Friday, September 18, 2009

FUN FOOD FACTS & OUR DOG CHLOE

This is our dog Chloe, she just turned five. Our oldest son calls her "his youngest sister" (insinuating that we treat her like a human lol). We bought her from puppy rescue when she was just 6 weeks old and (by the look of the doggie toy basket) she has the run of the house. Her mother was a registered black labrador and her father a Jack Russell Terrier...so, she looks like a lab and is smart like the Jack Russell. She is a sweetie!!
I've put together a list of fun food facts that I hope you will find some use for:

1. Did you know that the pre-shredded cheese in the supermarket is coated with potato starch or powdered cellulose to keep it from clumping up? No wonder freshly shredded cheese tastes better (and melts better).

2. If you have a problem with meatballs crumbling when you brown them, chill them in the fridge for half an hour before you fry them.

3. Keep a small box of powdered milk in your pantry. It is always good to bake with in a pinch. If a cake or cookie recipe calls for cream, you can use the powdered milk (using only half of the water) and it will work.

4. Do you have toddlers at home? Freeze leftovers in ice cube trays then pop them out and store the cubes in a freezer Ziploc type bag. The smaller size microwave quickly and they make a great no-fuss lunch for your little ones.

5. Does a recipe call for just a few drops of lemon juice? Poke a lemon with a fork and squeeze out what you need, then seal the fork holes with a little butter and put back in the fridge.

6. Cottage cheese and sour cream last longer if you store the containers upside down (I put mine on a dish just in case there is something wrong with the container seal).

7. If you live in a "non-corn growing state" like I do, fresh corn on the cob can be less than primo at times. A spoon of sugar in the boiling water will give your corn a great fresh taste. This works great for fresh broccoli too.

8. When making a recipe that has blueberries, raisins, chocolate chips, etc. in it, coat them with flour before you fold them into the batter. It will keep them from sinking to the bottom of your cake.

9. If you are caramelizing sugar for a recipe, make sure you use a bright/light colored pan so you can keep an eye on the color of the sugar.

10. To keep bananas from turning brown, wrap them in a dark plastic trash bag and keep them in the vegetable crisper of your fridge. They will stay bright yellow for several days.

HAVE A GREAT (and safe) WEEKEND !!
SEE VIDEO TUTORIAL >>

Related Posts:

  • Around My French TableShocked, I am sure you are SHOCKED to find that one of my favorite books of 2010 is a French cookbook. Well, every year there has to be a new French … Read More
  • Happy ThankgivingFrom our favorite Turkey and Pilgrim… Read More
  • StuffingsSince we couldn't find a new Thanksgiving book, we thought we would give you a cookbook featuring a popular "Thanksgiving" item -- stuffing. I am a … Read More
  • Another Best...One of our favorites this year featured the area of the country we live in -- Appalachia. Joan Aller did a great service in writing, Cider Beans, Wi… Read More
  • The Geometry of PastaWe have been saving some of our best for last.So what happens when you combine a graphic novel, 2008's London restaurant of the year, and pasta sauce?… Read More
  • Best Of 2010Well, we haven't liked ANYONE's "Best Of..." lists so we are doing our own. Our first choice (in no particular order)Baked Explorations… Read More
  • The End of an Era...R.I.P. Elaine KaufmanElaine's is one of those places that lingers in the historical memory like The Stork Club or Studio 54. It is a place of fantas… Read More
  • Another Fave in 2010We love getting our quarterly "cookbook" from the girls at Canal House Cooking. Christopher Hirsheimer and Melissa Hamilton do a bang up job. Every… Read More
  • Top Ten CookbooksI am perhaps as big a cookbook fanatic as one can be. This year, I have been surprised at how many lists there out there that feature ten books -- an… Read More
  • A David Lebovitz ListFood blogger and chef, David Lebovitz has an interesting list of best of 2010 cookbooks. A few of them might just be 2009, but who is counting. It… Read More
  • Happy New YearTeddy Watches the Ball Drop in Times Squaremaybe not...Happy New Year… Read More
  • Merry ChristmasMerry Christmasfrom all the reicpes atCookbook Of The Day… Read More
  • More ListsWe are very happy with Eater National and their list of six books that are not Noma. Cookbook Of The Day has three from the list! Read our post on T… Read More
  • Esquire's ListEsquire's Food For Men blog is featuring a "Cookbook of the Day" from now till Christmas. Their first pick is The New Brooklyn Cookbook. Check it out… Read More
  • Williams-Sonoma SaladsI am a big fan of Georgeanne Brennan. Williams-Sonoma Salads is another one of her delightful compilations.After everyone has over indulged in Thanks… Read More