It’s funny how just seeing my grandma’s handwriting conjures up old memories of being a little girl and making these delicious old-fashioned oatmeal cookies with her. She had a real sweet tooth, and we are still amazed she lived so long given her penchant for cookies, lemon meringue pie, and jelly-filled donuts. My grandmother taught me how to measure, how to mix, and taught me a love of cooking, all through these homemade oatmeal cookies....
A tamalada marks the start of the holiday season and is a harbinger of good things to come. Its unique purpose is to make as many tamales as possible. The kitchen becomes the focal point for the month, and every member in attendance is assigned a specific duty to help make tamales. Even as a child, this systematic assembly line never felt like a chore. We all understood that making tamales is a labor of love that requires time, patience, and everyone’s help....
Essential Tools for Carving a Turkey A successful carve depends on two key items: the carving board and the carving knife. Thankfully, the lengthy time it takes to roast a turkey provides plenty of time to prepare. First, the cutting board. Be sure the turkey fits on the board. I like a really large board; not only does it need to fit the turkey carcass itself, but all of the different pieces carved from it....
By the way, if you are buying avocados to prepare a guacamole dip, get them either ripe, with some give to the touch, or get them still firm, a few days ahead of when they are needed, and put them in a brown paper bag to ripen. At this point there are a few ways you can proceed to remove the pit from the avocado half that has the pit....
That’s why freezing an unbaked pie to bake when you need it can be such a boon. You break the steps up into two distinct and manageable chunks, and have a glorious, freshly baked dessert to show for it. I’ve frozen unbaked pies before, but hadn’t in a while, so I made, froze, and baked our Old Fashioned Peach Pie as a refresher. I’d never have guessed it was frozen if I didn’t know myself....
The good news: You can just make it at home! Better news: It truly is delicious and all the other superlative adjectives that people put in front of it! The even better news: It only has two ingredients. Yay! Video: How to Make Candied Bacon What Is Candied Bacon? Candied bacon is a wonderful food that combines salty, sweet, and crispy. If made correctly, the bacon has crispy edges and a crackly crust from the caramelized sugar on top....
But that’s the thing about myths—just when you’ve thrown your hands in the air and walked away, something new comes along to rekindle your hope. Like Fox Mulder, we want to believe. For me, that something new was my pressure cooker and a friend’s improbable suggestion that I try using it to make a batch of eggs. Just like that, the dream was alive again. Video: How To Make Easy-Peel Pressure Cooker Eggs Why the Pressure Cooker Works I’ve actually been sitting on this revelation for a few months now, just because I didn’t trust the evidence I saw with my own eyes: Two eggs or a dozen, fresh eggs or weeks old, white eggs or brown eggs, it didn’t matter....
Linzer cookies aren’t just pretty though, they are also deliciously buttery, nutty, and fruity. They’re a beautiful addition to any dessert spread, whether at a holiday party, a cookie swap, or in a care package. And with so many options for making them ahead, they’re a practical addition too. How to Roll Out Linzer Dough Linzer dough is sticky and can sometimes be difficult to work with, but these tips will help you get unstuck and roll out cookies like a pro....
Serve: At serving time bring the terrine to the table, slice, and serve with crusty French bread or rolls and a glass of wine. Also good with lettuce and tomatoes. Variation: Use chicken livers, pork, and sausage meat in equal quantities. See my second recipe for pâté maison.
In addition to the wonderful flavor of the cookies, I also love the ease, speed, and low-mess factor of this recipe. The dough comes together quickly in the stand mixer (feel free to use a handheld mixer), and the dough doesn’t need to chill or rest. Simply scoop the dough into balls, press them down with a cookie stamp right on the baking sheet, and bake. What’s in a Marzipan Shortbread Cookie?...
Looking over the land from several thousand feet up, one cannot but be struck by the patchwork of vivid shades of green below. Or driving through the countryside, especially in Western Ireland, the hills practically glow when the sun peeks through breaks in the clouds. We’ve been experimenting with parsnips lately, and on a whim tossed a large bunch of chopped parsley into a simmering pot of parsnip soup. Parsnips are naturally sweet, as are leeks, which are also part of this soup....
But of course, it turns out that peanut brittle has a history that goes much farther back than the mid-1980s. The History of Peanut Brittle Stella Parks, in her cookbook BraveTart, says one of the earliest peanut brittle recipes dates to 1843 from a Philadelphia woman named Deborah Fisher who sold “The Original Pea or Groundnut Candy” in her 8th Street shop. Recipes for peanut brittle evolved using molasses as an ingredient, and the Boston cookbook The Art of Confectionery mentions adding baking soda “to render it tender....
Peanut Oil Smoke Point A smoke point is the temperature at which an oil starts to smoke, which means it will quickly turn bitter and could burn your food. Vegetable oils like peanut oil, safflower oil, soybean oil and grapeseed oil have the highest smoke points. Best use: High-heat cooking, especially for stir-frying and deep-frying Substitutes: Safflower, soybean, or grapeseed oil, which also have high smoke points and a neutral flavor Extra virgin olive oil, on the other hand, has a lower smoke point of 410°F, which is why it’s better for salad dressings, finishing touches, or low-heat cooking....
It starts with tender and moist vanilla buttermilk cake, which then gets layered with fluffy Swiss meringue (which will hold up well on a hot summer day). Top it off with plenty of ripe summer berries—strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries! The Charms of a “Naked Cake” This is a “naked” style cake, which is much less risqué than it sounds. It simply means that the sides are left unfrosted, so you see little peek-a-boos of the berries around the exposed sides of the cake....
But sheet pan pizza is my new best friend! And it can be yours, too. I love how easy it is. Making pizza in a sheet pan is a simple matter of stretching the dough onto the pan and topping it with cheese, sauce, and other ingredients. Bake and serve. I like to make my own no-knead whole wheat pizza dough – it takes almost no time to mix and rises slowly over about 12 hours....
Chef David says the best shrimp to get are fresh, Gulf of Mexico White shrimp, still in the shell. Gulf white shrimp are firm and sweet. For this particular dish I used Gulf of Mexico Pink shrimp, which are pink even when they are not yet cooked. The are also sweet, but a little more delicate than the Gulf white. If you are processing a lot of shrimp, the shells can be saved and used to make bisque or stock....
How to Make Chicken Stock in the Slow Cooker I prefer to make chicken stock in the slow cooker on weeknights when we’ve eaten roasted chicken for dinner. I toss the newly disassembled carcass into the pot then add vegetables, herbs, and water. Next, I set my slow cooker to low and let it simmer all night. I typically strain it in the morning, but if I’m too busy, I continue to let it simmer away until my work day is done....
But smashing potatoes is also an excellent way to get butter and herbs into all of the nooks and crannies of the potato, while still retaining the potato’s texture. Spring new potatoes smash up great, as do buttery Yukon Golds. Most recipes for smashed potatoes (there are links to a couple other food bloggers at the bottom of the recipe) call for boiling the potatoes to cook them. In this recipe, you essentially bake them in a pot in the oven....
It is no surprise that later in life, with a family of my own, I started making this same cake as a holiday treat. If you’re unfamiliar with icebox cakes, this is an easy “cake” made by layering thin chocolate wafer cookies and whipped cream. The cake needs to be chilled, which is an important step. This is when the cookies soften and the assembly transforms into sliceable dessert. For almost two decades now, our family has spent New Year’s Eve in New Hampshire with several other families with children....
