Capers are essential in several different dishes, and this Mediterranean food is often sold in jars next to the pickles and olives in the grocery store. But what are capers? What’s sold in the grocery store comes from a prickly plant called the caparis spinosa. The green flower buds from that plant are taken un-ripened …
A turkey is a celebration staple at every dinner table. You can’t spell Thanksgiving, Christmas, or any celebratory holiday without a turkey. As the centerpiece of the feast, there’s a lot of pressure that comes with cooking turkey as this big bird is prone to overcooking or undercooking with the wrong temperature and cooking time. …
So, you made up a lot of delicious bacon last night in a late cooking frenzy just thinking about how wonderful it would taste. Now, you have a lot of bacon left over, and you’re not sure what to do with it. How long is cooked bacon good for? Do you need to eat it …
I love putting croutons on salads, in soups, and on pasta. They add a wonderful crunch that changes up the texture, and you can make them yourself from stale bread. Don’t toss out that bread just because it’s a little bit stale and hard. Instead, I’ll show you how to make homemade croutons from it. …
So, you are throwing a party, but it will be a while before the guests show up. You made all the food, but you want to stay warm until the party starts. If you don’t keep the food warm, you’ll have to warm it up again before it’s time to eat or just serve unappetizing, …
When it comes to cooking meat, the steaks have been raised! A juicy steak that’s tender and moist is a delicacy guaranteed to make you the star of your next barbecue. Do I hear you asking how? The answer is ageing the meat. There are two techniques for meat ageing. These are dry-ageing and wet-ageing. …
When I go to use brown sugar to make up some cookies or a cake, I don’t like to find it hard and unusable. I like the brown sugar to be soft and easy to work with, so there are certain storage rules I follow to keep it that way. I will share these with …
Cilantro is a herb that has immense health benefits. It has vitamins A, C, and K. It can be used as a garnish or as an ingredient in various dishes. Cilantro has a high amount of water content. If kept outside, the warm air will absorb moisture from the cilantro. That is why cilantro wilts …
Dehydrating your food is one of the best ways to preserve it. A food dehydrator gives the food a dry, leathery texture and slows down the degradation process. If your food is dehydrated and then stored properly, it can last for months or even years, where it otherwise it might only last for a few …
If you’ve looked inside your dishwashing machine and it looks a little bit dirty to you, it may be time for a refresh. Over time, washing machines are going to build up encrusted dirt and grime and will need to be cleaned. A dirty dishwasher is going to make dishes dirty; it’s simply not going …
A significant amount of the food we buy ends up going to waste. That’s an unfortunate reality of living someplace where food is plentiful, and if we want to reduce our environmental impact and ensure that we are not contributing to food shortages, we can look for ways to reduce the amount of food waste …
Honey is a staple in every kitchen. For enjoying the health benefits of this sweetener, it is essential to store it properly. Though honey has an incredibly long shelf life, lasting for decades, it all depends on how you keep it to preserve its nutrients and taste. Honey is the oldest sweetener used for human …
There are a number of different ways to cook meat by heating. You can deep fry it, bake it, steam it, grill it, and pan sear it. It might be easy to understand how flames from a grill could lick up at the meat in cause it to char and cook. It might be a …
I’ve noticed that a lot of people these days are finding their own food in the wild, like herbs and wild mushrooms. There is a growing interest in trying to source natural foods as much as possible, which is why places like Whole Foods and green grocers markets have done so well in recent years. …
Proper freezer storage is vital if you are going to preserve food well. If your freezer storage container is made of low quality materials or is not airtight, then it won’t keep food fresh and safe. You may go to defrost your food from the freezer and find that it has freezer burn or has …
There are certain species that you will use more often than others. These are versatile spices and seasonings that can be used in a variety of dishes, so it makes sense to always have them on hand. When you ensure that you have certain species in your kitchen ant all times, you will be able …
Why buy rosemary in the store and pay money for sad-looking herbs when you can grow it yourself? Then, you can dry the rosemary to use in your own foods, adding some flavour, a wonderful aroma, and some colour to a variety of dishes. How do you dry rosemary? I want to show you my …
Cherry peppers are delightfully sweet and so cute. I just love these little guys, and they make for some great dish once you know how to use them. They cannot be cooked and prepared the same way as spicy peppers and then you expect the same result. Because of their sweet flavour, you want to …
If you are growing your own cherry tomatoes or buying them in large bags to save money, you probably need to know how to can cherry tomatoes. Preserving them will help them last much longer, so you don’t feel obligated to use them quickly and you don’t end up throwing any of them away. Like …
When I looked up what dry ice is made from, I was kind of surprised, and I bet you will be surprised to learn as well that it isn’t made from water. It’s not technically ice, as it comes from a gaseous form of carbon dioxide. I thought that was so weird, and what is …
When you use butternut squash to make a soup or chilli or some other dish, do you end up with some leftovers? I usually do if I used a whole squash, because butternut squash can be quite big and you don’t usually need a lot of it for an individual recipe. Even when making butternut …
Is there a more satisfying comfort food than French fries? I sure can’t think of one. I like loading mine up with sour cream, cheese, bacon bits, and chives, but they are perfectly fine with just a pinch of salt on them too. There are tons of different ways to have fries, but probably the …
Fruits and veggies can go bad within days if they are not tended to properly. Improper storage, a lack of care, and poor environmental conditions can cause your fresh produce to rot quickly. The tomatoes can turn brown and nasty looking, and the bananas will soon become spotted and then gooey. When your veggies and …
Freshly baked bread has a distinctive aroma, texture, and taste to it. When it comes out of the oven piping hot and welcomes a little spread of butter- there is just nothing quite like it. I remember many mornings that I lingered in the kitchen just to be around the freshly baked bread. Bread doesn’t …
A great way to save some money when you’re grocery shopping is to buy frozen meat in bulk. A box of frozen burgers can last you for a long time, and of course they stay in good condition so long as they are frozen. You can just take one out and cook it up when …
The aroma of homemade bread filling the kitchen is a comforting one. For some people, that’s the smell of their childhood, as they remember their mother or grandmother making homemade bread for them after school or on the weekends. The soft, pillowy bread is best when it first comes out of the oven. You can …
When you are making a huge spread for dinner and are trying to juggle cooking up several dishes at once, you may have trouble keeping everything warm until dinner is ready to serve. How do you keep mashed potatoes warm while the fried chicken is cooking? Some dishes simply take longer than others. When dinner …
We all make way too much food at Thanksgiving, and there tends to be plenty of leftovers afterwards. Some of that can be eaten over the next week until everyone in the house is tired of turkey sandwiches and mashed potatoes with everything they eat. It’s also common to make way too many desserts. From …
With so many recipes that use egg yolk, egg whites shouldn’t be thrown away. Egg whites can be the base of lots of delicious recipes, so what can you do with leftover egg whites? Keep on reading to get inspired. What to Do with Leftover Raw Egg Whites Think about all the food, effort, and …
Everyone could use a little more convenience in their life, that’s why when it comes to pearl onions, frozen is the way to go! Cooking with frozen pearl onions saves you a lot of time since they come pre-peeled! That’s right, you won’t have to go through the hassle of peeling those tiny jewels. Not …
Boiling a chicken gives you a tasty, succulent meat that isn’t dry and crispy like other cooking methods. It also makes the meat really tender, and even the white meat tastes juicy after boiling. If you’re one of those people who don’t like anything to go to waste, then you may want some ideas for …
Frozen steak is often cheaper than fresh steak and can store for much longer. If you find frozen steak at a good price, why bother to pay more for the fresh one? You can just keep the steak in the freezer for as long as you like until you’re ready to cook it up. You …
Brussel sprouts can add some flavour and colour to your meal, and depending on how you prepare them, they can be crispy or soft. They can bring a different texture that really spruces up your meal and gives it some variety. There are plenty of people who can’t stand the smell of cooking Brussel sprouts, …
Have you seen those late night infomercials that show you how poorly your kitchen knife works on a tomato in a sad attempt to cut it? They want you to buy their new set of kitchen knives, so they show a bunch of improper methods for cutting tomatoes. If you know how to cut tomatoes …
Fresh blueberries make for a great pie filling and can be eaten plain as part of your breakfast or as a delicious, healthy snack. Did you know that blueberries are a good source of antioxidants as well? So, they’re not just tasty but also good for you. We love using blueberries as a garnish for …
Soy sauce adds some zing and some zip to your Asian dishes. You need it to give a bowl of noodles its best flavour, and it is a key ingredients in the sauce for Japanese pancakes. Soy sauce can be added to marinades and dipping sauces for some extra flavour as well. It’s one of …
Almond milk is considered the tasty, vegan alternative to dairy milk. It’s one of the more commonly used plant-based milks, right up there with soy milk. We often use it as a creamer for coffee instead of cow milk because of the sweet taste. It’s also less fattening and of course lactose free, so it …
If you come home from the market with an armload of zucchini, thinking of all the delicious dishes you’ll make from it, you don’t want that zucchini to go bad before you can use it. This summer squash is so versatile that it can be used to make noodles, bread, fritters, pasta, vegetarian meat, and …
If you are trying to look out for when your food goes bad, you need to know the signs. How do you know if your food is no longer edible and if it might be unhealthy to eat because it is too old or starting to grow bacteria? Most foods have telltale signs, like an …
The sight of cupcakes decorated in festive colours brings to mind celebrations. Sweet treats are an inseparable part of holidays, birthdays, parties and anniversaries, and cupcakes are usually one of the more popular choices for any get-together. Cupcakes have an instant appeal to them. You can just pick them up and carry them with you …
Food safety is a really important part of being cook. It’s not enough to know how to cook food well; you also need to know how to prepare it and store it in such a way so that it doesn’t become contaminated. You need to know how long the food lasts for in the fridge …
With its impeccable belly-warming qualities, the chilli con carne (or chilli for short) is my favourite Mexican dish. Best of all, you don’t have to prepare small portions every day. You can cook a large pot, store it in the fridge, and enjoy that heavenly dish in the following days! But the question begs itself, …
The ultimate guide to all things garlic related, from growing garlic, harvesting garlic, curing garlic, cooking with garlic, infusing other foods with garlic – i am going to cover all bases! I have even included some of my favourite garlic related products such as garlic mincers. Besides the fact that growing garlic is easy to …
Apple cider vinegar is a kitchen spice popular for its amazing health benefits and pleasing flavour. This ingredient comes from a combination of crushed apples and yeast. The yeast aids fermentation to change the sugar content of the apple into alcohol with the help of special bacteria. Due to its composition, it has a long …