cdkitchen > feeddaily blog
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Well, it's that time of year again. Time to lug home a big bag of charcoal and spark up the grill, and if you're lucky enough to live in a place where minor explosives are legal, don't forget to buy some fireworks! It's the 4th of July! The 4th of July always seems to bring out the usual fare: hamburgers, hot dogs, BBQ ribs, smoked brisket--a carnivore's dream! However, because of a few close friends who are vegetarians, I have learned to NEVER disregard my side dishes. I'm not a vegetarian myself, but I have dated, cooked for, and entertained quite a few...
by
Last year we were lucky enough to happen upon a little street festival in New York celebrating Bastille Day. Bastille Day falls on July 14 and is a French national holiday commemorating the storming of the Bastille during the French Revolution in 1789. There were tents featuring French sandwiches and pastries and live music filled the air. But the highlight of the festival was a petanque tournament set up right in the street. Petanque is a sort of outdoor bowling game in which each player tries to throw three hollow metal balls as close as possible to a small wooden ball...
by
Chocolate chip cookies are as American a treat as you can bake. Most likely you have tasted hundreds of them over the years. But some of our nation's most heralded figures, like George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt, never knew of our country's favorite cookie. Believe it or not, the chocolate chip cookie is just 75 years young, the result of a happy accident at a small country inn in Whitman, Massachusetts. In 1930, Ruth and Kenneth Wakefield bought the Toll House Inn where Ruth prepared freshly baked treats for guests. One fateful day, Ruth ran...
by
What would sliced tomatoes be without basil... roasted potatoes without rosemary...Greek salad without oregano...sausage without sage...or, in the case of the unthinkable, a julep without the mint? Nothing takes a side dish, salad, soup, entree, dessert or even some beverages from good to great quicker than the flavor, scent and color of fresh herbs. Even if your garden space is limited to an indoor windowsill, table or countertop, you can grow your own herbs this summer. Throughout history, herbs have been an integral part of our lives both inside and...
by
Iced tea used to mean one thing: black tea that had been steeped with water and served over ice. The only variation was in how it was sweetened. Southerners prefer to sweeten it while the mixture is still hot, while northerners prefer to sweeten traditional ice tea at the table with a choice of sweeteners in little packets. Sure you could also add a squeeze of lemon, but the choices stopped there. Now it is possible to find every variety of tea under the sun in chilled format. It started with individual bottled ice tea being offered in flavors like peach, raspberry, and...
by
One of the key benefits of the slow cooker is that it allows you to maximize flavors with a minimal expenditure of time. The design of the slow cooker allows you to throw a couple (or a dozen) ingredients in the pot in the morning, and forget about it until dinnertime. Because a lot of the time you are rushing out the door to start your day, simpler recipes work better for a busy weeknight dinner - sometimes just three or four ingredients make the best recipe. Since summer is the time for simplicity, it's a concept we can all embrace at this time of year.
by
Father's Day is coming up, so now is the time to start thinking about doing something special for your favorite father figure. Many of my favorite food memories are tied to my father. He is always on the lookout for a great meal, and he loved to take us to his favorite Chinatown restaurant for lunch when we went to visit him at work in Philadelphia. In fact, I can't even remember the name of that restaurant; he called it Tommy Lee's because he went so often, and referred so many customers, that he became friends with the owner. He is also a talented gardener and his green thumb kept...
by
With Father's Day being this weekend, I will be making the hike upstate to visit my folks. My parents' house, which is on a lake, is more like a resort of sorts, with people coming in and out all day long, all summer long. So much so, that they really should consider a revolving door. You see, almost everyone in the surrounding towns is related to me. What can I say? My mother is Irish and you know the Irish: They like to reproduce. Most also are in complete compliance with the open door policy that has been in effect since I can remember. So, as is the case with...
by
Fresh herbs are a wonderful way to add flavor to any dish. There is nothing better than growing your own herb garden in the warmer months, so you can add home grown herbs to your cooking at a moment's notice. And when you consider the prices in the grocery store, the price of one herb plant that will keep giving and giving is comparable to the price of a bunch of basil or a plastic package of thyme that you will only be able to use once. So if, like me, you love to cook with fresh herbs, then it really makes sense to try your hand at planting your own. Each year in the...
by
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 out refuses to nap anywhere during the day but with me - in fact he's snoozing away right here with me as I type one handed. The front pack baby carrier has become my new best friend. Usually I like to do all my dinner prep work before we spend a little time outside with our dog and then all come in for dinner. Therefore simple recipes with minimal cleanup are...
by
Strawberry season is here. And it hit suddenly. It just so happened that my daughter and I were out to accomplish some everyday errands when we saw the sight that turned our day around: red, ripe berries for sale. The farm right down our road had just opened the little roadside stand and the quarts were lined up and ready to go. While we've bought (and picked) berries at various farms in the area - and occasionally sunk to purchasing them at a grocery store - we've discovered that these are the best berries ever. The largest, shiniest...
by
The kitchen renovation started a week ago. During last year's crazy real estate market, we spent months looking for the perfect apartment. Well, about a week, really, until we realized that the perfect apartment was really out of our reach and we would need to make a couple of compromises. After several months of looking at less than perfect places, just as we were at the end of our rope and about to give up and rent for another year, we found an apartment that had great potential. In our optimism we may have overlooked the fact that the kitchen cabinets were starting...
by
The California desert is definitely not the home of the blue crab. But that is where I was, browsing the aisles of the upscale market Bristol Farms when I spotted a sign in the fish case declaring the arrival of the season's first shipment of soft shell blue crabs. Finding crab in the desert is not too hard if you are looking for the iced down king crab legs at a casino buffet. But blue crabs, especially the soft shell variety, now those are something far rarer, which is why I did not hesitate to scoop up a half dozen to take home for dinner that very night. Soft shell...
by
One of my favorite late spring, early summer treats is the soft shell crab. These are molting blue crabs, commonly found in Eastern United States waters and especially in the Chesapeake Bay region. Soft shell crabs are cooked whole, claws, legs and all. They are harvested just as they lose the last of their exoskeleton or hard shell. When they are properly cooked, the soft shell becomes a crisp, edible container for the juicy and succulent, sweet meat within. In waters spanning the Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and the Carolinas coast, blue crabs go through this...
by
Camping tends to bring out the hidden "MacGyver" in all of us, and can inspire us to use resources in unique ways. This brings to mind the time I went camping with my closest friend last Memorial Day weekend in Virginia's Shenandoah national park. We arrived at our campsite well before dusk and began preparations for dinner. As novice campers, we had our work cut out for us. After an immense struggle to put up our rented tent, with a little solicitous help from our neighboring campers, we set to work lighting the mini hibachi grill that my friend brought. A couple of beers and an...
by
Around this time of the year, I start to clean out the two freezers in my garage. I usually have a moratorium on buying things at the grocery store as I try to use up all the produce I have from last year's harvest in order to make room for the coming year's bounty. Among my collection of "still to be used fruit" I have one large bag of blackberries. Not enough to make jam but, lucky for me, just enough to make a fruit crumble. Crumbles are one of my all time favorite desserts. It's hard to beat the combination of warm succulent fruit topped with a cinnamon-laced oatmeal and brown...
From The Editors At CDKitchen: Feed Daily
by
Well, it's that time of year again. Time to lug home a big bag of charcoal and spark up the grill, and if you're lucky enough to live in a place where minor explosives are legal, don't forget to buy some fireworks! It's the 4th of July! The 4th of July always seems to bring out the usual fare: hamburgers, hot dogs, BBQ ribs, smoked brisket--a carnivore's dream! However, because of a few close friends who are vegetarians, I have learned to NEVER disregard my side dishes. I'm not a vegetarian myself, but I have dated, cooked for, and entertained quite a few...
by
Last year we were lucky enough to happen upon a little street festival in New York celebrating Bastille Day. Bastille Day falls on July 14 and is a French national holiday commemorating the storming of the Bastille during the French Revolution in 1789. There were tents featuring French sandwiches and pastries and live music filled the air. But the highlight of the festival was a petanque tournament set up right in the street. Petanque is a sort of outdoor bowling game in which each player tries to throw three hollow metal balls as close as possible to a small wooden ball...
by
Chocolate chip cookies are as American a treat as you can bake. Most likely you have tasted hundreds of them over the years. But some of our nation's most heralded figures, like George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt, never knew of our country's favorite cookie. Believe it or not, the chocolate chip cookie is just 75 years young, the result of a happy accident at a small country inn in Whitman, Massachusetts. In 1930, Ruth and Kenneth Wakefield bought the Toll House Inn where Ruth prepared freshly baked treats for guests. One fateful day, Ruth ran...
by
What would sliced tomatoes be without basil... roasted potatoes without rosemary...Greek salad without oregano...sausage without sage...or, in the case of the unthinkable, a julep without the mint? Nothing takes a side dish, salad, soup, entree, dessert or even some beverages from good to great quicker than the flavor, scent and color of fresh herbs. Even if your garden space is limited to an indoor windowsill, table or countertop, you can grow your own herbs this summer. Throughout history, herbs have been an integral part of our lives both inside and...
by
Iced tea used to mean one thing: black tea that had been steeped with water and served over ice. The only variation was in how it was sweetened. Southerners prefer to sweeten it while the mixture is still hot, while northerners prefer to sweeten traditional ice tea at the table with a choice of sweeteners in little packets. Sure you could also add a squeeze of lemon, but the choices stopped there. Now it is possible to find every variety of tea under the sun in chilled format. It started with individual bottled ice tea being offered in flavors like peach, raspberry, and...
by
One of the key benefits of the slow cooker is that it allows you to maximize flavors with a minimal expenditure of time. The design of the slow cooker allows you to throw a couple (or a dozen) ingredients in the pot in the morning, and forget about it until dinnertime. Because a lot of the time you are rushing out the door to start your day, simpler recipes work better for a busy weeknight dinner - sometimes just three or four ingredients make the best recipe. Since summer is the time for simplicity, it's a concept we can all embrace at this time of year.
by
Father's Day is coming up, so now is the time to start thinking about doing something special for your favorite father figure. Many of my favorite food memories are tied to my father. He is always on the lookout for a great meal, and he loved to take us to his favorite Chinatown restaurant for lunch when we went to visit him at work in Philadelphia. In fact, I can't even remember the name of that restaurant; he called it Tommy Lee's because he went so often, and referred so many customers, that he became friends with the owner. He is also a talented gardener and his green thumb kept...
by
With Father's Day being this weekend, I will be making the hike upstate to visit my folks. My parents' house, which is on a lake, is more like a resort of sorts, with people coming in and out all day long, all summer long. So much so, that they really should consider a revolving door. You see, almost everyone in the surrounding towns is related to me. What can I say? My mother is Irish and you know the Irish: They like to reproduce. Most also are in complete compliance with the open door policy that has been in effect since I can remember. So, as is the case with...
by
Fresh herbs are a wonderful way to add flavor to any dish. There is nothing better than growing your own herb garden in the warmer months, so you can add home grown herbs to your cooking at a moment's notice. And when you consider the prices in the grocery store, the price of one herb plant that will keep giving and giving is comparable to the price of a bunch of basil or a plastic package of thyme that you will only be able to use once. So if, like me, you love to cook with fresh herbs, then it really makes sense to try your hand at planting your own. Each year in the...
by
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 out refuses to nap anywhere during the day but with me - in fact he's snoozing away right here with me as I type one handed. The front pack baby carrier has become my new best friend. Usually I like to do all my dinner prep work before we spend a little time outside with our dog and then all come in for dinner. Therefore simple recipes with minimal cleanup are...
by
Strawberry season is here. And it hit suddenly. It just so happened that my daughter and I were out to accomplish some everyday errands when we saw the sight that turned our day around: red, ripe berries for sale. The farm right down our road had just opened the little roadside stand and the quarts were lined up and ready to go. While we've bought (and picked) berries at various farms in the area - and occasionally sunk to purchasing them at a grocery store - we've discovered that these are the best berries ever. The largest, shiniest...
by
The kitchen renovation started a week ago. During last year's crazy real estate market, we spent months looking for the perfect apartment. Well, about a week, really, until we realized that the perfect apartment was really out of our reach and we would need to make a couple of compromises. After several months of looking at less than perfect places, just as we were at the end of our rope and about to give up and rent for another year, we found an apartment that had great potential. In our optimism we may have overlooked the fact that the kitchen cabinets were starting...
by
The California desert is definitely not the home of the blue crab. But that is where I was, browsing the aisles of the upscale market Bristol Farms when I spotted a sign in the fish case declaring the arrival of the season's first shipment of soft shell blue crabs. Finding crab in the desert is not too hard if you are looking for the iced down king crab legs at a casino buffet. But blue crabs, especially the soft shell variety, now those are something far rarer, which is why I did not hesitate to scoop up a half dozen to take home for dinner that very night. Soft shell...
by
One of my favorite late spring, early summer treats is the soft shell crab. These are molting blue crabs, commonly found in Eastern United States waters and especially in the Chesapeake Bay region. Soft shell crabs are cooked whole, claws, legs and all. They are harvested just as they lose the last of their exoskeleton or hard shell. When they are properly cooked, the soft shell becomes a crisp, edible container for the juicy and succulent, sweet meat within. In waters spanning the Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and the Carolinas coast, blue crabs go through this...
by
Camping tends to bring out the hidden "MacGyver" in all of us, and can inspire us to use resources in unique ways. This brings to mind the time I went camping with my closest friend last Memorial Day weekend in Virginia's Shenandoah national park. We arrived at our campsite well before dusk and began preparations for dinner. As novice campers, we had our work cut out for us. After an immense struggle to put up our rented tent, with a little solicitous help from our neighboring campers, we set to work lighting the mini hibachi grill that my friend brought. A couple of beers and an...
by
Around this time of the year, I start to clean out the two freezers in my garage. I usually have a moratorium on buying things at the grocery store as I try to use up all the produce I have from last year's harvest in order to make room for the coming year's bounty. Among my collection of "still to be used fruit" I have one large bag of blackberries. Not enough to make jam but, lucky for me, just enough to make a fruit crumble. Crumbles are one of my all time favorite desserts. It's hard to beat the combination of warm succulent fruit topped with a cinnamon-laced oatmeal and brown...