Did you know that vinegar can keep cauliflower snow white and broccoli as green as grass?
Posts with tag tips
Tip of the Day: make your whites whiter, keep your colors vibrant with vinegar
Continue reading Tip of the Day: make your whites whiter, keep your colors vibrant with vinegar
Should restaurants be allowed to withhold tips?
There's controversy in Philadelphia over whether a restaurant can withhold tips from its wait staff, thanks to a review of Arbol Cafe published in the Philadelphia City Paper. An alleged former employee posted a comment following the review, asserting that "tips from customers are kept by the owners," and urging customers to never tip. Arbol Cafe responded in a second comment, stating that "all money generated goes towards financing the rennovations as well as aiding us in being able to pay the workers well above minimum wage," which essentially confirms that waiters in fact do not see their tips. Arbol Cafe further justifies their position by informing that they do not hire waiters and waitresses, but rather persons interested in working and growing as a team.The response generated a slew of reader comments, with harsh words on both sides of the argument. The controversy has since been written up in this post on MenuPages blog Philadelphia. Of course, Arbol Cafe isn't the first business to come under heat for it's tipping policies lately. Remember the Starbucks tipping story, as well. So, what do you guys think? Is Arbol Cafe right to do this?
Tip of the Day: How to peel and eat boiled eggs
Frustrated by those tough-peeling egg shells? Here's how to making shelling those eggs a breeze!
Continue reading Tip of the Day: How to peel and eat boiled eggs
Tip of the Day: How to clean a burned pan
You blackened the bottom of your favorite pot. What to do?
I found some very useful tea tips
I'm sure I've mentioned a few times that I love tea. I drink it almost every day, and I tend to go for that beverage even when I go to a "coffee" shop.While roaming the blogs today I came across a great list of tea tips over at the Accidental Hedonist. The list is fairly long, but not overly so. It is also pretty thorough. You get advice on several things, from switching to loose leaf tea to cleaning tea stains.
There are one or two tips I don't quite agree with, but over all these are some pretty good things for a tea drinker to know. Check out the whole list and see what you think. Do you have any good tea tips? I'd love to know about them.
Waiter, there's soap in my coffee
Food styling has always been a field that I would love to go into, but I lack the skills and have no clue how I would proceed even if I did. So instead, I just read my boyfriend's digital food photography books and think about the tricks that one might use in the profession. Sometimes I consider using them for my personal blog, but I believe it constitutes cheating. Anyway, I thought I'd share some interesting ones just in case anyone needs to make their food more beautiful (though in some cases, it will result in it being inedible!):1) To make your coffee appear bubbly and hot, add a teaspoon of soapy water.
2) For an extra cheesy-looking slice of pizza, cook the pizza halfway, then cut out one slice and add extra cheese around the edge of the cut. Finish cooking the pizza, then photograph the extra cheesy piece as you lift it out.
3) Use food-colored mashed potatoes for ice cream. I would actually never do this because my likelihood of forgetting and eating mashed potatoes with chocolate sauce is way too high.
Any others, perhaps ones that don't render the food inedible?
How to be a speedy grocery shopper
I enjoy grocery shopping and spend more time in Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, Shop Rite and my local produce store than is probably necessary. However, I know that lots of folks don't see grocery shopping as pleasurable endeavor in the same way that I do. For those of you, the folks at Unclutterer have put together a series of helpful tips on how to get in and out of the grocery store quickly and effectively.
They start by recommending that you make a weekly meal plan, so that you know what you'll be eating for a series of days. That way you can create a list and shop accordingly. They also suggest that you try to shop during off-peak hours so that you can move through the aisles and check-out stands in a more timely fashion.
I know that there are expert grocery shoppers among you out there. What are you secret tricks to keeping your kitchen stocked with a minimum of time and frustration?
Make your own Valentine's Day chocolates
Valentine's Day is just around the corner. It's the holiday dedicated to love and all things romance. The stores are full of flowers, cards...and chocolate! While there is good chocolate to be had from the store, wouldn't it be nice to present your sweetie with something more from the heart, something homemade? It's really not difficult. It takes a little time and a little bit of patience. It also takes some good quality chocolate and a candy mold. If you have these things, you too can make can make some home made chocolate treats for your special someone.
I am going to guide you through the process step by step. We'll talk about candy molds, chocolate qualities and how to temper it, as well as some fillings and some ways to finish the candies. It's a fun project and a nice thing to surprise your baby with. Click the hearts to keep reading in order to find out all about making your own confectionary masterpiece.
"Tip" of the day
Talk about a great tip! Imagine being a server at a local eatery and getting a $600 tip. That's what happened to a waiter in Sydney, Australia when Bon Jovi dropped in for a bite.The band and some crew were in Sydney for a show. They popped in to a local restaurant called Manta where they reportedly ate all the lobster and mud crab in the house.
The house certainly could not have minded the business and the server, Tristan Tomlinson, certainly did not mind the reward. He said that Mr. Bon Jovi was pretty laid back, not demanding. I guess that makes the tip all the sweeter.
[Via ColdMud]
Lifehacker gets dinner on the table in no time
I have two different speeds when it comes to working in the kitchen. I either want to get in and out as quickly as possible or I want to wander, meandering over herbs and flavor combinations. You can probably guess that the first way is typically reserved for weeknights and the second is more a weekend attitude. However, I am always looking for ways to make my time in the kitchen more efficient and useful (because who has any time to waste these days?) and that's where a recent post at Lifehacker comes in.
Last week they posted a nice, long feature by Kevin Purdy called Kitchen Timesavers That Speed Up Dinner that details nine very useful ways to make your meals more rapidly. His suggestions include picking shorter, simpler recipes, keeping cheat sheets on the insides of your cabinet doors and blanching veggies by pouring a little boiling water over them from your kettle instead of dirtying another pot.
What are your secret tricks and tips to making meals quickly?
Gingery suggestions from Jaden's Steamy Kitchen
Do you love using fresh ginger in your cooking, but feel like at times it becomes more trouble than it's worth? When a recipe called for minced ginger, do you often find yourself turning to the ancient jar of pre-minced ginger in your fridge? If you've answered yes to either of these questions, then you need to head over to Jaden's Steamy Kitchen and read through her tips for storing, processing and using ginger.
The tip I found the most helpful was to grate up a bunch of ginger and then put the ginger out in a long strip on a sheet of plastic wrap. Roll it up in a tube, tie the ends and store in the freezer. You can either snap off a bit or re-grate it into your dish. I grew up with frozen ginger, but in my family we always just through the entire root in, which made it really difficult to peel and chop it for cooking. I do believe that this particular suggestion will inspire me to keep more ginger around (frozen in a tube) and use it in my cooking more. Thanks Jaden!
Slow cooker ideas and tips
About a week ago, I pulled out my four quart (I also have a one and a half and six quart cookers) slow cooker in order to make braised chicken thighs (boneless and skinless) in tomatoes, onions, green pepper and garlic. I was going to be out of the house all day and knew that I'd ravenous when I got home so with just a little forethought I was able to pull something really easy and yummy together with very little effort (it is also one of those dishes that is even better as leftovers than it was originally). When it comes to slow cookers, I'm not much of a recipe follower. I tend to throw things in and hope for the best. I think that nine times out of ten my experiments turn out really well. There are have been some notable disasters (but we don't need to go into them now). I do have a few valuable lessons to share that I've learned through this process of trial and error. The first is that if you are making a soup or stew and you're going to be adding water, always bring your water to a boil on the stove first before adding it. By doing this the contents of the cooker will come up to temperature more quickly and your food won't sit in the warm danger zone as long. The second is that if you really want your onions to soften, make sure to saute them first on the stove. The caramelization they'll pick up with also improve the flavor of the dish (however, if you're running short on time, it is okay to toss them in raw). The last thing I recommend is seeing if you can't get an older slow cooker at a rummage or garage sale. The older models cook at slightly lower temperatures, which will prevent your food from boiling. Some of the newer cookers bring your food up to a rollicking boil even on the low setting, which is not want you want.
If you are a slow cooker fan I'd love to hear your favorite recipes and any tips you've picked up along the way.
How to carve a turkey from the New York Times
A couple of weeks ago I got a call from my dad. He had phoned because he had just watched one of the Thanksgiving episodes of Fork You and wanted to give me a little advice. The piece of wisdom? Never offer to show someone how to do something on camera if, in fact, you don't know how to do it. The thing I didn't know how to do? Carve a turkey!
I agreed with him and explained that I didn't know that I was going to be asked to show the folks at home how to carve a turkey, it just sort of happened. However, now that I've been in that situation, I'm now making a point of learning how to carve a turkey. Thankfully, the New York Times printed a helpful article today with step-by-step instructions on the best way to carve up your Thanksgiving bird. Their tip? Do the carving away from the table in the kitchen for best results.
[via Eat]
Leftovers: Tips for storing the food that remains
Thanksgiving dinner is over, the kitchen is littered with dishes and you've got to figure out how to store a half carved turkey, a quart of gravy, a leftover loaf pan of stuffing and three half eaten pies. Not to mention Cousin Melissa's pumpkin soup that she served inside a hollowed out pumpkin. Here are some tips on how to get everything into put away and tucked in the fridge. - Think about your storage options before the big day. Check your supplies of foil, plastic wrap, zip top bags and reusable plastic containers before you start cooking to ensure you'll have enough to get you through.
- Choose the right-sized container for the job. Refrigerator space is at a premium after big holiday meals, so using appropriately sized bowls, jars and bags will keep the jigsaw puzzle easier to solve.
- Make sure that your storage devices are airtight and leak-proof so that your food will stay fresh, aromas won't mingle and you don't end up with candied yam juice coating the shelves with a sticky sheen.
- If you use old yogurt containers or other, non-transparent vessels for your leftovers, label the carton with a sharpie. It will make the hunt for the last of the green beans much easier and when it is empty, the writing wipes off with a little bit of rubbing alcohol.
- Make sure that your turkey is totally unstuffed before you stash it in the fridge, because it can take too long to thoroughly cool otherwise, encouraging the growth of dangerous bacteria.
- Remember that it's never a good idea to store food in aluminum cans, so transfer the leftover cranberry sauce to a different container.
Turkey day tips from the San Francisco Chronicle
I know that some of you have got your Thanksgiving menus all set by now, since the big day is only a week and a half away. But for those of you who are still looking for a little last-minute inspiration, I've got another good resource for you.
The San Francisco Chronicle has pulled together all their Thanksgiving-related coverage together in one place. They've got video on how to carve a turkey, stories about holiday dinners gone awry, suggestions on how to cook smaller dinners and more recipes than you can shake a stick at. It's fun reading, even if you already have your meal all set.
May is National BBQ Month and National Hamburger Month
Cupcakes, not for dessert (unless beef is your idea of a treat)
Because eating French Fries in the car is so tough
