• Ghalia Alia Mahmoud, a former maid, is Egypt's unlikely television chef superstar. Her humble cooking show features affordable Egyptian cuisine that doubles up as a catalyst for hope, happiness, and equality in her country. Washington Post

• With back-to-school on the horizon, we love the idea of sending your kids off with crisp and salty homemade pickles in their brown paper bags. YumSugar

• We've had our fair share of exotic mushrooms at Saveur recently (see our Issue #140 story on Yunnan's mushrooms) but the 'shrooms that pop up in backyards all across America have their own kind of intrigue. Food Republic

• With the abundance of fresh peaches this time of year, a sweet and spicy chutney is the perfect medium to utilize these sugary and meaty stone fruits. Kora Soi

• Is the future of grocery shopping going to be the high-tech QR-code driven billboards that Tesco is launching in South Korea? Whatever else, they certainly look cool. Design Milk

• Naysayers have been saying for years now that the internet (and its wealth of free, wonderful recipes) are going to kill the cookbook. As fans of the printed word as much as the pixelated one, we're happy to know that's just not true. Publishers Weekly

• Need a beer? By carving a notch in the base of a house key, the everyday item does double duty as a bottle opener. Instructables

Photograph: Bento Box family of Chickens by Bensonluu via Flickr