Cooking Articles

Competent Cooking School

There are so many different ways to cook. It is essential to learn and understand the basics in order to be a competent cook, which will make cooking efficient and fun. There are six key methods of cooking...

Vinegar, Vincotto, and Verjus: Part Three, Verjus

Verjus, sometimes called verjuice, has been around since medieval times. The word means “green juice.” It is the unfermented juice of semi-ripe grapes. Some say verjus got its start when vineyard owners...

The Freezer Is Your Friend

This past week a colleague and I spent a car ride discussing our cooking habits, in particular how she goes about getting dinner on the table each night as a working mother. That she uses the internet...

Haud Up Yer Heid Like a Thistle: A Scotch Primer

I am a bit of an amateur Scotch enthusiast. I developed a taste for it while I was concocting the recipe for my brownies. I generally enjoy my Scotch at home, as going to whisky bars is a rather expensive...

Duck Fat: Better Than Butter

Years from now, long after I have stopped working for my present employer, if my boss remembers one thing about me it will be these four words: duck fat French fries. Our first full day working together,...

Crockpot Spring Cleaning Challenge

Do you stockpile endless varieties of canned and frozen foods during the winter? What about those random gourmet items gathering dust at the back of your pantry? Spring is the time to clean up and clear...

Cooking From The Cupboard

We’ve all been there: it’s a Wednesday night and you don’t get home until 9:30pm from the gym, a charity meeting, PTA, fill in the blank. All you know is McDonald’s is not looking like the healthiest...

First You Shake It, Then You Bake It

It was just a typical Wednesday evening in my household getting ready for dinner, cooking with my boys. I have had to improvise to get any cooking done lately, though, since my newborn pretty much flat...

Don't Look Now: Cucumber Snack Crunch

I just love it when kids get good ideas in the kitchen. Recently we were putting some groceries away when a light bulb moment struck daughter. I had just been to our nearest discount grocery store -...

This Cobbler Is Just Peachy

Peaches. If I had to choose just one last fruit to indulge in, it would be the sun-kissed ginger-tinged sweetness of summer’s best fruit. With their chin-dripping goodness, peaches make healthy dessert...

Spaghetti: Masculine Refuge

Guys love spaghetti. It’s a proven fact. At least, I think it’s a proven fact. The guys in my life have certainly seemed to support that statement. It started with my brother. Whenever it was time...

There's A Squirrel In My Crockpot!

Now that the weather has warmed up, every dog’s favorite tormentor is back on the scene ñ the cunning little squirrel. Just this morning we were out on a walk and spotted three of the suckers...

To Cook a Pot of Rice

I take full responsibility for getting rid of the rice cooker. The electric pot had been collecting dust on a shelf since the day my boyfriend and I moved in together. A relic of his bachelor days, it...

Pass the Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese, Please

If I were stranded on a desert island, and could only take one food with me, it would probably be my favorite Italian cheese—Parmigiano Reggiano. The complex flavor and crumbly, crystalline texture define...

One Hot Noodle

China: inventor of pasta, birthplace of dim sum, hot pot hot spot, and home to some of the early thinkers of heat preservation during dinner preparation. I suppose I always assumed that issues of getting...

Drink Your Breakfast: Shakes and Smoothies

Just the other day we were rushing around on our way out to an early morning class when I realized there was no way we were going to fit breakfast in before hopping in the car. Sad, but true. That’s...