Could You Eat on $25 a Week?
September is Hunger Action Month in Illinois, and the Illinois Food Bank Association has posed a challenge: Eat on $25 for one week. That's just $3.50 per day, per person – the average amount a food...
Archive for the week of
Useful Food Tool: Opinel Mushroom Knife
I guess I've been in a mushroom mood lately. This morning, I joined the Mycological Society of San Francisco, and this week I've written about pink oyster mushrooms and abalone mushrooms....
Alternative Sweeteners: Yacon Syrup
Last year, I discovered I had a sensitivity to sugar, so I am always on the lookout for new alternative sweeteners. I recently tried yacon syrup, which is made from the root of the yacon plant. (By am...
Weekend Project: Freezing Fresh Produce
If you don't have the time or energy for canning, freezing fresh produce is one of the quickest and easiest ways to stretch summer's bounty into the cold season. Here's a round-up of our tips, techniq...
Ingredient Spotlight: Long Peppers
Long peppers are the dried fruit of a flowering vine native to Indonesia and Java. Long peppers have been cultivated since ancient times and were used by the Romans to flavor food. After the discove...
Neighborhood Market Find: Cilantro Mini-Cubes
We have a love-hate relationship with the small grocery store/bodega closest to our apartment. The produce section is bleak, but there are some great Latin food products we love. The other day, we not...
Recipe: Asian Pear, Fresh Date, and Pomegranate Salad
Just as we were starting to lament the dwindling abundance of summer stone fruits at the farmers' market, in marched a whole new array of fruits to inspire us. Asian pears, fresh dates, and pomegranat...
Top Five Things To Do With Potatoes
Though they have a reputation for being bland and uninteresting, potatoes (of all kinds) are really one of our all-time favorite vegetables. They're versatile, nutritious, and abundant at farmers' mar...
Mycological Society of San Francisco
This morning, I sent in my $25 membership fee to the Mycological Society of San Francisco. I've always wanted to learn how to identify and collect mushrooms, and the Bay Area is a wonderful place for...
Autumn Recipe: Spiced Apple Cider Sorbet
Too warm where you're at for hot spiced apple cider? Try this sorbet instead. This was on the menu for a wedding dessert reception we catered last fall, and it was also the first time we'd ever tried ...
Wine Storage Under the Stairs
Delicious links for 09.26.08
Look at this great idea for storing all your wine and making good use of what is usually wasted space. ...
Look! Plate Rack Storage Over the Window
We saw this photo on the Coastal Living website and it reminded us of our post yesterday on plates that don't fit in standard cabinets. This is one solution......
Good Eats: Effects of Hurricane Ike on the Oyster Industry
This week we saw lots of informative but grim food news: the oyster industry in Texas pulling itself back together, what delicious looking berries will actually kill you, a new film about the sad sorr...
Spotlight on Gin: Some New Favorites
Straight Up Cocktails
As we've mentioned before here at the Kitchn, gin’s been making quite a splash lately. Long edged out by vodka, this crystal clear, juniper-berry-flavored grain spirit is now reclaiming its rightful...
Kitchen Decor: Do You Buy Food Photography?
With the growth of food blogs and the explosion of Etsy, we're starting to see more and more artsy photos of food being sold as home decor. What do you think?...
Ingredient Spotlight: Chipilín
Chipilín, or chepil, is a legume native to Southern Mexico and Central America. Its delicate leaves have traditionally been eaten as greens or used as an herb to flavor rice, soup, Oaxacan tama...
Morning Comfort Food: Pear Muffins
It's dreary, chilly, and extremely rainy this morning in New York City. We're dreaming of warm, spicy pear muffins and were inspired by this picture we saw on Flickr. So, we went digging for recipes.....
Good Product? Spanish Saffron from Trader Joe's
We spotted these small jars of Spanish saffron at Trader Joe's the other week, and we're curious how this saffron holds up in the kitchen. Has anyone tried it?...
Should Food Always Be Served On A White Plate?
White plates are the conventional restaurant choice thanks to the belief that most food is best shown off against the blank canvas of a white plate. This coconut cake from London's Books for Cooks loo...
From The Email: An Ode to Prune & Armagnac Ice Cream
A version of this post was originally sent to our email subscribers on August 29. To receive Sara Kate's weekly email, sign up in the column to the left or click here. Something tasty will arrive in y...
Strange New Vegetable: Yacon
Recently I was talking via email with a friend in Texas about her home garden, and she mentioned she had planted something called "yacon." I thought it was some sort of typo so I inquired, and she co...
What To Do With Amaranth
Like quinoa, amaranth is an ancient, protein-packed seed. The tiny poppy seed-size "grain" was a staple of the Aztecs and Mayans. We must admit that we initially weren't quite sure about amaranth, tho...
Sixteen Kinds of Potatoes
Yesterday I started us on a potato journey with a post about how to select the right kind of potato. Today I'm going to show you the loot I picked up from the farmers' market last week: sixteen varie...
Seasonal Spotlight: Abalone Mushrooms
Earlier this week, we talked about pink oyster mushrooms. Today we'll discuss another variety of oyster mushroom: the abalone mushroom....
Entertaining: Make-Ahead Tips for Dinner Parties
It's still home cooking month around here, and, to us, nothing embodies that phrase more than a small dinner party. You cook. You enjoy your home. And, best of all, you show a little love to your frie...
Local Food Producer: Happy Girl Kitchen Co.
Bay Area, California
One of our favorite vendors at the Ferry Plaza Farmer's Market on Saturdays is the Happy Girl Kitchen Company. They sell many kinds of pickled vegetables and preserved fruits in jars....
Thursday Giveaway: 7-Quart Slow Cooker from Calphalon
Giveaway: 7-Quart Calphalon Slow Cooker
Find it: Buy at Amazon, $149.99
Those of you who read The Kitchn with any regularity know that we are big, big fans of the slow cooker. The slow cooker is the ...
Recipe Recommendation: DIY Potato Chips...in the Microwave
When most of you mentioned having at least a microwave in your dorm or college apartment kitchen set-up, we immediately remembered a technique we've been itching to try from the good folks over at Jug...
Kitchen Tools: A Candy Thermometer
Whether you're boiling sugar, making cheese, or planning a little deep-fat frying, a candy thermometer is an essential tool to have on hand....
Zoom Lens Coffee Mug
Delicious links for 09.25.08
A mug made out of a camera lens? That plus a great space saver for the kitchen and a couple new recipes to try in today's Delicious Links. ...
Tip: Measure Your Cabinets Before You Buy New Dishes
Or, perhaps, measure your existing dishes before you buy cabinets for a new kitchen.
We've noticed that, in all of the apartments we've lived in, the standard cabinetry is too shallow for our dinner ...
Quick and Easy Recipe: Lemon Pepper Pasta with Capers
Cream sauce doesn't have to be a rare indulgence; you can have that creamy goodness without going over the top. This delicate sauce relies mostly on chicken or vegetable stock, simmered down into a co...
Understanding German Wine Labels
German wines, Rieslings in particular, are among my absolute favorite wines so I am very excited that this week I am heading to the Rheingau wine region of Germany, with its famous Geisenheim Viticult...
Shore Magazine: Indian Summer Dinner
Chicago
Northwest Indiana's Shore magazine covers the style and culture of life along the southern shores of Lake Michigan.
The latest issue features recipes for an Indian summer dinner....
Source for Stone-Ground Grits: Anson Mills
And since we're writing about grits, we thought we'd give you a good mail-order source for an exceptional, stone-ground variety. Anson Mills in Columbia, SC, grows organic, heirloom corn and sells ...
Recipe Roundup: Grits
When we rounded up the flavors and ingredients of the South, some commenters asked for more Southern food coverage here at The Kitchn. Well, we heard you (more than one of us is from the South, too), ...
Good News! A Healthy Diet Is Good For You!
Have you heard? A diet high in fruits, vegetables, and grains with moderate amounts of meat and fat is actually good for you! It also helps you maintain or -- get this -- even lose weight!...
Free Cooking Demos At The BHV
Paris
Planning a trip to Paris but don't have the time or cash for a cooking class? Stop by the BHV (short for Le Bazar de l'Hotel de Ville, just across the street from city hall) on a Saturday for free coo...
Contaminated Infant Formula, French Gastronomy, and Price Fixing:
Top food news for September 22-26
Here we are with the weekly food news roundup! Read more ......
Road Trip with a Purpose: TheWhoFarm
TheWhoFarmMobile rolled into our town last week. Traveling in their eye-catching, biodiesel-fueled school bus (complete with an edible garden on the roof), Daniel Bowman Simon and Casey Gustowarow are...
What's the Difference? Macaroons vs. Macarons
If your childhood was anything like ours, you grew up with chewy, unkempt, possibly chocolate-dipped coconut macaroons. Like us, you were probably confused when these "new" almond macarons bearing no ...
About the Cream at the Top of Non-Homogenized Milk
Last week in our post about Straus Family Creamery, a reader commented:
ok, i recently purchased the straus milk and was wondering what you're suppose to do with the cream top? do you put it over som...
Kitchen Color Inspiration: Hitachino Beer
From AT:SF
We saw this post from Lily at AT:San Francisco a couple of days ago, and we loved it for two reasons. One, Hitachino Nest is a really good beer that we just discovered......
Weekend Guests: What Food Should We Have on Hand?
This summer, it was all about visiting other people (and taking them homemade treats). Now that it's fall, we're playing host. So, what snacks and dishes should we have in the kitchen for our weekend ...
Sense of Place: Flavors and Ingredients of Hawaii
Aloha! Let's take a jump off the mainland and see what the Hawaiian islands have to offer on our culinary tour of the US!...
How To Pick a Potato
There is a lot of confusion over potatoes. With hundreds of varieties available to growers and dozens if you shop at a farmers' market, you might feel like you need a cheat sheet to navigate your way ...
Look! Handpainted Sushi Cookies
We came across these beautiful hand-painted sushi cookies made by Philadelphia pastry artist Zoe Lukas....
Halloween Pancake Molds
Delicious links for 09.24.08
Pancakes, anyone? We prefer the Jack o' lantern version here. ...
Hot or Not: Nordic Rock Stone Ice Cubes
Hmm. We like the idea of these reusable stone cubes, made from "Swedish pollution-free rock." You put them in the freezer for an hour and they keep a drink cold without diluting it. On the other hand,...
Kitchen Keeping: Most Memorable Advice?
What is the best or the most memorable advice that you have ever received on organizing, cleaning, shopping, cooking in, and just generally keeping a happy kitchen?
And perhaps more importantly - do...
Word of Mouth: Chemesthesis
Chemesthesis, noun: The chemically stimulated sensation of pain and temperature in the eye, nose, mouth and throat.
A sensation related to taste and smell, chemesthesis includes the tickle of carbon...
The Hunger Challenge: Blogging for (More) Food
Can you imagine creating three nutritious meals a day? Can you imagine doing that with a budget of $3...for all three meals? To highlight how difficult it is for those who have to make ends meet on ...
Farmers' Market Report: Jujubes
Los Angeles
Apples and pears may be the most prominent fruits of the new season but, at the Hollywood Farmers' Market, another crop vies for attention.
...
Tomatoes in January! Winter CSA Shares from Winter Sun Farms
We mentioned Winter Sun Farms after meeting them at the Let Us Eat Local event a couple of weeks ago. At the time, we thought they only delivered in New Paltz and Poughkeepsie, but we were wrong! They...
Good Food with Evan Kleiman: Rocky Mountain Oysters and Other Infamous Euphemisms
Did anyone else catch Good Food this past week? It was chock full of goodies, but we were particularly tickled by Evan Kleiman's discussion with Eddie Lin regarding favorite euphemisms for...er...othe...
More Sage Advice
Paris
You may remember that I was in need of some sage advice last week about using up a giant bouquet of the lovely herb. In addition to your excellent suggestions, trolling the Internet for some French wi...
How To Pick A Ripe Melon
There's a scene in the 1980's television sitcom The Golden Girls where the ladies find themselves arguing at the supermarket over the right way to select a ripe cantaloupe. Dorothy said the way to ch...
Five Ways to Prepare Tempeh
We've had good tempeh and we've had mediocre tempeh. At its best, the soybean cake is rich and nutty. At its worst, tempeh can be bitter or bland. We grew up eating tempeh and enjoy its earthiness, bu...
Fall Wine Recommendation: Il Valore 2006 Primitivo
After Mary's review of wines carried by Trader Joe's, we thought we'd share one of our recent Trader Joe's discoveries. It's the Il Valore 2006 Primitivo - find out why it's our favorite wine bargain ...
Web Resource: Gourmet Food Store
If you're hosting a fancy dinner party or want to pamper a loved one with a gourmet meal, check out the Gourmet Food Store....
Recipe: Penne with Acorn Squash and Pancetta
This started out as a way to use up some squash that had been sitting around for a while, and it turned into one of the best dishes we've made in a long time -- easy, full of flavor, and great warmed ...
Seasonal Spotlight: Asian Pears
With their crisp, juicy texture, Asian pears must be some of the most refreshing fruits on earth. They're a fitting pome to bridge the transition from summer to fall, when we haven't completely let go...
Food Science: Vegetables That Are Even Better After a Frost!
Yes, it's true: summer is on its way out, but it's not all sad! There are some end-of-summer vegetables that are even better after a good frost or two. Which ones and why? Read on......
The Virtues of Kitchen Scales
Before I attended culinary school, I thought kitchen scales were just for calorie-counters. But on Day One of my course, that myth was debunked by the giant, old-school but highly accurate scale plun...
What Can You Do With Green Tomatoes?
Tomatoes can keep producing fruit well into fall, but they need temperatures of 75 degrees or more in order to reach full growth and optimum ripeness. Therefore, most tomatoes that start growing in t...
Big Breakfast Tea Towel
Delicious links for 09.23.08
A big tea towel to remind of what to eat for breakfast, mini layer cakes, and more below in today's Delicious Links. ...
Easy Appetizer Template: Jam + Pork + Cheese
A good appetizer can be hard to find. We get tired of dips. And creating tiny, individual, stuffed somethings is time-consuming. We're always looking for a dish that's easy and crowd-pleasing, and we ...
Recipe: Sweet and Salty Cinnamon Almonds
Cinnamon nuts - crunchy, sweet and salty - are one of our favorite fall snacks. This recipe is super easy, and it's good for snacking or for sprinkling on ice cream and other desserts. ...
The Cheesemonger: You Mite Like to Know
Here's some information for the individuals among us cheese lovers who may be interested in an odd, little-known fact about some cheeses. Craggy, rough rinds aren't only a sign of years of aging, they...
Good Product: Circa Ceramics
Chicago
Our favorite dishes are usually the ones with a lot of color and a little spunk, so naturally, we're loving the whimsical pieces from Chicago's Circa Ceramics. ...
The IKEA Kitchen: HEAT Cork Trivets
Faith has been highlighting some of the great IKEA finds she's using in her new kitchen, and we wanted to throw out another one we're loving right now: HEAT cork trivets.
They're cheap, naturally, b...
Help! Can We Rescue This Crystallized Sugar Syrup?
This weekend, we made a big batch of sugar cane syrup for some candy-making experiments. We used some of it right away without problems, but the leftovers crystallized into the cloudy, gritty mass you...
Alphabet Ice Cube Trays From Suck UK
London
These oddly appealing if gimmicky silicone ice cube trays from Suck UK can be used to make ice, or to freeze jelly or butter for your pancakes as pictured here -- and whatever else you can think of to...
Seasonal Spotlight: Pink Oyster Mushrooms
As the weather gets cooler and the rains come, mushroom collectors go off into the woods to hunt for prizes. We haven't had any rain in the Bay Area yet, but if you're getting rain in your area, you ...
No More Plastic Bags: Organic Cotton Produce Bags
Although we've been carrying canvas totes in lieu of disposable grocery bags for some time, until a few months ago we held onto a stash of plastic produce and Ziploc bags for smaller groups of items. ...
Care to Share? What's Your Secret Ingredient?
Something's missing and you just can't quite put your finger on it. Skip an ingredient? Nope. Need more salt? Nah. What do you reach for when your dish just needs a little "something?"...
Recipe Ideas For Grapes
We planted a Ruby Red grape this year in our backyard. We don't expect to get any fruits from it for at least two years. In the meantime, it's mid-September and our neighbors are having a grape glut...
Tip from Domino: Make Mini-Gratins in a Muffin Pan
The October issue of Domino has a great article that might inspire you to throw a dinner party soon. It's a timed rundown of how to create a meal and a pretty table in scant time after work (granted, ...
Interweb Cookery: How to Become a Pastry Genius in One Short Video
The Art & Soul of Baking by pastry genius Cindy Mushet is October's Cookbook Club selection over at Gourmet.com. In conjunction with the book, they also offer up a short video on how to make individu...
Quick Tip: Chop Chocolate with a Serrated Knife
Chopping chocolate for things like brownies and fudge was always one of our least favorite kitchen tasks. That is, until a pastry chef friend suggested we try using a serrated bread knife!...
Do You Have A Good Recipe For Homemade Butter?
I've been doing research on how to make my own butter. I like a recipe I found on Epicurian.com because it seems so simple, and I can make it in an electric mixer....
Kitchen Tour: Ragdale House Travels Through Time
Lake Forest, Illinois
On entering the kitchen of Ragdale House in Lake Forest, Illinois, you might have the peculiar sensation of traveling through time. With its cheery buttercup-yellow walls and peacock-blue painted farm...
DIY Backsplash Inspiration
Delicious links for 09.22.08
It's DIY day on Delicious Links! Backsplash, cookbook holder, coconut soup......
Classic Recipe (and Video): Martha Stewart's Pâte Brisée
It's the first day of fall, and fall is high pie season for us. Sara Kate has already shared her favorite pie plate and a great sour cream pie crust recipe. But we also love this recipe from Martha St...
Fall Snacking Recipe: Peanut Butter Popcorn
Maybe it's the college football parties, the trick-or-treating, or the endless grazing before Thanksgiving dinner, but snacks and fall just seem to go together. Popcorn is a very old harvest snack, pr...
Putting Up Tomatoes: An Encouragement
My friend Scott and I canned up a case of San Marzano tomatoes yesterday afternoon and it was a cinch! It only took a few hours, happily spent in Scott's lovely kitchen, to produce 18 pints of whole ...
Pantry Basics: Pickling Spice
If you've ever looked at a recipe for pickles or chutneys (like our tomato chutney posted last week), you may have encountered an ingredient simply called "pickling spice." What's in pickling spice, a...
Why Not? Eating Fruit Desserts for Breakfast
There are certain dishes that are even better the next day—sometimes cold, right out of the fridge. We think pies and cobblers are squarely in that corner, and we're not ashamed to say we eat them f...
Seasonal Spotlight: What To Do With Leeks?
Anyone else out there getting deluged with leeks from gardens and CSAs? We love leeks as much as the next cook, but one can only eat so much leek and potato soup. Here's some fresh inspiration!...
Where To Buy Spices In Paris: Goumanyat & Son Royaume
Paris
When visiting friends who like to cook and bring back edible souvenirs ask me where to shop for spices, I always send them to Goumanyat & Son Royaume, a treasure trove of high-quality spices on the ru...
Weekend Meditation: Loco for Local
The other day I read an article in the August issue of Sunset Magazine about an extreme version of local food: The One Block Feast. The article featured a meal that had been created entirely from Su...
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