Blog
About CSAs and Pickled Turnips
If you're CSA member (stands for Community Supported Agriculture), then you know about surprises. Open your weekly delivery and there could be anything inside. Last week I got a surprise that probably no one can beat: A jar of pickled turnips! As a Certified...
What’s for Dinner on Hot Summer Nights?
When the weather turns hot, deciding what’s for dinner can leave you feeling completely cold and clueless. The problem may lie less with the weather and more with our mealtime “wardrobe.” Find out how to add a little “summer style” to make your mealtime lineup more appealing when the hot weather rolls in.
Green Kitchen Tip: Use Citrus Bags for Herb Washing
Try to chop a waterlogged bunch of herbs and it turns into a mess of green slush. This trick spin dries herbs quickly–using citrus bags that would otherwise end up in the landfill!
Scrubbing Vegetables: “Veggie Scrub” Makes It Easier
Check out this great new 2-for-1 find: A vegetable scrubber + fresh herb colander for just $3.50 Although I'm a still big fan of my $2.50 nail scrubber from the cleaning supply store, I put the "Veggie Scrub" to the test on Jerusalem artichokes (also known as...
In a recipe, how much is “to taste?”
Make a Recipe Just the Way You Like: 10 Tips Salt and pepper, to taste. 1/2 tsp. chili flakes, more or less, to taste. 1/4 to 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, to taste. Recipes seem to be littered with unhelpful directives about "to taste." For those of us who aren't...
Summer Refreshment: Cure for the Mid-Afternoon Doldrums
It’s 3:00. The vending machine is calling, or maybe the doughnuts left over in the break room. You know it’s suicidal to indulge those cravings, but work is so boring and you’re so tired and . . . Maybe more than sugar and calories, you need refreshment—as in something cool, revitalizing and calming, like Iced Green Tea.
Make a Simple Salad Special
I just wanted to make an easy meal after a long day of gardening and computering. Just a little soup and salad–but we have no dressing. Was I going to have to futz and fuss with a homemade salad dressing before I could sit down and eat?
Washing Spinach vs. Packaged Spinach
Washing spinach is a pain, but you don’t want to spend the extra $$$ to buy the pre-washed. Make sure you don’t get caught in-between with no spinach at all.
So That’s What They Mean by “Slow Cooking”
For years, I’ve known the rule for cooking tough meat cuts: low and slow. But in my hurry up world, I tried to do low on a gas stovetop that was calibrated for hot, fast cooking. My last batch of soup bones came out as tough as leather, even though I had cooked them on low. . . Patience and forethought came to my rescue
Using Herbs and Spices: More on Flavor Families
Here’s the great thing about herb and spice flavor families. Find one you like and you’ve got an easy springboard to creative fun, as in this recipe for Eggplant and Garbanzo Stew with Spicy Coriander Flavors.
Is it OK to use the garlic and ginger that comes in jars?
Those little jars of prepared garlic and ginger are so completely convenient! No fussing with paper-thin garlic peels, no paring gnarly knobs of ginger or endangering fingers on the ginger grater and no garlic-smelling hands for the rest of the night. But is it OK...
What to Do with Extra Eggplant?
Know how many pounds of eggplant are grown in China each year? A lot. That’s why Chinese cuisine is a good source of inspiration when facing a surfeit of eggplant.