From Scratch

I love trying new products and while I never hesitate to have a laugh over those I think are overpriced, useless or in the realm of more money than common sense, I’m also happy to share products that do what they promise and give me my money’s worth. That’s what we have today.
First up is […]

So the other day I was in the produce department at the supermarket and was about to buy a few bananas at 79¢ per pound when I noticed a couple brown paper bags marked 99¢. Inside were eight or nine bananas and only a few were beginning to develop spots. I took one, a middle-aged […]

I tried a recipe from last week’s Washington Post for a fast version of pork vindaloo – I’m posting it separately and the link is below. This mild paste was an alternative to jarred curry paste and I’m glad I tried it. It gave the dish a restaurant quality and would be wonderful with other […]

The convenience of no-bake fruit pies can’t be denied, but neither can their frequent shortcomings. Often they’re little more than a baked pie shell with fruit in a runny pool of syrup or they’re strawberries coated with a neon-red, artificial-tasting, cloyingly-sweet commercial glaze.
My mother used to make a no-bake strawberry pie that didn’t pool, but […]

Since I do practice what I advocate — cuisine d’opportunité – I have another, but very different, raspberry recipe on the heels of raspberry fool. I found gorgeous berries at a great price a few days ago and bought several containers; the savings with this raspberry vinaigrette recipe alone pays for them all.
I don’t know what bothers […]

My mother’s been on my mind a lot this week, with Mother’s Day just ahead. Some of my earliest and fondest memories are of making cookies with her, especially when she’d dig out the cookie press to make these spritz cookies. Like millions of American families, we always had spritz cookies at Christmas, but my […]

I’ve been writing a couple pieces about supermarkets and the tricks of the their trade, which I’ve written about often over the years. But this is different, a concept Jacques Pépin calls cuisine d’oppportunité. He employs it and so do I, enjoying significant savings and little waste.
Only two things are required: the willingness to try something new with […]

I wish I could say the glass inside my oven door is always spotless, that I clean up splatters on the scorchingly-hot window immediately so nothing ever becomes baked on, but I can’t. Nor can I say my kitchen is chemical-free.
Nothing short of running the self-cleaning cycle — an energy hog and an option I didn’t […]

These wonderful, jazzed-up turkey burgers are on my grill every summer and in my grill pan every winter. Often, turkey or chicken burgers end up bland and dry, even when not overcooked, but these don’t. Sometimes ground poultry doesn’t hold together the way ground beef does, but these do without the overhandling that leads to […]

I love Asian flavors. Love. A few months ago, somewhere in my travels by mouse click, I spotted an interesting recipe for roasted vegetables with sesame oil. I was sure I saved it but when the mood for such a thing struck, I couldn’t find it for the life of me.
Luckily, roasting veggies is not on a […]

I grew up on this moist, light, homey cake. It’s a little different from most crumb cakes because it’s not just batter with a crumb topping, it’s layered. And the delicious topping does not use any butter. It’s perfect when you want just a litte something and terrific for bake sales.
With a cake this easy, no big […]

I’ve learned two good tricks in the past week I’d like to pass along. One is for cooking the pasta, the other for cooking the sauce.
First, the pasta. If you have trouble achieving a perfect al dente, give this a try. The trick is from Darina Allen, the noted Irish chef and cookbook author. Bring […]

Whenever I can devise a recipe that does double duty in my interfaith life, I am happy. This lightened-up take on a favorite worked for Easter and will work for Passover, when dairy is appropriate. In fact, I can envision this any time a plated dessert is needed.
For those not familiar with Passover dietary laws, grains are […]

You might have a kitchen cabinet like one of mine: under-counter, storing heavy things such as cast iron cookware, bulky things such as a lobster pot, and small things that don’t get used very often. My hand mixer fell into that latter category and it was tucked in the back, requiring me to move at […]

Did you know teal is the hot color for Easter eggs this year? The 125-year-old PAAS company, whose name (which comes from the Pennsylvania Dutch word for ‘passen’, or Easter) is synonymous with egg decorating kits, says teal has replaced purple as the most popular color. The company also says Americans who decorate eggs will fancy up an […]