The Kitchn Archive
2013
June

The Kitchn Archive: Jun 2013

First Cup Meditation
It’s early on a summer’s morning and I’m sitting out back with my first cup of tea. The air is cool, my tea is hot and bracing, and the birds are outdoing themselves with delight over the sun’s arrival. An old friend, The List of Things to Do, is rather large today and persistent, too, like a scruffy sheep dog that wants to be walked and is nagging for attention by consistently and methodically placing one of its saucer-sized paws in my lap.
Dana Velden
Jun 30, 2013
Emma’s 5 Do-Ahead Tips for Planning a Stress-Free Dinner Party
To cap off this week’s series on my All-American Beer Bottling Party, I wanted to share some of my best do-ahead tips to — hopefully! — reduce the stress many of us often feel in the days leading up to, and the day of, a big dinner party. I have not always been the world’s most calm and collected hostess (…ahem…), and these tips have been hard-earned. But they’re easy! More like habits, really.
Emma Christensen
Jun 28, 2013
Short on Space? Go Up. A Great Example of Narrow, Vertical Kitchen Storage
If you’ve ever dealt with an odd space in your small kitchen — a stretch of wall or an empty corner at the end of the countertop or next to an appliance, large enough to be noticeable but seemingly too small to actually use it — then this is a good example of how to deal with that. Go up. This example from IKEA Family Live shows how you can maximize every square inch in your kitchen, even if it’s a relatively narrow space.
Cambria Bold
Jun 28, 2013
When and Why Not to DIY: 3 Tips from a Recovering Dinner Party Maniac
When I first started planning the menu for my All-American Beer Bottling Party, the plan was to keep it very simple and very easy. But when I couldn’t decide between shrimp tacos or chicken, I decided to do both. And why have one side dish when I could have two? Then I set my heart on a pie with fresh summer berries for dessert — with homemade ice cream, of course. In short order, the menu started to feel…well, not simple or easy.
Emma Christensen
Jun 27, 2013
My Travel Souvenir: Photographs
I’ve never been big on buying souvenirs, yet I quite often envy those of others. We got this painting from our trip to Thailand. We got this sculpture from our trip to China. We got this handmade molcajete from Mexico. All these individuals must be privy to some secret, because I rarely am able to find things like this on my own adventures. Instead of having a home filled with artifacts that provide connection to my experience and travels, I have a hard drive filled with photographs.
Chris Perez
Jun 27, 2013
Starting the Season with Greens, Beets, and Oh-So-Sweet Strawberries
Every year I look forward to the start of my CSA. For the last few years I was part of a CSA in Brooklyn, but after a recent move to Boston I’ve had to start fresh with a whole new farm. So, in the spirit of change and the summer season, I’m going to be sharing my CSA box with you every week — what fruits and vegetables I receive, as well as how I plan to eat my way through it.
Cambria Bold
Jun 27, 2013
George Orwell’s 11 Golden Rules for Making the Perfect Cup of Tea
In 1946 English novelist and journalist George Orwell published an essay in the Evening Standard entitled “A Nice Cup of Tea.” For everyone who’s ever believed there’s an art to making a good cup of tea, you’ll definitely enjoy Mr. Orwell’s 11 “golden” rules for the perfect cup. Read the full essay below:Originally published January 12, 1946 in the Evening Standard.
Cambria Bold
Jun 26, 2013
What Happens When Monsanto Buys the Patent to Your Favorite Tomato
July is just around the corner and for me that means just one thing: it’s the time when the local tomato production starts to get serious and the farmers’ markets starting running red (and yellow, and pink, and chocolate, and green stripe). Sure, there’s the occasional basket of cherry tomatoes the last few weeks of June and I guess they’re pretty good.  But when the dry-farmed Early Girls start showing up, that’s when then I know all is right in the world.
Dana Velden
Jun 26, 2013
Five of Our Most Memorable Food and Travel Experiences
Part of experiencing Mongolia is hiring a driver for a bumpy road trip around the most scenic and remote parts of Mongolia and staying with families in a round yurt, called a ger. Last summer we arranged to stay with a family for 3 days in the middle of nowhere. We knew this would be an amazing experience the second we entered our ger and saw a sheep hanging on a clothesline, quartered and skinned only just a few hours before. “Welcome to Mongolia!
Dylan Ho + Jeni Afuso
Jun 25, 2013
The One-Minute Microwave Omelet
My husband has been in hot pursuit of the flawless French omelet for months, studying our stove’s quirks and calibrating the ratio of butter to pan surface (I cover my eyes at this point). He would be appalled to learn that his hard-won mastery may be jeopardized by a shortcut in that most modern of machines, the microwave. Can a one-minute microwave omelet challenge the greatness of the classic omelet?
Faith Durand
Jun 25, 2013
Who Made That? A Look at How Brunch, Salad Spinners, PB&J & More Came To Be
Ever wondered how the things we take for granted actually came to be? Take the salad spinner, for example, or the word “brunch.” And who came up with peanut butter and jelly in the first place? The New York Times magazine answered a few of those questions in their Innovations Issue a few weeks back. (You may also be surprised to learn that low-carb dieting was a thing way back in 1825!
Cambria Bold
Jun 25, 2013
Wine Words: Bâtonnage
Bâtonnage is the French word for lees stirring. As explained in my lees aging post, lees are the dead yeast cells and other particles which remain in a wine after fermentation. They settle as sediment or more of a creamy mud at the bottom of the fermentation vessel…Lees AgingAs these dead yeast cell (lees) break down, they release all sorts of compounds such as mannoproteins, amino acids, polysaccharides and fatty acids, which interact with the fermented wine.
Mary Gorman-McAdams
Jun 24, 2013
Recipe for a Crowd: Honey & Chili Chicken Thighs with Creamy Cilantro Sauce
When I started planning my All-American Beer Bottling Party, I knew I wanted a main dish that would come together easily and quickly, that would feed a crowd of hungry beer bottlers, and that would go with — or be made with! — beer. These chicken thighs have it all. They’re tossed with honey, chili powder, and a splash of amber ale and then quickly roasted in the oven, where the honey and beer bake down to a sticky glaze.
Emma Christensen
Jun 24, 2013
Great Cities for Food Lovers, Vacation House Dinner Menus, Campfire Cones, and Travel Tips We Learned from Paris
Happy Saturday, friends! Popular posts this week on The Kitchn include five dinner menus you can make in any kitchen, a tour of an all-stone hideaway kitchen in Greece, the best tip ever for taking the bite out of raw onions, and 10 things to pack to make cooking on vacation easier. Enjoy! 15. 5 Great Cities for Food Lovers 14. Recipe: Chopped Brown Rice Salad with Grapes and Pecans 13. Vacation House Cooking: 5 Dinner Menus You Can Make in Any Kitchen 12. Eva Green’s Greek Hideaway 11.
Cambria Bold
Jun 22, 2013
How I Made Pimiento Cheese for an Expat in Italy
I try to be a good house guest, especially when invited to stay at a friend’s country home in Italy for a month, free of charge, with my three children. When my host, originally from South Carolina, expressed her sadness at her inability to find one of our un-official state foods in her new home, you better believe I tried to make it happen. Here’s how I made pimiento cheese, from ingredients we found in a regular grocery store in the Italian countryside.
Anne Wolfe Postic
Jun 21, 2013
Tip: Bring Homemade Pancake Mix on Your Next Trip
I rarely make pancakes at home, but for some reason I always crave them during the long, leisurely mornings of a vacation. And I like to keep those mornings leisurely by bringing along my own DIY pancake mix.I simply mix together the dry ingredients for my favorite pancake recipe and write the wet ingredients needed on the outside of the bag.
Anjali Prasertong
Jun 21, 2013
Liberty’s Homegrown Hardware Line at Home Depot: Made by American Artisans
Matt Waldrop for Homegrown Hardware by LibertyLooking for unique, American-made kitchen cabinet knobs and pulls? That sounds like something you’d only find on Etsy, so it might surprise you to learn there’s an artisan hardware collection at — of all places — Home Depot!Tammy Newhof for Homegrown Hardware by LibertyLast year Liberty Hardware launched their Homegrown Hardware collection at Home Depot.
Cambria Bold
Jun 20, 2013
What’s Your Worst Food Experience While On Vacation?
Have a conversation with someone after they return home from a trip and, if they are a foodie, you’ll likely hear them rave about all the great food experiences they had. The fresh fish! The tapas! The 5-course meal! The coffee and pastries! There’s an excitement and attachment to enjoying the unexpected. Sometimes though, things are unexpectedly bad. Do you have a bad food experience while on vacation?For me, it all starts with my love for the chocolate chip cookie.
Chris Perez
Jun 20, 2013
Eva Green’s Greek Hideaway
One of my favorites belonged to a Cretan-born woman named Eva Green who spends half the year on Kea in her hill-top stone home, and the other half of the year in Australia.The house is a former mill, made entirely out of stone. “When I came here there was only a dirt road,” she said. Originally coming to the island distressed from a divorce and wanting to be alone, she found out the little building was for sale and bought it. It had a donkey stable and an outdoor toilet.
Sara Kate Gillingham
Jun 20, 2013
5 Types of Places To Stay If You Want To Cook on Vacation
Taking a trip? Like Chris, do you start feeling a little homesick by day six unless you have some space to make a home-cooked meal? Like Faith, one idea is to stay in an apartment instead of a hotel so you have access to a real kitchen during your travels. If that’s your style, here are some ideas for where to stay if you want to cook for yourself (even just a couple of times) while on vacation: Rent an apartment. See Faith‘s wonderful post for a wealth of into on doing so.
Regina Yunghans
Jun 20, 2013
Summer Recipe: Brown Butter Peaches & Chantilly Cream
There are plenty of outstanding dessert recipes that make good use of bountiful summer peaches. Some are as simple as drizzling a few halves with olive oil and throwing them on the grill, while others, like a cobbler or freshly-churned ice cream, require just a smidge more effort. This easy recipe — a grownup take on a childhood classic — falls on the delightfully relaxed end of things.
Nealey Dozier
Jun 20, 2013
Strawberry Kitchen Finds Under $50
Cambria Bold
Jun 20, 2013
Recipe: Ham, Cheddar & Chive Egg Bakes
Cooking while traveling can be a tough endeavor. You lose most of the control you usually have at home: who knows how the oven will work, who knows where the local grocery store is… and on. And on. These egg bakes are a good solution to a healthy, delicious breakfast while traveling. The ingredients are basic and easy to track down, and they’re infinitely adaptable so you can toss in a little of whatever vegetables or cheese you have on hand.
Megan Gordon
Jun 19, 2013
Why Cooking on Vacation Can Make The Trip Last a Little Longer
Do you have a travel limit — the number of days you can be on vacation before you start feeling that slight tug to return back home? My personal limit is somewhere around six or seven days. That’s about the time I start to think about how much I’ve spent, worry about how much I’ve eaten out, and generally just miss the routine of life at home. There is however, a way to extend this limit. It all starts with taking time to cook a meal while on vacation.
Chris Perez
Jun 18, 2013
Bo and Lindsey’s Travel-Inspired Kitchen
Bo and Lindsey are right at home in the Old Cloverdale historic district of Montgomery, Alabama, but that doesn’t mean they don’t enjoy seeing the world! Ten years ago Lindsey moved to Montgomery as part of the city’s historic preservation team and met lifetime resident Bo at a neighborhood house party.
Erika Tracy
Jun 18, 2013
Do You Keep a Travel Journal for Food?
Do you keep a food journal when you travel? I’m not talking about food journal in the way it’s often used, i.e. a place to write down the caloric value of everything you put into your mouth.
Cambria Bold
Jun 18, 2013
Wine Words: Body
These are terms used to describe the general weight, ‘fullness’ or overall feel of a wine in your mouth. Full-bodied wines are big and powerful. In contrast, light-bodied wines are more delicate and lean. Medium-bodied wines fall somewhere in between. There is no legal definition of where the cut-offs occur and many wines fall into the medium-to-high or light-to-medium body categories.
Mary Gorman-McAdams
Jun 17, 2013
Our Readers’ Best Tips For Cooking Real Meals in a Hotel Room
After the first few blissful days of staying in a hotel, I start to get tired of eating out for every meal and begin craving the simple, comforting foods I make for myself at home. So when a reader asked for advice about cooking real meals while staying in a hotel, I read the answers with interest — and then excitement. So many smart tips!
Anjali Prasertong
Jun 17, 2013
Meeting the Moment (with Apricot Jam)
The summer solstice is this coming Friday, bringing us folks in the Northern Hemisphere our longest day of the year.  We’re entering into razzle-dazzle time, when the scope of our lives broadens to meet the longer, brighter days and summer’s endless offerings.  So much comes tumbling in at this time of year, so much is tugging at our attention:  ripening fruit, sprouting vegetables, garden weeds and needs.
Dana Velden
Jun 16, 2013
Travel-Inspired Meals, Butter in Coffee, Summer Hand Pies, Dinner in the Sky, and Better Food Photos When Traveling
Happy Saturday! Popular posts this week on The Kitchn include five tips for taking better food photos when you travel, a look at butter in coffee, 10 travel-inspired meals you can make at home, photos of a dinner in the sky, and more. Enjoy! 15. It’s Official: Caffeine Withdrawal is a Mental Health Disorder 14. Recipe: Chocolate and Hazelnut Praline Gelato 13. Recipe: Roasted Shrimp Tacos with Mango-Avocado Salsa 12. This is Amazing: Dinner in the Sky 11.
Cambria Bold
Jun 15, 2013
16 Foods You Can Regrow from Kitchen Scraps
We already know you can regrow celery and scallions from their scraps. But leeks, lemongrass, and ginger, too? Yes indeed! As we learned reading this article from Wake Up World, there are plenty of foods you can regrow from their respective scraps. Lemongrass will regrow if you put the root in a water glass and place it in the sun. If you put a spare piece of ginger rhizome in potting soil, it will soon sprout new roots. Even mushrooms and pineapples can have a second life!
Cambria Bold
Jun 14, 2013
What’s the Deal with Butter in Coffee?
While foraging for lunch last week, I stumbled into a quaint gluten-free, grain-free, worry-free restaurant, built from a repurposed storage container. Looking over the menu, and debating whether I should order the quinoa or arugula salad, I noticed a peculiar offering simply called ‘butter coffee.’ What is that all about? I just had to know.The practice of putting a pat of butter in your morning drink isn’t a completely new concept.
Chris Perez
Jun 13, 2013
Baking Recipe: Seeded Whole Wheat Overnight Bread
Lately I’ve been spending weekends in a house upstate that I’m sharing with my friends Hilary and Al. Deciding to share the house with them was a no-brainer: lovely people, great style, a kind and gentle son for Ursula to hang out with, fabulous British accents, and a killer house. What I didn’t know until arriving for our first weekend was that Al makes bread every Friday night for toast on Saturday morning. I totally scored.
Sara Kate Gillingham
Jun 13, 2013
Grill Recipe: Grilled Chicken Legs with Dijon & White Wine Glaze
Grilling can seem like a lot of hard work if you are not in-the-know. Growing up in the South, I spent most of my youth presuming it was a man’s activity — all of those ‘secrets’ and ‘rituals’ seemed best left alone by the ladies. And while, yes, when it comes to charcoal grills, smokers, and Big Green Eggs, there can be a certain amount of finesse involved, the actual act of cooking over fire doesn’t have to be engulfed in a shroud of mystery.
Nealey Dozier
Jun 13, 2013
Travel Tip: Don’t Forget the Instant Coffee
I know, instant coffee: ick! However, after having more than one afternoon caffeine-withdrawal headache while traveling, I never leave home without it. This especially applies when staying with friends who may not love their morning cup of joe as much as I do. I’m not exactly a caffeine addict (isn’t that what caffeine addicts say? Hmm), but one solid cup of coffee in the morning just sets my day off in the right direction.
Stephanie Barlow
Jun 13, 2013
Got Cherries? Make Boozy Cherry Soda
I was pleasantly surprised last week at the farmers’ market to discover cherries. Because I lived in California most of my adult life, this wouldn’t have shocked me a few years ago. But here in Seattle, most of the summer produce is usually delayed in comparison. But last week, early season cherries arrived. Now: what to do with them? Truthfully my favorite thing to do with fresh cherries is to make cherry pie with a rye crust.
Megan Gordon
Jun 13, 2013
It’s Official: Caffeine Withdrawal Is a Mental Health Disorder
If you’ve ever tried to kick the coffee habit, you are familiar with the symptoms of caffeine withdrawal: headaches, fatigue, irritability, and difficulty concentrating. But the release of the newest version of the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) made official what us coffee addicts suspected all along. Caffeine withdrawal can be a mental health disorder.
Anjali Prasertong
Jun 13, 2013
On Vacation in the Kitchen: Making Do with What I Have
Our home is a five minute walk or drive from Whole Foods, our favorite local market, Piggly Wiggly, Publix and a host of other specialty food shops. I can have almost any ingredient I want within minutes. On Edisto Island, on the other hand, my options are limited and I have to make do with what I can find, like MacGyver.
Anne Wolfe Postic
Jun 12, 2013
Allison Carroll Duffy’s 5 Essential Things Every Home Canner Should Know
It’s June and the summer fruit is starting to roll in, which basically translates to jam time in my kitchen. Like many people, I love jam but sometimes I’m a little taken aback by how much sugar is called for in many classic jam recipes. For this reason, I always keep a box of Pomona’s Universal Pectin in my cupboard. Pomona’s is a low-sugar pectin, meaning you can make jams and jellies using very low or no sugar.
Dana Velden
Jun 12, 2013
Lessons From Traveling: Just Say Yes
One of my favorite traveling companions is my friend Liz, who is one of those people with the amazing ability to instantly make friends wherever she goes and is always full of fascinating stories about her adventures. After taking a couple trips with her, I suddenly realized how she does it, and since then have made her habit my personal travel philosophy. It’s simple: she always says yes.
Anjali Prasertong
Jun 12, 2013
A Personal, Minimal Amsterdam Kitchen
Five years ago Johanna and Scott moved from the Pacific Northwest to the Netherlands, and in the process left most of their things behind. After three moves around the Netherlands, they finally settled in a flat in Amsterdam. It was semi-furnished, but the couple still managed to bring their own international, eclectic style to it. The kitchen is simple and minimal, but a few personal touches give it life.
Cambria Bold
Jun 11, 2013
The Best Paint Finish for Kitchen Walls
I recently moved into a new apartment, and my head is spinning with everything I want to do to make the space my own. I’m especially focused on the kitchen, and plan on painting the room in the next couple of weeks. But while picking a color might seem like the main focus, choosing the right paint finish is equally important, especially when you’re dealing with a high-traffic, high-grime place like the kitchen.
Cambria Bold
Jun 11, 2013
6 Fruit Facts I Learned While Visiting Driscoll’s Berry Farms
Traveling can always be filed under the category “learning experience.” For a moment’s time, you’re set outside your bubble and thrust into the unknown with unfamiliar cultures, traditions, and thoughts. Those elements are why so many people become enamored of travel — it’s fuel for an open mind. Though not as cultural as a trip abroad, perhaps, my most recent trip took me to the fields of Driscoll’s berry farms on the coast of northern California.
Chris Perez
Jun 11, 2013
Why I Sort of Love Nescafé Instant Coffee
As any coffee addict knows, in places where a decent cup of coffee is hard to find, you’ll always find Nescafé. Though the coffee snob in me feels I should turn up my nose at instant coffee from a packet, I have a soft spot for those brown crystals that make it easy to find a steaming cup of hot coffee no matter where in the world you are.Yes, that’s probably the addict talking.
Anjali Prasertong
Jun 11, 2013
A “Modern Traditional” Seattle Kitchen
In December of 2011 at about 3am, an electrical fire started in the top floor of Michele and Ryan’s beloved Seattle home. Thankfully no one was hurt, but the entire top floor of their home was destroyed, and the first floor badly damaged. Not ones to give in to misfortune, however, Michele and Ryan marched on, renovating and rewiring their entire home, which included new DIY exposed shelving in the kitchen!
Cambria Bold
Jun 10, 2013
Wine Words: Rootstock
Rootstock is a wine word that many readers probably have heard mentioned with regard to viticulture and the growing of wine grapes. Today most vines are planted on rootstocks. This means that they are not planted on their own roots; rather the vine is grafted onto the root of a different vine species.Almost all of the grape varieties used to make wine belong to the Vitis Vinifera species. In contrast most rootstocks are American hybrids derived from non-Vinifera vine species.
Mary Gorman-McAdams
Jun 10, 2013
There’s No Place Like Home
The other day a friend and I took a quick, half-day road trip. We had a quest (Blenheim apricots), we had a destination (a slightly obscure orchard) and we had the possibility of lunch (tacos). Like all adventures, we encountered a few setbacks. We got a little lost, we had to backtrack to an ATM (the orchard was cash only) and the taco stand, once a charming shack, had moved to a strip mall and now more closely resembled a food court.
Dana Velden
Jun 9, 2013
5 Easy Ways to Eat More Whole Grains This Summer
You’ve likely read a lot about whole grains in the news lately. It seems everywhere I turn, a magazine or major news source is touting their benefits, and it’s now recommended that our intake of whole grains sit right around 48 grams per day, which can feel overwhelming to many people. But it doesn’t have to be; there are a lot of sneaky, quick ways to work whole grains into your diet without sitting down to a big bowl of farro every day.
Megan Gordon
Jun 7, 2013