Making blood on demand: How far have we come?

The reconstitution of the blood system in humans holds great therapeutic potential to treat many disorders, like blood cancers, sickle-cell anemia and others. Successful reconstitution requires the transplantation and engraftment of hematopoietic (or blood) stem cells (HSCs), which after reaching their niche, start producing all types of blood cells, including platelets, white and red blood…

Alinea Had a Hand in This Coffee Liqueur

Rhine Hall is a fruit brandy distiller in Fulton Market district of Chicago. The company, the outgrowth of a backyard hobby, now makes more than a dozen brandies and similar products. About a year ago, it teamed up with Alinea, the Michelin three-star restaurant in Chicago, to create a coffee liqueur. Made from handpicked beans…

New Jersey, Now Known for Rice

California and South Carolina are the usual sources for American-grown rice, but you can add New Jersey to the list. In Pennington, southwest of New Brunswick, Blue Moon Acres is cultivating assorted rices. There are medium- and long-grain brown rice; white sushi rice; a mix of short-grain brown and black rice, called black and tan,…

Add This Cheese to Your Party Board

Many more sheep than humans live on the windswept Croatian island of Pag in the Adriatic Sea. The sheep, a breed called paska ovka, graze on the landscape, and their milk takes on the briny tang of the environment in a local cheese called Paski Sir. This fairly firm-textured cheese, with a nutty aroma and…

A King Cake With a Raspberry Twist

This year Judith Norell, an owner of Silver Moon Bakery on the Upper West Side, has added a new twist, raspberry preserves, to her galette des rois, or king cake, the confection served for Epiphany on Jan. 6. It’s usually fashioned from puff pastry and filled with marzipan, with a good luck token hidden inside.…