Serri Graslie

Roger Gordon (left) is offered a box of bananas from a worker who was throwing away the lightly speckled fruit at Mexican Fruits in Washington, D.C. Gordon's startup, Food Cowboy, works with truckers to divert edible produce from landfills to food charities.

Startups Try To Reroute Food Waste To The Hungry

Serri Graslie

Forty percent of food in the U.S. goes uneaten each year. The major problem is also a major opportunity for startups like Food Cowboy and CropMobster, which are trying to cash in by connecting sellers of excess food to people in need of it.

Gina Chersevani makes a Red, White and Blue Float at her restored soda fountain in Washington, D.C.

Fizz And Fireworks: Make A Patriotic Homemade Soda For The Fourth

Serri Graslie

Homemade sodas are hot these days: Americans bought more than 1.2 million home carbonators last year. For the Fourth of July, we asked mixologist Gina Chersevani to help us tap into the trend with a soda float inspired by Independence Day.

Jeremy Jackson wanted to rethink his grandma Mildred's famous Strawberry Cake recipe, which uses boxed cake mix and Jell-O. His updated cupcake version is shown on the right.

Saving Grandma's Strawberry Cake From The Clutches Of Jell-O

Serri Graslie

Postwar marketing of convenience foods pushed our grandmothers to take many shortcuts in the kitchen that modern foodies might find unpalatable. Many involved Jell-O. Cookbook author Jeremy Jackson updated his grandma Mildred's famous strawberry cake recipe to remove this old-school secret ingredient.