cdkitchen > feeddaily blog
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They should pay my mail delivery person by the pound during November and early December. Every day my mailbox is stuffed to overflowing with thick holiday gift catalogues. I usually toss most of them in the recycle bin except for the culinary ones. Those I save for later in the evening when I sit on my sofa after supper and read them slowly as if they were a great novel. I pore over each description of every item. I am entranced by the beautiful specialty cookware, think seriously about whether or not I really need another holiday themed cake stand, and mull over the merits...
by
With the economy being what it is, it might seem like a contradiction to party this holiday season after what has been a very tough year financially for many people. That being said, celebrating the season with a gathering of friends and family does not have to be a lavish occasion of extravagance for it to feel special. A little creativity and some party tricks of the trade can go a long way to creating a fabulous fete that wows your guests on a dime. Edible Centerpieces. Flowers are lovely and beautiful arrangements can certainly be had on the cheap, by...
by
Party season is upon us and so begins the search for the perfect cocktail party spread. When putting together the menu the tension is always going to be between the desire to have crowd-pleasing recipes that are a guaranteed hit, and the need to keep it interesting by cooking something new. Doing the same recipes many years in a row means you have the knowledge of the recipe and the security that your crowd will like them. But if you have the same group returning time and again for the same food you run the risk of being predictable; predictable is not the sort of way you want your...
by
Dear Santa: This year for Christmas, I want an Italian boyfriend. Not so much because of some Under-the-Tuscan-Sun daydream of a tall, dark and handsome man with an accent by my side, but more so I can borrow his family next holiday season. What's more, Santa, I am going to do you a huge favor: you don't even need to deliver him until about middle of this coming summer. I know that right now is your very busy season. I figure one less present to deliver on your busiest night (especially one that is tall and might prove a bit unwieldy to fit down the chimney with you) will be a bit...
by
It took me a week to polish off the last crumbs of Thanksgiving's apple pie. I had been slowly savoring it as each bite for me was a journey, with juicy apple redolent of fall spices, crunch of brown sugar and oats from the crumb topping, flaky bite of the pastry crust. This pie, I realized, was the coming together of several generations of shared kitchen wisdom, all beginning with my great grandmother Nadine. When I was young, Gramma Nadine, as we called her, would descend from Idaho to our Southern California town once a year bringing with her tales of...
by
Fruitcake. The very word is enough to make the most die-hard Christmas fanatic shudder. But when was the last time you had a fruitcake? It was probably more recently that you think. And you just might have enjoyed it. What is a fruitcake, exactly? The kind of fruitcake that most Americans think of is of the dense loaf variety usually given by Grandma at Christmas. The Grandma variety is likely packed with candied fruit in shades of neon green and cherry Chapstick red, the kind of colors that don't naturally occur in any orchard on planet Earth....
by
By the time you read this, I hope to have welcomed a new bundle of joy into our family (or at least be on the verge of having that bundle of joy). Although I expected this baby to be born early like my first son, I've had a little more time at home to prepare than I originally anticipated. But tomorrow is my due date, and despite having tried such old wives' remedies for labor such as eating spicy foods, eggplant, and pineapple, so far there are no imminent signs that the little one will be here anytime real soon! With all this "extra time" on my hands I have been cooking...
by
As many of you probably know, some of the best times the kids and I have had in the kitchen together are spontaneous. Spur of the moment happenings that could not have been planned in any way, shape or form. As a bystander, I've noted that this natural growth of creativity from the kids requires little of me in "doing form" - but it does require a big step backwards: the ability to stand by, perhaps provide a reinforcing comment - but mainly to not put a stop to their in-the-moment excitement. It's the step-back-from-being-an-adult drill: to not interfere, to not clean up ... to stop...
by
My love affair with risotto began as a teenager. And I dare say it was love at first bite. It is hard to pin down any single feature that did me in; rather it was the divine combination of the whole. Short, plump grains of rice surrounded by an opaque, starchy sauce of their own creation mounded high on an earthen dish. Aromas of toast, onion, and wine titillated my olfactory glands luring me in for the first taste. In the mouth the slightly chewy grains of rice with their unctuous binding reminded me more of sauced pasta cooked al dente than any rice dish I had eaten.
by
If you are a parent in this day and age, then you know how ubiquitous chicken nuggets and tenders can be. They're on most every kid's restaurant menu and at every fast food place, school lunches, birthday parties, and lots of moms (myself included) keep a stock of them in the freezer for those times you need a quick dinner. You can find chicken nuggets, veggie nuggets, and fish nuggets at every grocery store. In the "olden days," there was no such thing as chicken nuggets! They did not become common until the early 1980s with their popularization at America's largest...
by
I vaguely remember visiting Hibachi grills when I was a child. The memories are mostly just images of flaming onion towers, eggs spinning on the hot grill, and the heat of the flame leaping up. I sometimes wonder, though, if my memories are simply fabricated from my more recent experiences at the Hibachi grill.
by
I recently sent a box of baked goodies to a friend in Scotland. Fortunately, it arrived safe and sound, so I thought I'd share some tips with you so your home baked treats get to their destinations safely throughout the holiday season. First and foremost, consider what exactly you'd like to send. Obviously, some items are sturdier than others. Brownies and cookies that aren't too delicate are perfect, not only because they are physically strong but also because their shelf life lends them particularly well to traveling through the postal system for days on end. Also...
by
As kids, adults always told us that the most important meal of the day is breakfast. Like many things in life, it wasn't until I was much older that I realized, for me, just how true that was. And yet, even now I know so many adults who skip this crucial meal, even while indoctrinating their own children into the importance of getting the day off to a good start.
by
What if I told you that dinner tonight could be on the table in 20 minutes, would include vegetables, beef, and soup, you could eat at a leisurely pace, and it just might entice the kids to sit down at the dinner table for a change. No guesses? Here's one more: the name of the dish is onomatopoeic. Perhaps that last hint wasn't so easy. But at least the dish is! Allow me to introduce the Japanese one-pot dinner called shabu shabu. Shabu shabu literally means "swish-swish" in Japanese (onomatopoeia are words that are spelled like the sounds they are describing)...
by
Many moons ago I left small town-California to take my place with other like-minded young people in the coming-of-age ritual know as college. We had come from the four corners of the United States to study towards a degree, yes, but just as important, to learn to live on our own. In some ways we did learn, but when it came to cooking for ourselves, a collegian diet rich in dorm food, midnight pizzas, and Costco-sized packs of Mac-N-Cheese often trumped the desire to make any sort of real food.
by
There was a death in my life this week, something so tragic that I have been left feeling rather... impotent. Okay, this death was not a living thing, per se, but such a part of my life that without it, I feel is if a limb has gone missing. My Dell laptop died a sudden, soundless death. I am still in mourning. For many of us, not having technology at one's fingertips in the form of a cell phone, iPad, GPS system, and so on, we are often left to wonder how we once survived without the modern conveniences we now take for granted. Take...
From The Editors At CDKitchen: Feed Daily
by
They should pay my mail delivery person by the pound during November and early December. Every day my mailbox is stuffed to overflowing with thick holiday gift catalogues. I usually toss most of them in the recycle bin except for the culinary ones. Those I save for later in the evening when I sit on my sofa after supper and read them slowly as if they were a great novel. I pore over each description of every item. I am entranced by the beautiful specialty cookware, think seriously about whether or not I really need another holiday themed cake stand, and mull over the merits...
by
With the economy being what it is, it might seem like a contradiction to party this holiday season after what has been a very tough year financially for many people. That being said, celebrating the season with a gathering of friends and family does not have to be a lavish occasion of extravagance for it to feel special. A little creativity and some party tricks of the trade can go a long way to creating a fabulous fete that wows your guests on a dime. Edible Centerpieces. Flowers are lovely and beautiful arrangements can certainly be had on the cheap, by...
by
Party season is upon us and so begins the search for the perfect cocktail party spread. When putting together the menu the tension is always going to be between the desire to have crowd-pleasing recipes that are a guaranteed hit, and the need to keep it interesting by cooking something new. Doing the same recipes many years in a row means you have the knowledge of the recipe and the security that your crowd will like them. But if you have the same group returning time and again for the same food you run the risk of being predictable; predictable is not the sort of way you want your...
by
Dear Santa: This year for Christmas, I want an Italian boyfriend. Not so much because of some Under-the-Tuscan-Sun daydream of a tall, dark and handsome man with an accent by my side, but more so I can borrow his family next holiday season. What's more, Santa, I am going to do you a huge favor: you don't even need to deliver him until about middle of this coming summer. I know that right now is your very busy season. I figure one less present to deliver on your busiest night (especially one that is tall and might prove a bit unwieldy to fit down the chimney with you) will be a bit...
by
It took me a week to polish off the last crumbs of Thanksgiving's apple pie. I had been slowly savoring it as each bite for me was a journey, with juicy apple redolent of fall spices, crunch of brown sugar and oats from the crumb topping, flaky bite of the pastry crust. This pie, I realized, was the coming together of several generations of shared kitchen wisdom, all beginning with my great grandmother Nadine. When I was young, Gramma Nadine, as we called her, would descend from Idaho to our Southern California town once a year bringing with her tales of...
by
Fruitcake. The very word is enough to make the most die-hard Christmas fanatic shudder. But when was the last time you had a fruitcake? It was probably more recently that you think. And you just might have enjoyed it. What is a fruitcake, exactly? The kind of fruitcake that most Americans think of is of the dense loaf variety usually given by Grandma at Christmas. The Grandma variety is likely packed with candied fruit in shades of neon green and cherry Chapstick red, the kind of colors that don't naturally occur in any orchard on planet Earth....
by
By the time you read this, I hope to have welcomed a new bundle of joy into our family (or at least be on the verge of having that bundle of joy). Although I expected this baby to be born early like my first son, I've had a little more time at home to prepare than I originally anticipated. But tomorrow is my due date, and despite having tried such old wives' remedies for labor such as eating spicy foods, eggplant, and pineapple, so far there are no imminent signs that the little one will be here anytime real soon! With all this "extra time" on my hands I have been cooking...
by
As many of you probably know, some of the best times the kids and I have had in the kitchen together are spontaneous. Spur of the moment happenings that could not have been planned in any way, shape or form. As a bystander, I've noted that this natural growth of creativity from the kids requires little of me in "doing form" - but it does require a big step backwards: the ability to stand by, perhaps provide a reinforcing comment - but mainly to not put a stop to their in-the-moment excitement. It's the step-back-from-being-an-adult drill: to not interfere, to not clean up ... to stop...
by
My love affair with risotto began as a teenager. And I dare say it was love at first bite. It is hard to pin down any single feature that did me in; rather it was the divine combination of the whole. Short, plump grains of rice surrounded by an opaque, starchy sauce of their own creation mounded high on an earthen dish. Aromas of toast, onion, and wine titillated my olfactory glands luring me in for the first taste. In the mouth the slightly chewy grains of rice with their unctuous binding reminded me more of sauced pasta cooked al dente than any rice dish I had eaten.
by
If you are a parent in this day and age, then you know how ubiquitous chicken nuggets and tenders can be. They're on most every kid's restaurant menu and at every fast food place, school lunches, birthday parties, and lots of moms (myself included) keep a stock of them in the freezer for those times you need a quick dinner. You can find chicken nuggets, veggie nuggets, and fish nuggets at every grocery store. In the "olden days," there was no such thing as chicken nuggets! They did not become common until the early 1980s with their popularization at America's largest...
by
I vaguely remember visiting Hibachi grills when I was a child. The memories are mostly just images of flaming onion towers, eggs spinning on the hot grill, and the heat of the flame leaping up. I sometimes wonder, though, if my memories are simply fabricated from my more recent experiences at the Hibachi grill.
by
I recently sent a box of baked goodies to a friend in Scotland. Fortunately, it arrived safe and sound, so I thought I'd share some tips with you so your home baked treats get to their destinations safely throughout the holiday season. First and foremost, consider what exactly you'd like to send. Obviously, some items are sturdier than others. Brownies and cookies that aren't too delicate are perfect, not only because they are physically strong but also because their shelf life lends them particularly well to traveling through the postal system for days on end. Also...
by
As kids, adults always told us that the most important meal of the day is breakfast. Like many things in life, it wasn't until I was much older that I realized, for me, just how true that was. And yet, even now I know so many adults who skip this crucial meal, even while indoctrinating their own children into the importance of getting the day off to a good start.
by
What if I told you that dinner tonight could be on the table in 20 minutes, would include vegetables, beef, and soup, you could eat at a leisurely pace, and it just might entice the kids to sit down at the dinner table for a change. No guesses? Here's one more: the name of the dish is onomatopoeic. Perhaps that last hint wasn't so easy. But at least the dish is! Allow me to introduce the Japanese one-pot dinner called shabu shabu. Shabu shabu literally means "swish-swish" in Japanese (onomatopoeia are words that are spelled like the sounds they are describing)...
by
Many moons ago I left small town-California to take my place with other like-minded young people in the coming-of-age ritual know as college. We had come from the four corners of the United States to study towards a degree, yes, but just as important, to learn to live on our own. In some ways we did learn, but when it came to cooking for ourselves, a collegian diet rich in dorm food, midnight pizzas, and Costco-sized packs of Mac-N-Cheese often trumped the desire to make any sort of real food.
by
There was a death in my life this week, something so tragic that I have been left feeling rather... impotent. Okay, this death was not a living thing, per se, but such a part of my life that without it, I feel is if a limb has gone missing. My Dell laptop died a sudden, soundless death. I am still in mourning. For many of us, not having technology at one's fingertips in the form of a cell phone, iPad, GPS system, and so on, we are often left to wonder how we once survived without the modern conveniences we now take for granted. Take...