Sporkful Inspiration Is A Two-Way Street

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We received the above photo from Michael, an Eater in Maryland, who saw the video where we made "Cheese-Armored Grilled Cheese," which consisted of a grilled cheese sandwich encased in crispy burnt cheese. He writes, "You were right, the flip was perilous, my grease stained shorts are in the wash." But clearly, the end product was a success.

Now as you know, here at The Sporkful, culinary inspiration is a two-way street. We inspire you, and you inspire us. That quest to maximize the amount of burnt cheese in a grilled cheese was inspired by Corynn, an Eater in Washington State. And indeed, our next GastroLab video will also be inspired by a food innovation from one of you.

Eater Greg in Michigan writes of an ice cream cone creation that he and his brother invented many years ago:

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Potatoes as Desserts (VIDEO)

We all know sweet potatoes make for some great desserts, while the workmanlike russet potato gets pigeonholed as an entree or side dish, generally made into baked potatoes or French fries. In our latest GastroLab video for SlateV, we set out to change that, by experimenting with russet potato-based desserts. As always, our experiments get more ridiculous as we progress. Remember that you can subscribe to the GastroLab video podcast here, or stream other videos through your web browser here.

Grilled Cheese Made Great (VIDEO)

Here's the latest installment of our GastroLab series for Slate, inspired by a suggestion from Sporkful listener Corynn in Washington State. Corynn pokes holes in the bread while making grilled cheese, so that the cheese oozes through to the pan and gets browned and crispy. We tested this technique and then took it several steps further, culminating with one of the most perilous maneuvers in GastroLab history!

What is the Fate of These Candy Hearts?

We're prepping for next week's GastroLab video shoot, in which we'll put together a rather absurd Valentine's Day meal. Today we got the five pound bag of candy hearts we ordered. Can you guess what we plan to do with them? (If you haven't seen some of our past GastroLab videos for Slate, check them out here.)

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Cocktail Mad Science, and Four Loko Meets Russian Bear

Our latest Slate Video is up. We start by testing the pina colada recipe MSNBC's Rachel Maddow gave us in a recent episode. After that, things get quite bizarre. Many straws were harmed in the making of these beverages, including a couple shaped like spectacles. My beloved Negroni appears too, but in a most unusual form. /mark