Tag: Instructional
5 Totally-Worth-It Small Kitchen Appliances
Probably most people who have a kitchen have a few basic kitchen appliances. I’d be willing to guess that if you’re reading this on a computer somewhere in the First World, you probably own a blender, a toaster, and maybe even a crock pot, if you’re married. (Crock pots just seem like one of those things people love to give as wedding presents.) But for the serious-ish cook, these few basics really don’t cover the spectrum of cooking you’re likely to want to do. As I’ve become more experienced in the kitchen, I’ve found that my repertoire of small appliances has become pretty varied. Still, I don’t believe you need to amass an army of kitchen robots to do your culinary bidding. Allow me to share the few special ones I think are worth going the extra mile for. If this were a playlist, these small appliances would be the “deep cuts.”
P.S. For the pictures, I really wanted to top each of these off with a party hat to show enthusiasm…but I didn’t have any party hats and I don’t actually know how to use Photoshop. So, you know, use your imagination.
1. Juicer
This little guy has been going strong for over 20 years. It was a hand-me-down from my mom, who received it as a gift for her wedding in 1991. To my knowledge, it has never been repaired or had any parts replaced (nor, until this photo, had it been cleaned in 22 years…ahem). So yay Oster “Designer” Citrus Juicer! You win the prize for durability.
I have to say I’m surprised how often I use this thing. Granted, I live in Arizona, where citrus abounds, so I might be a little biased in the direction of frequent usage of a juicer, but no joke, I find I get this out at least once a month. Obviously, it’s a workhorse for when someone gives you a giant bag of grapefruit you’re not going to eat every day at breakfast–but it’s also a handy gizmo for the smaller fresh-fruit-juice jobs, too. I don’t actually drink fruit juice, but I’m a big ban of fresh when it comes to juice in recipes. Fresh lemon juice in a lemon meringue pie or fresh lime juice in a salad dressing far has so much more pep (or dare I say “zest”?) than the bottled variety. So the juicer makes the top five.
2. Food Processor
Yes, I know I waxed poetic in a previous post about my food processor, but I’m gonna say it again: this is one heckuva kitchen appliance. It is the Slicer-Dicer-Chopper-Cutter of infomercial legend. (Call now and you’ll receive THIS FREE GIFT!!!) Hummus, pesto, black bean puree, shortbread dough, and shredded carrots are just a few of the things I’ve made with mine recently. New York Times columnist and cookbook author Mark Bittman says, “after the refrigerator, and maybe the dishwasher, it’s the most useful kitchen appliance invented in the twentieth century.” You could make baby food and kill a man with this machine.
3. Ice Cream Maker
“Yeah, it makes ice cream,” you might be thinking. And you’d be right. It makes ice cream and not much else (unless you count sherbet, sorbet, and gelato). Obviously, an ice cream maker is not as multifunctional as some of the other appliances on this list, but it’s still worth getting. If you, like me, enjoy ice cream and care about the ingredients in your food, making your own starts to look pretty attractive. Ice cream should not contain artificial colors or flavors, hydrogenated oils, or anything else wacky–and it doesn’t have to. All it needs is to start is cream and sugar…and this little machine.
4. Electric Griddle
Have you ever tried cooking pancakes for a crowd on a stovetop skillet? You’ll get three good-sized pancakes at a time, max, and then everyone is sitting there waiting wondering how long this is gonna take while those three pancakes get cold at the bottom of a dish while you make three more at a time until finally everyone can eat. Whoa, this sounds like a pancake stress dream. Enter the electric griddle. I was skeptical about getting this–believe it or not, it was my husband who wanted one of these–but since we have owned one, I’ve become a believer. I thought this black monolith would sit in our pantry collecting dust, but we use it surprisingly often. In addition to pancakes (which it helps with beautifully), the electric griddle works like a dream for eggs, bacon, French toast, grilled cheese and other hot sandwiches, tortilla warming, and even funnel cake, in case you’re feeling like a trip to the state fair without involving carnies and hog judging.
5. Immersion Blender
Meet my new baby–er, blender. I don’t want to put a hat on this one. I want to knit it its own special blender cozy and tuck it into its sweet little blender bed. I want to keep it safe and snug where no one can ever hurt it. Because this, THIS, is my favorite kitchen appliance. Partly because I love its playful turquoise color; partly because I saved up and bought it for myself after lusting for it on Amazon for months…but mostly because it is fabulous. As a soup lover who has made the hot, messy mistake of trying to puree soup in a blender, I can say that that one function alone makes this gadget worth it. But really, the sky is the limit with this thing. Besides blending soups, an immersion blender does the job on mashed potatoes/sweet potatoes, smoothies, sauces, berries, and whipped cream. It’s extremely light and (at least in this model) the bottom detaches so it can go right in the dishwasher. Plus, on Amazon you can get it in something like 25 colors, from sage green to sugared plum to metallic pink.
So if you don’t have some of these, go get working on your Christmas list! Awesome cooking awaits!
You Can Can: How to Preserve Peaches
I have such mixed feelings about social media. Even though I’m kind of addicted to Facebook (and when I say “kind of,” I mean “embarrassingly, to a degree I don’t even want to admit”), I hate how it has made online relationships stand in for real, face-to-face relationships. On the other hand, Facebook has the powerful ability to connect you with people you never expected to see again–even to connect you in person. Such is the case with the story of my morning spent canning peaches with Andrea.
Andrea, who I must have met around 4th grade, and I are Facebook friends. We saw each other at our 10-year high school reunion, but other than that, like most casual high school friends, haven’t kept in touch. A couple of weeks ago, she posted that she was looking for someone who can can (like “preserve food in jars,” not like “dance a la risqué 19th-century French ladies) and might be able to each her. I happened to comment that I had some experience with canning and would be available to show her the ropes if she ever wanted to drive out to my house. (We live about 45 minutes apart.) Frankly, I didn’t expect her to take me up on it. You know, that whole “Facebook is for safe, quasi-anonymous connections” idea. To my surprise, she did–and I’m so glad, because we spent this morning putting up peaches, and it turned out great!
Not only was it fun to spend a morning with someone I go back so far with, but Andrea also has a little girl about the same age as mine. They spent the three hours or so bossing each other around playing while Andrea and I got to work. I’d like to think they absorbed something by watching their mommies commune with the spirits of homesteaders past.
Why peaches, you might ask? Peaches seemed a good choice for preserving in this heading-to-fall season….however, my car thermometer said it was 99 degrees at 8pm tonight, so I use the term “heading to fall” loosely. While it may still be hot as the dickens here in Mesa, peaches are on their way out. Soon they will be out of season, their prices will rise, and the moment for canning will have passed. To me, the point of canning is to strike while the fruit-price-iron is hot. Get the best bang for your buck with whatever you’re preserving. That way you won’t have to pay outrageous prices in order to enjoy an out-of-season food down the road. Of course, you can buy canned peaches in any season, but that’s not nearly as fun as knowing you did the work of putting them up yourself!
For our project this morning, we used the directions on PickYourOwn.com, but since you’re already here, I’ll give you the written-out play-by-play. Sorry for the lack of pictures for each step–guess I’ll never be The Pioneer Woman–but hey, if I’m canning, I must be channeling the pioneer spirit! Thanks again, Andrea, for making the drive and tackling this project together!
Canned Peaches
From PickYourOwn.com
Ingredients:
Fresh peaches
Lemon juice or Fruit Fresh
Sugar
Water
Equipment:
Large stock pot
Tongs
Canning jars, lids, and rings
Directions:
1. Select a large quantity of ripe peaches. For canning, they should be at the same ripeness as you would enjoy eating them. We used 30 yellow-flesh peaches for a yield of 12 pints. Rule of thumb is 5 peaches yields 1 quart.
2. Wash and peel the peaches. (We tried blanching ours in boiling water to get the skins to slip off, but if the peaches are not ripe enough, this won’t always work…and it didn’t for us.) Cut into 1/4 inch thick slices and place in a large bowl. Sprinkle with lemon juice or Fruit Fresh (a canning product that protects fruits from unsightly darkening). Stir to coat all sides of fruit. This can be done ahead of time.
3. Prepare your jars by sterilizing them. If you happen to be able to run them through your dishwasher just prior to canning, they will come out sterile. Otherwise, place them in boiling water for 10 minutes.
4. Prepare your lids by placing them in a bowl of hot water.
5. Meanwhile, make a simple syrup to pack your peaches in. For our 30 peaches, we used 2 cups of sugar and 6 cups of water. Bring water to a boil, then slowly stir in sugar until it dissolves.
6. Add peach slices to the simple syrup and cook on medium heat for about 5 minutes.
7. Ladle peaches and syrup into sterilized jars (a canning funnel is a helpful tool for this). Leave 1/2 inch headspace (distance from the top of the jar). Use tongs to remove lids from hot water and place on top of jars. Screw rings over the lids until firmly in place, but not overly tight.
8. Place sealed jars in a large pot of boiling water that will cover them by at least 1 inch. Boil for 20 minutes. (This is called processing and is what allows the food inside to be shelf-stable).
9. Using tongs, remove jars from boiling water and place on a flat surface where they can remain undisturbed for 12-24 hours. As the seals pull all the way down, you will hear a small pop from each jar–it’s a wonderful sound that means you did it right! Leave the jars untouched and undisturbed for at least 12 hours. Then enjoy–now or later!
8 Things to Freeze Instead of Toss
Does every family have weird sayings that no one really remembers the origin of?
When I was a kid, whenever it was time to get our shoes on at my grandma’s house, she would croon in this goofy faux-Southern voice like Mammy from Gone With the Wind, “Get yer choos on, Lucy, doncha know you’re in the city?” For years I just thought this was one of Grandma’s quirky sayings–only recently did my husband Google this phrase and discover this was a popular song in the ’50s. I kinda wish I hadn’t found that out, actually. I would have liked to have gone on believing my grandma just had an unexplained penchant for Southern accents in the presence of children’s shoes.
My husband‘s family, though, has more obscure catchphrases than you can shake a stick at. Their code word for calling someone a moron is “rowboatman.” Why? Are they rowing the boat backwards? With fish instead of oars? Maybe someone knows, but it’s a mystery to me. And ever since we’ve been married, when someone is about to throw out perfectly good food, Anthony (my husband) has been known to say, “Uncle Kenny hates waste!” Granted, he does have an Uncle Kenny, but why does Uncle Kenny hate waste, and how did the specter of his disapproval get passed down into family lore??
Now, whenever I go to throw out food that’s going bad or I know I won’t use up, I hear in my head, “UNCLE KENNY HATES WASTE!!!” Uncle Kenny has become the Elf on the Shelf of my food usage. (And I’m already pretty conscientious about food waste–have I mentioned the spasms of guilt over Cheerios?) That being said, allow me introduce you to my friend the freezer–that bastion of refuge for foods on the wayward path. Many an extra food in our house has been saved from the trash by finding asylum behind its doors. So many times when there’s not that much of something left, throwing it out seems like the logical choice, but it doesn’t have to be! Here’s a list of foods you can freeze to preserve them instead of toss them, even if only in small amounts:
1. Coffee:
I always end up with a little extra coffee at the bottom of the pot. At some point this summer I realized that I could save it in ice cube trays to have on hand for iced coffee. It’s like someone gave me free Starbucks coupons!
2. Fruit:
Another summer-specific freezable. These early weeks of August I have seen berries and peaches on sale like they’re going out of business. How nice would it be in November when strawberries are an outrageous $4/pound to pull some out of your freezer? If you stock up now, you can! Freezing berries is super simple: just wash, separate, and place on waxed paper on a baking sheet in the freezer for a few hours. (I’ve also done this with pineapple and mango, by the way.) Peaches are a bit more challenging, as you’ll want to boil briefly to slip the skins off before freezing. Still, totally worth it! Fruit for months to come!
3. Fresh herbs: I wish we had more fresh herbs in our garden, because it always seems wasteful to purchase the arbitrary amount of ounces grocery stores package theirs in. (What on earth are people making that uses up an entire 6-ounce package of fresh thyme?) Thankfully, certain herbs are quite conducive to freezing, such as thyme and rosemary. Just pop them in a Ziploc, push out the excess air, and you’re good to go. Other herbs more prone to wilting–basil, oregano, cilantro, etc.–can be frozen in water or oil in ice cube trays, then popped into soups, stews, marinades or other dishes that don’t require the herbs to be crisp. It’s a garden in your freezer.
4. Chicken broth: If you find you have extra canned chicken broth after completing a recipe, consider freezing it. Place in a lidded plastic container and freeze for future use.
5. Lemon juice: We live in Arizona, where every school child learns about Citrus as one of the state’s “5 C’s.” (I’ll love you forever if you can tell me the other four.) There are months in the spring when even the homeless people won’t eat any more lemons because they are too dang sick of them. This past spring, when not one but TWO of our neighbors gave us heaping bags of lemons, I froze the juice in (yet again) ice cube trays and it lasted for months.
6. Lemon/orange/lime zest:
Lemons, stay there. I’m not done with you yet. If people are dropping bags of lemons on your doorstep like little citrus babies for you to adopt, don’t just freeze their juice–freeze their zest, too. Same Ziploc bag procedure as fresh herbs.
7. Onions: white/yellow/green: If I had a shrink ray, I would use it on onions. I always buy the smallest yellow ones in the grocery store bin, and I still seldom use a whole one at once (or an entire bunch of green onions). Fortunately, similar to fresh herbs, if you don’t need onions to be particularly crisp, they do great in the freezer. Chop finely and Ziploc as above.
8. Bread/tortillas/burger buns: If you’re a freezer veteran, you probably know this one, but it bears repeating that when you can’t use up an entire loaf, or if you see a fantastic bread sale, stash what you can’t immediately use in the freezer. Just make sure it’s pre-sliced so you can thaw individual slices as desired.So go nuts! Freeze away! Just don’t forget about the things you’ve frozen for too long…like that apple juice concentrate I’ve literally been meaning to throw out for two years. Guess I’d better go do that now that there’s photographic evidence.
10 Things You Didn’t Know about Food Labels
I’m old enough to remember the days before the Nutrition Facts labels. It was 1990 when George H. W. Bush signed the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act into law. I may have only been eight years old at the time, but I remember those little black and white rectangles suddenly showing up on food packages (about the time Beauty and the Beast came out, according a child’s powers of association). Now, though, it’s hard to fathom a time when consumers didn’t have access to information about the nutritional contents of their purchased foods (and, come to think of it, a time before Be Our Guest couldn’t get stuck in my head for days on end…). I certainly rely on label reading to be sure I purchase the healthiest, safest, least processed foods as reasonably possible for my family. Obviously, the best diet would be heavy in foods that don’t come with a Nutrition Facts label–fresh fruits and vegetables, eggs straight from a local chicken, etc.–but even the most devoted whole-foods-dieter has to break down and buy some M & Ms sometimes, right?
Bless me, Father, for I have sinned…(these bread crumbs were the worst thing I found in my pantry).
As I’ve pursued my interest in food and nutrition through lots of reading and taking some dietetics courses, I’ve gained some inside info on the whole Nutrition Facts game. Here are several things I didn’t know until recently. Stick with me as I let you in on the secrets…
10 Things You Didn’t Know about Food Labels
1. 2% or less: Seen this one before? I used to (blissfully ignorantly) assume that everything on the giant list following this phrase comprised 2% or less of the total contents of the product. Nope. “2% or less of the following” means 2% of each of the ingredients listed. Therefore, if 15 ingredients come after this phrase, up to 30% of the product could be contained in this list. Yikes. Also, for these lists there is an exception to the rule that ingredients be listed in descending order by weight. So once you see that 2%, it’s pretty much a free-for-all.
2. “Natural flavors”: You’d think that “natural” flavor was preferable to “artificial” flavor, right? After all, I’d rather eat a natural chicken than some artificial robot chicken, wouldn’t you? Well, come to find out, “natural” flavors are not as straightforward as all that. Under the Code of Federal Regulations, “natural” can mean anything derived from a natural source, such as plant or animal products (as in, not derived from chemicals). This provides a pretty wide range–as this article puts it, “from bugs to beaver butts.” Literally. Castoreum is extracted from beavers’ anal glands, and certain food dyes are insect-derived. But it’s natural!
3. Trans fat loophole: If a food contains .5 grams or less of trans fat per serving, the Nutrition Label can round it down to zero. That means if a product with, let’s say, .45 grams of trans fat has five servings, eating the entire container means you have consumed 2.25 grams of trans fat. Research has repeatedly shown that even a modest intake of trans fats significantly raises the risk of cardiovascular disease. The thing to remember is that trans fats occur when fats are hydrogenated, so if the ingredient list includes anything “hydrogenated,” it contains trans fats.
4. Don’t be afraid of everything with a long and/or unfamiliar name. Yay, something positive! Mixed tocopherols, for example, which you often see in cereal ingredient lists, are simply Vitamin E. Then again, L-cysteine, used in breads and other baked goods, is a frequently made from duck feathers or human hair….and the sodium benzoate in your soda is used as rocket fuel. So just do your research.
5. Soluble and insoluble fiber: Some Nutrition Facts labels offer the extra details of a food’s fiber–how many grams of soluble or insoluble it contains. What’s the difference between the two? Soluble fiber is, as it sounds, dissolvable in water. This means it can bind fat to help lower cholesterol, as well as reduce high blood glucose. Insoluble fiber, on the other hand, does not dissolve in water–so it’s certainly not gonna dissolve in your intestines. This is a good thing, though, as this is the fiber that absorbs fluid as it makes its way through your digestive tract. Translation: this is the one you need more of if you suffer from The Big Block-up.
6. Sneaky sugar: Sugar is sugar is sugar. You may pat yourself on the back as you consider how those Kashi granola bars use brown rice syrup instead of high fructose corn syrup, but keep in mind that’s still sugar. The sugar wolf has many sheep’s disguises. Alternate names for sugar include: maltodextrin, brown rice syrup, glucose, sucrose, dextrose, lactose, maltose, evaporated cane juice, crystalline fructose, sorghum, and barley malt syrup.
7. Courtesy calculations: The Nutrition Facts label has a couple of what I call “courtesy calculations,” meaning that you can actually calculate these figures on your own. Calories from fat, for instance, mean (of course) how many calories per serving are provided by fat in the food. If you happen to know that 1 gram of fat, regardless of the type, contains 9 calories per gram, you will always be able to determine this yourself. Go check your pantry. Every “calories from fat” figure is approximately 9 times the grams of fat listed.
The second courtesy calculation falls under the carbohydrate figure. You may be aware that sugars are carbohydrates and contribute to the final carb tally on the Nutrition Facts label. (As in, don’t be fooled into thinking you’re getting 15 grams of whole grain carbs when a cereal’s label says “15g carbs” if that cereal also contains 12 grams of sugar.) If you subtract the grams of sugar from the total grams of carbohydrate, what remains is your carbs from starches (like hopefully whole grain).
8. Why alcohol doesn’t have Nutrition Facts: The reason alcohol doesn’t have to have Nutrition Facts labels is that is it under the jurisdiction of the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, not the FDA. Keep in mind, though, that the average 5 oz glass of wine has 120 calories and the average beer has 150 calories.
9. Why some labels include things like magnesium and phosphorus and others don’t: It always seems kinda random to me when I see a food label touting its percentage of vitamin K, zinc, or pantothenic acid (What the heck is pantothenic acid?). Well, this is because labeling of any micronutrients beyond Vitamin A, Vitamin C, calcium, and iron is totally voluntary. Products that flaunt their riboflavin all up in your face are just showing off…in a good way.
10. Nutrition Facts font: Okay, last one is a bit of trivia just for fun. The FDA doesn’t require a particular font/typeface to be used, so theoretically, companies could get creative and someday you might see a label in Comic Sans or everyone’s favorite adorable girly font, “Curlz.” Like this:
Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 1/2 cup
Servings per container 2
Eat me! I’m ADORABLE!!!
Seven Ways to Avoid Overeating on Vacation
My husband Anthony and I just returned from a totally delightful trip to Carmel and Monterey, California to celebrate our ninth anniversary. It was quite possibly the best vacation we’ve ever taken–with no kids for three days, we stayed at an adorable inn,
slept in until 9:00, rode bikes around Monterey Bay, toured a historic lighthouse,
took in the gorgeous views on 17-Mile Drive, and even attended mass at one of the oldest missions on the West Coast.
And we ate. Ohhhh, we ate.
For me, food can be the highlight of a vacation. As much as I love to cook, it’s exciting and inspiring to eat restaurant food created by real chefs (not to mention the fact that I don’t have to do dishes afterward). Restaurant dining gives me the opportunity to try cuisines I wouldn’t normally have the guts or experience to try at home. Unfortunately, though, day after day of eating out can also leave me wishing I had packed my Fat Pants. I always struggle with finding the balance between savoring the indulgence of restaurant meals and not returning home with a little excess baggage (not the kind you can check at the gate).
On this particular trip, however, I felt I was able to strike that balance better than I have in the past. (Ignore the photo above with the giant brownie sundae.) I’ve given quite a bit of thought to what made the difference this time and have come up with some tips on making it to the end of your vacation without needing the seatbelt extender on the flight home. (And lest you think I’m just some schmoe trying to tell you how to live your life, I am pursuing a dietetics degree….so I’m supposed to know about this stuff!)
Seven ways to counteract overeating/poor eating on vacation:
1. Purchase healthy snacks at a grocery store. When I’m eating meals at restaurants don’t have a pantry or fridge available in my hotel, I tend to get into a panic mode where I think, “I don’t know when I’ll get to eat again! Must stuff myself now!” (Come to think of it, that was pretty much my entire four years of college…probably why I was 30 pounds heavier back then.) Buying healthy snacks to keep in your car or hotel room gives you a buffer. If you know you can snack between meals, you’re less likely to overeat at the meals themselves.
2. Split meals. Yes, I am going to beat this dietary dead horse. Especially if you don’t have a fridge where you’re staying, you won’t be able to take leftovers home anyway, so split ’em up, baby. Split. ‘Em. Up.
3. Don’t feel like you have to order an entree every time you go out. When I go to a nice restaurant where the waiter takes ten minutes to tell about the entree specials, I almost feel this weird obligation to order a full entree. Like they’re going to know I’m a classless brute if I don’t eat their 16-ounce Porterhouse. But you know what? Who cares? There’s no law against soup and salad.
4. At a breakfast buffet, look at your plate and ask yourself, “What would my plate look like if I were eating breakfast at home?” Ah, breakfast buffets–the Achilles heel of every hotel guest. Scrambled eggs in a metal pan you could bathe a toddler in, syrupy fruit cocktail, and the ubiquitous do-it-yourself waffle iron. Would you eat this stuff for breakfast at home? If you’re generally a bowl-of-cereal or two-pieces-of-toast breakfaster, a heaping pile of pancakes and bacon slathered in syrup is not going to hold up to this question.
5. Write down your day’s eating goals. For example, “I will only eat one dessert today” or “I will make sure to eat a fruit or vegetable at every meal today.” Studies have repeatedly shown that this very small act can have a major positive impact on your day’s eating. Take it a step further and keep a food journal of the vacation. You’ll end up with a nice little souvenir to remember your trip by, and you’ll probably be a lot more mindful about what goes in your mouth.
6. Prevent post-full nibbling. At a restaurant, when I begin to feel full (but still have all that time with food in front of me while the waiter gets the check, we pay, etc.) I have a special trick to avert continued nibbling. I put my dirty napkin on my plate as a signal to myself to stop. It grosses me out just enough that I won’t eat off the plate anymore.
7. Drink plenty of water. When we’re away from our normal environment, any of our normally healthy habits can go haywire. You may be accustomed to drinking plenty of water throughout your day, but on a plane, in the car, or all day at Disneyland, you naturally have to be much more cognizant about your fluid intake. Water not only keeps you hydrated for your day’s activities, but can head off food cravings. The body easily mistakes thirst for hunger.
How about you? Do you struggle with eating poorly on vacation? What have you done that helps?