This question comes from my dear friend (notice how I didn’t say “old friend”) Annie Kip, from Needham, Massachusetts. Annie’s question involves brown sugar. “I have a brand new bag of dark brown sugar which has become nearly rock hard. Do you have any ideas for what to do with this - I hate to… Continue reading How to Soften Brown Sugar
Tag: scratch kitchen
Refrigerator Basics for the Home Cook
Cooking at home requires a well stocked pantry and that includes what to keep in the refrigerator. A home cook needs to be prepared. Below is a list of the basics I keep stocked in my refrigerator. This list is what you should keep on hand and make sure you have plenty of. These are… Continue reading Refrigerator Basics for the Home Cook
2nd Place Winner in Twitter Recipe Contest
"The Oregonian” newspaper recently had a contest on Twitter that involved tweeting (yes, that is now a verb) a recipe in 140 characters or less. Now, I love cooking for my family and I love talking but I’m not really crazy about tweeting – so short, so cryptic, and so much punctuation left out! I… Continue reading 2nd Place Winner in Twitter Recipe Contest
Pantry Basics for the Home Cook
Cooking at home requires a well stocked pantry, along with all of the items in your refrigerator. The home cook needs to be prepared with basic ingredients. This list is what you should keep on hand and make sure you have plenty of. These are my basics. This list isn’t all I keep in my… Continue reading Pantry Basics for the Home Cook
Beet Salad Recipe
Here is the prize winning recipe for my beet salad. This recipe placed 2nd in "The Oregonian" Twitter Recipe Contest. It's easy, tasty, and one of my favorites. I adapted it from Bon Appetit, April, 2007. The entire meal is, “Grilled Flank Steak with Sauteed Beet Greens and Creamy Horseradish Beets" and is delicious. I've… Continue reading Beet Salad Recipe
Food Waste: Not Here
I’m amazed at the number of blogs whose main topic is food waste. Maybe I’m completely out of it (my kids would agree…), but I had no idea this was such a problem. We never have food waste. If food is not eaten, I freeze it. We rarely even have food go bad to the… Continue reading Food Waste: Not Here
Kids and Cooking
Parenting is a big job. Along with everything else in life, we’re supposed to teach our kids how to be responsible and have good life skills. That’s no easy task. One program that we’ve tried and had success with is having our kids cook dinner. Each child gets to cook a dinner once a week,… Continue reading Kids and Cooking
Kitchen Tip: Chipotles in Adobo Sauce
I’m sharing all of my favorite recipes here but before I can do that, I have to share with you some of my super-secret-ingredients. This is my favorite. Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. It comes in a can and a little goes a long way. Unless you are just crazy with your spice needs, one… Continue reading Kitchen Tip: Chipotles in Adobo Sauce
Eat Healthier in 2011
It requires a lot of work and constant attention to maintain a healthy lifestyle. The benefits of eating foods that are good for you are not always easy to immediately see or feel. The benefits take time. Don’t expect improvement in days. Keep at it. Tangible measures of lowered weight, a lower cholesterol level or… Continue reading Eat Healthier in 2011
Cooking with Dried Beans
Cooking with dried beans costs substantially less than canned beans and you control the ingredients (sodium, preservatives, etc) of what goes into your beans. A 25 lb (11.3 kg) bag of black beans for $14.79 lasts our family about 5-6 months. I cook 6 cups of dried beans once a week. (Hey, it can't be… Continue reading Cooking with Dried Beans
Go Gingham 