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Did you know
, Tricks & Techniques
, Web Resources
by ruth on March 9, 2010
A lot, if not most, of the readers frequenting this weblog are not veteran cooks. Most are just like me, an average Jane, wanting to try out new recipes, on the lookout for useful kitchen gadgets and ...
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Holidays
, Tricks & Techniques
by ruth on November 23, 2009
Holidays are coming up and it's again time to bake those Christmas cookies and other goodies! This is an activity that has become a tradition in our home and the kids love pitching in. So bring out th...
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Tricks & Techniques
by ruth on October 20, 2009
Need to cook potatoes for a party of 20 and running out of time? Use your dishwasher to clean the potatoes instead of brushing them one by one. Yes, the dishwasher!
Put them in the top rack and r...
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News
, Tricks & Techniques
by Gloria Gamat on August 6, 2009
What: Gluten-Free Cooking Expo
When: August 15 - 16, 2009
Where: The Wyndham Hotel, Lisle, Illinois, Chicago
Watch the professionals whip up gluten-free meals and learn from them.
A gluten-free die...
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Tricks & Techniques
by Matt on March 5, 2009
Many of us have spent the better part of a day cooking pasta sauce in one form or another. Whether it's spaghetti, ravioli or even goulash (what?, goulash has pasta in it!), we tend to take our s...
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Tricks & Techniques
by Jennifer on November 21, 2007
Creamy, slightly tart, plain yogurt is a wonderful thing. We eat it mixed with fresh fruit or muesli, drizzled with honey or sprinkled with sugar for breakfast. Yogurt can also be whipped with garlic,...
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Tricks & Techniques
by Jennifer on September 21, 2007
If you drink wine, from time to time you'll have some bottles that weren't finished and the wine isn't good for drinking anymore. Don't throw those dregs away! Make some homemade wine ...
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Tricks & Techniques
by Jennifer on August 20, 2007
Popcorn kernels are not readily available in our little corner of France. Recently I stumbled across a big bag at the store and excitedly bought it, took it home, and....
didn't know what to do!
...
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Tricks & Techniques
by Stef on February 9, 2007
Need softened butter for your recipe and forgot to take it out of the refrigerator early enough? No problem. Put it into a bowl (take the wrapper off first), cut it into 1-tablespoon pieces -- see tho...
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Tricks & Techniques
by Stef on January 29, 2007
Found this video featuring food photographer Ed Gowans -- he's from Portland and I first came across his photos in The Berry Bible: With 175 Recipes Using Cultivated and Wild, Fresh and Frozen Ber...
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Tricks & Techniques
by Stef on January 18, 2007
Being a good cook means knowing how to use up every bit of usable food product that comes into the kitchen. Broccoli is one such item that can be utilized in its entirety.
To cut up broccoli for maxi...
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Around The Kitchen
, Tricks & Techniques
by karen on November 7, 2006
On Saturday, we have a community event and I need to bring food for at least a hundred people. No problem, I'm used to cooking for the multitude, that's just family and friends. I've cook...
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Tricks & Techniques
by karen on November 6, 2006
Here's another tip if you are like me who buys in bulk but more often than not cooks for one.
When buying fruits and vegetables, try to purchase them in varying degrees of ripeness. You don'...
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Tricks & Techniques
by karen on November 5, 2006
It's November and in a very, very short while, the holidays are upon us! Pretty soon, our kitchens will be crammed with every imaginable food. Fruits, vegetables, meat, fish, confections, cookies...
Read more of Early Holiday Grocery Shopping
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Morsels of Info
, Tricks & Techniques
by karen on November 1, 2006
The other day, a friend mentioned how she loved tea but stopped taking it after her dentist asked her if she smoked because of teeth stains. Well yes, tea does stain. It contains tannic acid. You'...
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Around The Kitchen
, Tricks & Techniques
by karen on September 22, 2006
Yes, I'm still in a baking frenzy but no, this item is not just for baking. It is also very useful for other housekeeping purposes.
Also known as sodium bicarbonate or bicarbonate of soda (NaHCO3...
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Tricks & Techniques
by karen on September 21, 2006
I've always thought this practice was common until a friend asked me how I make use of leftover spaghetti. Hmmm... I told her that I eat it much later.
Well, I am really not that averse to eating...
Read more of Reviving Cold Spaghetti
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Tricks & Techniques
by karen on August 28, 2006
Every now and then we mention how only low heat is needed when cooking eggs, such as when poaching, frying and making some custard. In brothy soups, eggs should only be dropped towards the end of coo...
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Food Blogosphere
, Tricks & Techniques
by karen on August 24, 2006
Herbs almost as good as fresh in the dead of winter? Of course we should be thinking of those things right now, what with September just around the corner.
Although I eat seasonal, an abundance of h...
Read more of Preserving Fresh Herbs
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Tricks & Techniques
by karen on July 8, 2006
I had friends over for lunch last weekend. Since they specifically requested a light lunch, we just had a salad and fish. One of my visitors remarked that the fish were so fresh he thought I had gone...
Read more of Keeping Fish Fresh
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Tricks & Techniques
by karen on July 1, 2006
One favourite childhood memory I have is waking up on summer mornings with one of my aunties frying up an omelette especially for me. Her creations, no matter what the filling, never failed to make m...
Read more of Fluffy Omelette
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Around The Kitchen
, Tricks & Techniques
by karen on June 5, 2006
Nuts are a healthy source of protein, B vitamins and minerals. I buy them by the tub to serve when there's company. They're a better snack alternative - healthier than candies or pastries.
B...
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Tricks & Techniques
by karen on May 31, 2006
Summer season is the perfect time for indulging on fruits. Isn't it heavenly tasting that just-picked sweet berry from the basket? And those oranges! Not all of us however, are blessed with our ow...
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Tricks & Techniques
by karen on May 29, 2006
Pasta, pasta, who doesn't love pasta? Do you know that even to this day, in many italian homes when the menfolk come home from work, instead of saying "I'm home!" they say "Mam...
Read more of Cooking Pasta: Absorption Method
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by karen on May 24, 2006
Over the weekend, I had to make some lime sorbet for a big affair. There was the lime juice, the zest, some syrup and water. Before churning the ice cream maker, I tasted the mixture. It was fine, a l...
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Tricks & Techniques
by karen on May 18, 2006
Many recipes call for peeled tomatoes. Red sauce pasta, chicken stew - I like them peeled for salsa. Same goes for our home-made tomato sauce recipe. Removing the skin and de-seeding the tomato makes...
Read more of Peeling Tomatoes Made Easy
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Recipes
, Tricks & Techniques
by karen on May 8, 2006
Carbo-loading is a habit I've never shaken off years after I need it i.e. the college judo varsity. The mere thought of pasta, bread, and rice makes me hungry. Potatoes are known to call me with ...
Read more of Baked Hash Browns
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Morsels of Info
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by karen on May 1, 2006
I love them dry roasted, preferably unsalted. My grandmother used to buy bags of raw unshelled peanuts (Arachis hypogaea) which we then roasted or boiled. A steaming plateful fresh from the pot is als...
Read more of Peanutty or Cardboard Taste?
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Tricks & Techniques
by karen on April 17, 2006
One of the most basic things my mother taught me is how when cooking, the fire has to be lowered as soon as the liquid boils.
Mother dear talking: as soon as water or any cooking liquid has reached i...
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Tricks & Techniques
by karen on March 13, 2006
When Iska told me how she cooks pasta ala-Soprano, visions of her singing an aria in front of the stove flashed before my eyes. And then I thought it could be spaghetti served to the cast of an oper...
