apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Pantry Staples: Jars of Artichoke Hearts

Jarred artichoke hearts are one of those pantry items that we keep around just for the times when we're in a pinch and need something extra to put in our meal. All we have to do is open the jar, drain...

Hot or Not? Herbs in Tubes from Gourmet Garden

There are some products, like tomato paste and wasabi, that we love to keep around in tube form. But herbs? ...

Help! What To Do With Leftover Sour Cream?

We made Heidi Swanson's Mushroom Casserole the other day, which uses a small scoop of sour cream to round out the flavors. The casserole was fabulous, but because we don't use a lot of sour cream in o...

Quick Tip: Freeze Leftover Cooked Chicken

Whether we're grilling chicken breasts or braising legs and thighs, we find it just as easy to cook a large batch all at once. (Or just cook a whole chicken!) Any leftovers not immediately eaten get s...

Techniques: How to Work with Phyllo Dough

Phyllo is one of our favorite foils for making any number of dishes, from custard in phyllo cups to filled appetizers! Working with those pre-made sheets of phyllo dough can sometimes get tricky, thou...

Recipe Basics: How to Cook Beans in the Slow Cooker

If you've been following along this past month, you know that we love beans. We also love our slow-cooker. Lucky for us, it just so happens that beans and slow-cookers make excellent friends! Here's h...

Quick Tip: Creamier (and Lighter!) Sauce With Pasta Water

Whether you're trying to eat light or not, this is a good trick to know about: if your sauce seems a little soupy, add splash of starchy water leftover from cooking the pasta! Sound crazy? Here's how ...

Ziploc Zip n' Steam Bags: Anyone Tried Them?

My parents, who are fanatic eaters of steamed vegetables, were really excited about these new-ish microwave steamer bags from Ziploc when I was home over the holidays. I hadn't seen them before and wa...

Last Minute Gift Idea: Beer Bread Mix
Un-Gift Guide 2008

It doesn't get much better than beer bread: mix, bake, slather with butter, smile. Repeat last two steps until satisfied. What's better, all the dry ingredients can be mixed together ahead of time and...

Weeknight Meal Tip: Ways to Doctor Jarred Tomato Sauce to Add More Flavor

Quick meals are a must during the busy holiday season, and we definitely turn to the grocery store for some help. Having a jar of pre-made tomato sauce on hand to pour over a bowl of pasta can be a li...

Food Science: The Science Behind Nonstick Cooking Spray

Nonstick cooking sprays like Pam and Mazola are convenient to use and boast fat-free cooking. But these products have also always seemed to us like one of those strange slightly-mystical products akin...

What's the Difference? Stock vs. Broth

For a long time, we just assumed that "stock" and "broth" were interchangeable terms for the same thing: liquid flavored with vegetables, meat, and/or bones used as the base for soups, sauces, and oth...

Zingerman's Italian Wild Cherries

I was lucky enough to get to play around with a jar of Zingerman's Italian Wild Cherries, which are being given as a prize in our Pie Bakeoff (have you voted yet?). My original idea was to make a pi...

How To Use Fennel Pollen

I got really into using fennel pollen a few years ago when I got addicted to Mario Batali's Goat Cheese Tortelloni with Dried Orange and Fennel Pollen. The first time I made it I didn't have fennel po...

More Food Twitters To Follow

Last week, we wrote about Twitter and Whole Foods. Today we'll provide a roundup of some popular food-related Twitters that the home cook may be interested in following....

SF Local Product: Affi’s Aubergine Dip

Weeknight Meal Tip: Frozen Homemade Stock Portions

One thing that helps us make delicious, healthy meals on the fly is a freezer full of portioned homemade stock of all kinds - vegetable, crab, chicken, beef, etc....

Weeknight Meal Tip: Pyrex Storage Containers

All right, let's see a show of hands: who's too tired to cook every night of the week? Yup, that's what we thought ... us, too. On the weekends, we like to go to the local farmer's market and loa...

Good Product: Trader Joe's Toasted Pine Nuts

Toasted pine nuts can be a final grace note to well-constructed salads, pastas, and cooked veggies, and I often reach for them at the last minute to add savor and crunch. Sometimes I stop short, howe...

Good Product: Jimtown Store Artichoke, Olive & Caper Spread

This versatile spread-sauce-dip combines buttery artichokes, tangy green olives and capers -- all spiked with red chili flakes and accented with refreshing mint for a sun-drenched Mediterranean vacati...

Good Product: Abuelita Villarreal’s Comida Mexicana Sauce

Even if you’re the type of cook who would rather scramble an egg and make toast on a busy night than resort to a jarred sauce, Abuelita Villarreal’s Comida Mexicana Ranchero Red Sauce is a viable mea...

Good Product: American Flatbread

I never thought I’d eat thin-crusted, crispy and delicious pizza that came out of a freezer, but I do. No matter how picky you are about processed convenience food, I’m pretty sure you’ll find this ...