Or this one: You haven’t baked for a while, and you make a favorite biscuit and use baking powder, only to find that your biscuits bake up flat as hockey pucks. What went wrong? Baking Soda vs Baking Powder Baking soda (a.k.a. sodium bicarbonate) and baking powder are both leaveners used in baking, but they are chemically different. The easiest way to explain it is that baking soda is a base—it’s alkaline....
The Problem: Meal Planning to Please At the outset of adulthood, meal planning to please (or even impress) was my default. I poured over cookbooks, choosing meals that would impress friends or make me happy. To an extent, it worked. We certainly ate well! Where this broke down, however, was when the things that I wanted didn’t fit the budget. Paying full price for proteins based on whim can jack up that grocery bill quickly....
Fully loaded with chicken, bacon and egg, it’s an excellent work day lunch, a show-off salad for gatherings, and guess what? It stays green for days! That Creamy Avocado Ranch Dressing….. This recipe is all about the creamy avocado ranch dressing. It is Great – with a capital “G”. Regular readers know when I capitalise, I mean it! 😂 It’s not just about making a dressing that’s traditionally made with loads of mayonnaise healthier....
What really helps making an excellent hash is an old fashioned meat grinder. If you don’t have a meat grinder, you can use the grinder attachment of a KitchenAid. You can also chop the meat, potatoes, and onions very fine with a knife, though the resulting consistency will not be as blended as what you can achieve with a meat grinder. A grinder makes a big difference here because of the way it grinds the beef into the onions and potatoes....
Can I make Tuna Macaroni Salad in advance? Yes. This dish needs time to cool, and the longer the ingredients are together, the better they taste. Making this dish at least 1 hour ahead and up to 1 day before is recommended. Can I use Miracle Whip instead of mayonnaise? Yes, you can swap this ingredient out if you prefer the taste of Miracle Whip. I recommend mayonnaise, because it doesn’t interfere as much with the unique flavor that is produced by the other ingredients....
This is sort of how my dad is with meatballs. All I have to do is say, “Dad, I’m making meatballs,” and he’s halfway out the door on the way over. He loves these turkey meatballs. It’s hard to go wrong with meatballs. You just need to make sure you don’t over-mix them, and you brown them slowly enough, and in enough fat, so that flavor develops and the meatballs cook through....
Apple Choices for Homemade Caramel Apples: By far, the very best apple to use is Granny Smith. It is crisp and tart and the absolute best match for that super sweet caramel. Other good apple choices are Honey Crisp and Fuji. How to pick the best apple: In order to have that correct ratio of tart apple to sweet caramel, you should choose a small to medium-sized apple. None of those jumbo apples here, please....
This recipe for enchiladas—made with corn tortillas, bathed in a spicy red sauce, and filled with roasted squash—just made my autumn meal plan more exciting! In fact, anything to do with tortillas makes the world go round in my house, so this meal is a guaranteed winner. Calabaza is the generic name in Spanish for hard squashes that grow south of the border, which are akin to butternut and acorn squash....
Crème fraîche lends rich creaminess to soups, pasta sauces, and pan sauces, as well as dressings and dips. It can be dolloped on fresh fruit or desserts, spread on toast or scones, and is excellent used in baked goods. About Crème Fraîche Crème fraîche is a French dairy product that translates to “fresh cream.” Traditionally it’s made by adding natural bacteria to unpasteurized cream. This causes the cream to ferment and thicken....
Evocative of typical lunchbox treats, they make great homemade snacking cakes. In Maine, we don’t need an occasion to eat whoopie pies; a whoopie pie creates an occasion, though they often show up at birthdays, parties, and even weddings. Why These Whoopie Pies Are the Best When you break it down, a whoopie pie only has two elements: the chocolate cake and the marshmallow filling. When a dessert’s flavor is so simple, a recipe needs to get the details right....
The two cornbreads are so different, Mr. Twain! And today, we’re paying homage to this sweet Yankee version. Northern bread is typically sweetened, which leads its critics to call it cake. (Though, in its defense, it’s not that sweet!) It’s also often made with more white flour than cornmeal – another point of contention. But New Englanders adore it. Yankee cornbread can play the part of a dinner roll at any meal, especially beside a plate of chicken, or more often, a bowl of chili....
It’s as if my garden decided to throw a prom, and the eggplants, zucchini, and tomatoes banded together to show everyone else up. (Clearly, they deserve best prize for something, don’t you think?) Normally I would look at something like this and think it’s waaaay too complicated. But this summer vegetable gratin is actually quite straightforward. To prepare these vegetables, you have to cut them anyway, so why not cut them in rounds and arrange them in a pretty pattern?...
The two boxes of Turkish delights, most of the Martini, half a chocolate Santa and the special box of Bendicks mints that were put away have been consumed already. I cannot be trusted with buying sweet edibles in advance. Ever. I also still haven’t completely finished my Xmas shopping (why are men so awkward! Yes dad - I’m talking to you x), I haven’t cleared all the junk out of the dining room (by junk I mean food photography props & backdrops and by dining room I mean the conservatory that barely fits our little family of four for a normal dinner - never mind inviting others round for a festive meal) and I have done zero menu planning for Christmas get togethers at our house....
Festive Holiday Drinks Trust me, you need to make a festive holiday cocktail this year. Beer and wine are easy options but let’s face it – they’re boring. If you really want to impress your friends and family, make a pitcher of Christmas margaritas for the holiday party this year and spice things up. Or, how about a hot and cold drink option? Some simple mulled wine or a peppermint piña colada anyone?...
Our Favorite Low Carb Chicken Recipes Remember when a healthy chicken dinner was a grilled chicken breast and some veggies on the side? Say goodbye to that image and dig into a chicken dinner that satisfies! When we eat low-carb, here’s what we want: Recipes that are a balanced mealA good mix of healthy fats, protein and veggiesMeals everyone can enjoy, even if you aren’t following a keto diet. These are the types of delicious chicken recipes you’ll find in this listing....
This is a copycat recipe for the popular dish by the same name served at Applebee’s. Now, I’m not one to frequent a lot of chain restaurants. I prefer to explore more interesting local restaurants wherever I go. But Applebee’s is a huge American restaurant chain and it’s popular for a reason. This pasta dish is killer. Cheesy spiral pasta topped with grilled chicken and a fresh bruschetta? Ya, how can that not be absolutely delicious?...
Not all olive oil is created equal, though, and while there are different kinds—extra virgin olive oil, light olive oil, just plain ol’ olive oil —if you’re looking for an everyday oil you can use for almost all your cooking, the options get narrowed down pretty quickly. (Spoiler alert: we use extra virgin for almost everything). How Olive Oil Is Made Olive oil isn’t only food; it’s human history. A bedrock of the Mediterranean cuisines we love so well, olive oil is a cooking fat, a flavor agent, and a way of life....
If you garden, perhaps you’re tilling, or putting seedlings in the ground. Maybe you’re enjoying relaxing afternoons outside without the weight of coats, boots, and scarves. Either way we have more hours of sunlight and more time to spend on our patios, porches, balconies, and yards. With all this extra sun, spend less time in the kitchen and more time soaking up vitamin D. These 30 minute meals make quick work of dinner to help you make the most of the warming weather....
Air Fryer chicken nuggets are my favorite way to make this light lunch, simple dinner, or after-school snack for my kids (or myself, who am I kidding?!). They are crispy, flavorful, and so much better than any store-bought variety. The cleanup is SO easy! Why Make Chicken Nuggets in the Air Fryer I prefer to cook chicken nuggets in an air fryer because it doesn’t require any oil, which is a bonus for many reasons....
Amongst all the tinsel and colorful sugar my eyes were drawn to a small cellophane bag tied with a small bit of gold ribbon. In it were little pale cookies that looked ordinary but enticing nonetheless. When opened the bag released a heady perfume that overtook me and those around me. Its sweet almond aroma always takes me back to the Piazza and its surrounding cobbled streets and bridges. Amaretti are little cookies that are light as a feather, yet have an intense sweet almond flavor....
