fact, even unscrupulous publishing is being flooded by these generated recipes as small, independent publishers pop up who take advantage of the "free" content to package it as a book.

But there's some hope. AI recipes aren't all bad. And there are ways to identify them before you caught in the trap of making, oh, lemon meringue trout pie.

We're Bruce Weinstein & Mark Scarbrough, veteran cookbook authors who've written over three dozen cookbooks and who've been around the block several times already with AI content. We'll tell you how to spot an AI recipe, how to use AI to help in the kitchen, and what the dangers of AI recipes are.

We've also got a one-minute cooking tip about a handy kitchen appliance. And we'll tell you what's making us happy in food this week.

Here are the segments for this episode of COOKING WITH BRUCE & MARK:

[01:05] Our one-minute cooking tip: use a stick blender!

[03:11] How to spot, use, and stay away from AI-generated recipes.

[29:01] What’s making us happy in food this week: curried chili crisp and potato salad!

What happens when you don't have on hand what a recipe requires?

We're Bruce Weinstein & Mark Scarbrough, veteran cookbook authors of over three dozen cookbooks (not counting the ones we ghostwrote for celebs). This podcast is part of food and cooking passion.

We've got a one-minute cooking tip about getting more flavor in your food. We're also talking about various easy food substitutions. And we'll tell you what's making us happy in food this week.

Our latest cookbook is COLD CANNING: small-batch preserving without any pressure or steam canner. You can check it out at this link.

Here are the segments for this episode of COOKING WITH BRUCE & MARK.

[01:23] Our one-minute cooking tip: substitute other liquids for water in many boiled or braised dishes.

[03:58] Food substitutions: easy swaps to make sure you can create a recipe.

[22:26] What’s making us happy in food this week? Knackwurst and fresh nectarines!