Archive for the ‘Learning’ Category
Basic Baking Ingredients: Tips on Temperature and Treatment
Recently a friend insisted that she couldn’t bake a cookie to save her life-or to have fun with her kids. Every time her children asked, “Mommy, can we bake cookies?” she reached for the mix and watched the excitement in her children’s eyes fade. Her kids want to bake cookies for the baking, not just [...]
Ethnic Grocery Stores: Four tips for navigating through the egg rolls and chapatis
“If fish had feet, they would smell like this store” I thought, holding my breath as I stepped inside. This was the first time I had entered a Chinatown store, and I hoped it wouldn’t take long to find the bamboo shoots I needed for my stir-fry.
As I side-stepped a box of barely moving crabs and [...]
Making Sushi at Home for 1st Timers – That’s How We Roll
The Japanese are just like us! They like to relax with friends, have a few drinks and chow down on some . . . . raw seafood? I was skeptical of this foreign delicacy until I recently sampled some sushi at a well-regarded restaurant in my area. The food was delicious, but the price tag [...]
Need Help Planning a Menu? 5 Tips For a Fabulous Meal
There’s a certain panic that still washes over me every time I agree to host a party of some kind. Sure, I love seeing old friends and sharing a glass of wine (or several) over fun conversation, but putting the menu together for these occasions used to be so daunting that I can still get [...]
Kitchen gadgets you think you need (but don’t): How cooking skills eliminate the need for gadgets
When I was in school, I worked nights at a specialty cookware store, helping people outfit their kitchens and dining rooms. I quickly came to understand that there are a lot of gadgets and gizmos purchased solely as impulse buys (coasters shaped like flip-flops and silicone hot pad holders molded after a dog’s head come [...]
Customizing Recipes: Using other recipes to create your own
Mango chutney rocks my world a little bit. Sweet, savory and spicy all at once, this chutney is addicting at first bite. I figured it was time to make my own stash to feed my addiction.
Although I cook regularly, I hate using one single recipe for a new dish. To me, spending all day on [...]
Home-Made Stock: Three Simple Steps from Bones to Broth
I love roasting a whole chicken. I love the way it smells, I love the crispy skin, but most of all, I love roasting a chicken because I get to make a savory stock from the left-overs.
If there’s one ingredient that sets the enthusiast apart from the casual cook, it’s home-made stock. Nothing at the supermarket [...]
How to Bake Cupcakes from Scratch: 10 Things They DON’T Tell You in the Recipe
Those who bake well and often will tell you that making cupcakes is easy. And it is, if you were raised by June Cleaver or born with the Julia Child gene. I was lucky enough to learn from my mom, the daughter of a truly fantastic baker who wasn’t too June to let me “experiment” [...]
Party Planning Pointers: Lists, Organization and A Time-Schedule
As the child of an Italian dad and an American mom, I grew up with every kid’s fantasy… two Christmases, one on December 25, as in America, and one on January 6, as in Italy. On December 25, of course, Santa Claus came to bring us presents. On January 6, we had a whole other [...]
Food Shopping Beyond the Grocery Store – Get Creative With Your Cooking and Save Some Money
So, I don’t know if you’ve noticed or anything, but food is expensive.
It seems like every Sunday morning when I walk out of the grocery store, the bill is somehow higher than it was last week—leaving me scratching my head and wondering, what the heck did I just buy? On a quest to stay within [...]