How do you make your own cake flour? What is the main season for tangelos? And what, pray tell, is the difference between smoked salmon and lox? The answers to those questions and more are in The Kitchen Answer Book (Capital; $29.95) by former chef and San Francisco newspaper writer Hank Rubin. And in case you're dying to know:

Make cake flour by mixing three parts all-purpose flour with one part cornstarch or potato starch.

Tangelos peak November through March in the United States.

And while smoked salmon is cured in salt and sugar and then smoked, lox is cured in salt only, then soaked to remove the salt, then lightly smoked.

On the magazine scene, October's Cooking Light features fall soup recipes, “perfect mashed potatoes” and new ways to cook skinless, boneless chicken breasts. $3.99.

Market Scan

The two major varieties of persimmons are the dark orange, acorn-shaped hachiya and the light orange, tomato-shaped fuyu. Hachiya persimmons are exquisitely sweet when very soft, while fuyus can be eaten while still firm. If you can't find a ripe persimmon for a baking recipe, substitute mashed pumpkin.

Sip It

Berliner Kindl Weisse, $13 per six pack: Undoubtedly the most assertive beer you've ever tried, this Berlin specialty is intensely sour, but it's a clean sourness, unlike the Belgian sour ales. Highly refreshing, sometimes served with a splash of either raspberry or woodruff syrup. I like it straight, or sometimes with a spoonful of maple syrup. Pricey, but unforgettable.

Ed Westemeier

Hot Date

This is the day to learn more about baking. King Arthur Flour Co. sponsors a free sweet dough baking class beginning at noon today at the Holiday Inn Eastgate (4501 Eastgate Blvd.).

A class on making artisan breads begins at 7 p.m. at the same location. No registration is required for the two-hour classes, but if you need more information, call (802) 649-3881. And if you can't make today's classes, King Arthur will host the same classes Thursday in Columbus at the Best Western Columbus North.

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