I’m constantly amazed by the things I don’t know, despite having spent a lot of time trying new ingredients and recipes over the years. One of my favorite discoveries over the past couple of years came from a random post I saw online about store-bought graham cracker crusts. I’m sure I am the last person …
Continue reading “The holidays are the ‘zest’ time for refreshing lemon pie”
I learned something new this week that totally blew my mind: how to create muffins with perfectly domed tops. It’s been a mystery for me for a long time how bakeries and other super bakers manage to get their muffins to rise so tall, puffing perfectly over the edges of their cupcake liners. This week’s …
Continue reading “New baking technique delivers ‘dome sweet dome’ for muffins”
There’s a popular saying that people eat with their eyes. Food that looks good tends to taste better, and food that looks like slop tends to, well, taste like slop. I was worried that the saying was going to come back to bite me with this week’s recipe when I decided to add a Sazon …
Continue reading “Casserole might be better on taste then eating with your ‘rice’”
So much sour cream. Seriously, you should see the nearly literal vat of sour cream in my refrigerator right now. We hosted a catered meal about a week ago, and I ended up with the leftovers in my fridge. I’m not complaining, mind you, because the meal was absolutely delicious, and I’m never going to …
Continue reading “Lots of leftovers results in some recipe (sour) scheming”
Joey and I aren’t normally Valentine’s Day people. Generally, romance on Feb. 14 is us hanging out at home and playing a board game or watching TV. But when some good friends of ours asked us to go on a double date with them this year, we were ready to celebrate. We ended up at …
Continue reading “Wow guests with an appetizer that’s a ‘tini’ bit fancy”
Until the Chiefs became a part of the post-season, the best part of Super Bowl Sunday for me over the years has been the snack table. From the days when our church youth group would watch the games while playing a football-themed bingo game to ones with friends gathered in our living room, there has …
Continue reading “Dip into something awesome for game day”
I’ve heard a lot of folks complain over the years that they never know how many spaghetti noodles to cook when making pasta. A friend of mine literally just throws in an entire box every time she makes spaghetti and ends up with leftovers that last forever. That hasn’t been an issue for me, now …
Continue reading “Don’t get cheesed by too many leftovers”
The debate about “authentic” food always fascinates me. I recently listened to an episode of NPR’s “The Splendid Table,” where the host and guest were discussing the different ways people make sauce in Italy, and some of the recipes sounded very different than what I’d always thought was uniquely Italian. The same debate seems to …
Continue reading “I’ll take all the Tex-Mex you can ‘chimi’”
Until I began this column, I had no idea how many variations of pasta there are. I used to think I was pretty knowledgeable until I continued to discover new types that often were tough to find in small-town Kansas grocery stores. My recipe this week called for ziti, a tube-shaped pasta I’m definitely familiar …
Continue reading “Let’s embrace the ‘pasta’bilities this week”
I hate cooking chicken. I think it’s all the scare tactics people use when talking about salmonella and separate cutting boards. It’s also the slimy factor when I remove the skin or trim off extra fat. I would use ground meat for every recipe if I could. Despite my hatred for cooking it, I do …
Continue reading “Chicken recipe will get you a ‘lada’ accolades”