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Sometimes, practical overrules in the kitchen. However, that caramel apple dip they sell in the tub around the corner from the produce section simply isn't worth the trade-off in convenience when I can grab three ingredients from my kitchen and put something much better together. Leveraging some individually-wrapped caramels and your trusty microwave, you can put together a peanut bu
Packaged food doesn't always mean processed food; and in this video recipe, we've got three great examples. Firstly, you can't go wrong with dry pasta; and if you wanted to go with the whole grain stuff (love it in salads) you'd probably be ok as anymore the stuff doesn't taste like the box it came in. Second, frozen vegetables are fantastic for so many things; adding
Beta recipes are my own experiments that I've only tried once. Usually palatable, they often could be better with a little tweaking - So please do, and let me know what works! I don't know about you, but if I'm having company over, I feel compelled to bake. And when your ninety-year-old Grandma comes to visit? Well, you wanna do it up right; and you can't get much mo
Ok, when was the last time you had a brimming, hot bowl of split pea soup? Alright, now everyone that gets their split pea soup from a can please put your hand down. Wow, not many left huh? Well, that's a shame because homemade split pea soup is a real treat. It's not at all difficult to prepare; but cooking the right ingredients the right way swaps out "just ok" for descriptors
My kids are suckers for peanut butter (it's likely genetic on their mom's side). Problem is in this day and age is that peanut butter is verboten in many a school lunch room. I've got some conspiracy theories about the whole deal, but the fact remains that my kids are gonna have to come home for a PB fix. My son begged and nagged me to make this recipe ever since he found the
For the theme cake diy-types out there, the Interwebs is and absolute god-send; and in the age of Pinterest, you'd think it'd be super-friggin' easy to find a proper pattern to use to magically transform a couple of nine-inch rounds into a dolphin. Well, apparently that isn't the case; and the one blog post that kept popping up on everyone's pinboards didn't have
Just as important in our household as the evening ritual of family taco night is pancake night (the "family" part should be implied at this point, right?). Even the dog looks forward to pancake night, and while plain pancakes are fine, in our house pancakes from a box are not. Nobody's being presumptuous here; we just happen to think that quality time with loved ones deserves proper
As much as I love a good community cookbook, there are very few recipes that survive in-tact once I get a look at 'em. This pumpkin bar recipe is one of my favorite "victims"; as the recipe ratios are solid enough to survive some pretty substantial swappage. It's nobody's fault really; times just change. In 1978, no one would think to bake a snack cake with olive oil, and I u
When I'm looking to eat a quick healthy meal and I'm cooking for one, I turn to oatmeal. And with Autumn upon us, adding roasted pumpkin to a bowl of rolled oats is very appropriate. This recipe for single-serving pumpkin oatmeal not only tastes good, but is good for you. With all those raisins and pecans nestled in creamy oats spiced with cinnamon and cloves, it's really bes
I grew up believing the myth that a box of Jello and a can of ginger ale were necessary for a decent homemade cranberry sauce, when in all actuality, the key to a good cranberry sauce lies within the berry itself. Y'see, cranberries are packed with pectin, which given the right amount of heat and a proper ratio of sugar just happen to "sauce up" marvelously. You don't have to use
The Holiday baking season is just around the corner (hell who are we kidding; it's here!), and as I needed to bring a dessert for an office potluck, I figured now was as good a time as any to try a new bar cookie recipe. The last time I opened up a pound of butter, I found a real doozy of a recipe inside. For my interpretation of this Caramel Chocolate Pecan bar recipe, copious amoun
Every year, I do my Thanksgiving turkey a little different, and as long as I got this little patch of Interwebs here, I figure it'd be a crime for me to share my post-game report as far as what worked and what didn't for the greater good of all of us that work hard to put the biggest meal of the year on the table. For Thanksgiving Turkey this year, I went with a recipe I'
I've found some really neat ideas in the bevy of community cookbooks held up in cabinets, but lets be honest here; a lot of that mid to late-century fare is an uninspired mess of processed food. However the recipe I found for a "salmon party ball" in an employee cookbook from a now-defunct medical supply factory really had some potential. This is essentially one of those meat and che
I'll be the first to admit that more often than not, the only consistent thing about the way I make soup is that I'm darn inconsistent. Oh sure, I often start with a good stock, and I'm not ashamed to use a Crock Pot when it makes sense to do so, but for the most part, soups are an exercise in creativity. That being said, I think potato soup could very well be the exception t
Somewhere along the way, casseroles got a bad rap. I'm a big fan of a good casserole, but I gotta say that there's a dogma associated with one-dish cooking that inherently dooms a casserole to mediocrity. The good casseroles are not a "dump and bake" affair. Proper casserole making is akin to Tetris in a Pyrex dish; flavors are built up and balanced in a way that makes somewhat d
The dust has settled. The dishes are clean. Company has all gone home. Your big ol' holiday meal is all but a memory, but there in your fridge tucked under a tent of foil is the remains of your meticulously-prepared turkey. Once the meat's picked from the bone, the party ain't over. Your turkey has one swan song left to sing, and that means a few quarts of really good st
I make no excuses where my lack of temperance is concerned. Sometimes, it's just nice to kick your feet up at the end of the day and sip on a nip of liquor and forget about all the crap you didn't get done (if there's one thing I've learned it that it'll still be there tomorrow). Anyhow, during the holiday season I figure if you're gonna take a booze break
I'm no expert when it comes to designing cakes. Even a simple layer cake takes me forever to assemble. One layer cake in particular took me so stinking long that I had to film the thing in time-lapse to show it all step-by step. Seriously, if I gotta bake, I'd much rather have my mitts in some bread dough; but you can't really get a birthday cake outta that now can you?
While some folks believe that the warming aroma of cinnamon best represents the Christmas season, there are just as many people that identify with the cool tingle of mint. Christmas cookies are best when made with a healthy dose of tradition; and ever since I began doing a holiday baking regiment, these Andes mint-topped chocolate cookies have been a must-bake. The hardest thing about ma
It's just not Christmas at our house if we don't do a little cookie baking as a family. My kids wanted to decorate some gingerbread men, so I took the opportunity to kick the tires on a gingerbread cookie recipe from my modest collection of community cookbooks. This is a cookie carried by the aromas of ginger, cinnamon, and clove; bolstered with the sweetness of molasses and brow
Anyone with a decent food processor can process horseradish. But if you wanna bring the devil out in your horseradish, you truly gotta pay attention to the details. Surface area is key to great horseradish, but without the right amount of vinegar to lock in that pungency, all the heat in your horseradish will fizzle in just a few weeks' time. This video I did for The Hays Daily News
I have a pretty extensive background in the sciences; and that's probably because I'm one of those people that really want to know how something works. I also love me some gin. So you can imagine my delight upon opening up The Homemade Gin Kit on Christmas. Here is a gift that puts you in control of your neutral grain spirit destiny: You pick a vodka, you add the botanicals, you
Truth be told, I've never been a huge fan of kettle corn. Oh sure, I'll eat the stuff, but I've always thought it a bit monochromatic where taste is concerned. When I came up with this recipe, I was making a lot of popcorn on the stove, and it occurred to me that popcorn cooked in bacon grease finished with some homemade apple wood smoked salt might be a winner. As the fat hi
Sugar and fat-laden beverages are the bane of most New Year's resolutions. They go down easy, and essentially contain a half-meal's worth of the worst kind of stuff for a dieter's total caloric intake. I was asked by one of the good people at Hays Kansas' own Main Street 24 Hour Gym and Fitness Center to come up with an enjoyable way to ensure that their clients stay on t
Now that both kids are in school and I'm doing more consulting work than ever, it's getting tougher to strike that balance between daily demands and family time. All the same, I will always pump the brakes for birthday cakes. This time however, I didn't leave myself with much stopping distance, and I needed an easy from-scratch birthday cake that presented well and tasted jus
Spaghetti and meatballs is an American institution. And while pasta and sauce may be a turn-key event, many folks seem to shy away from making meatballs and just dump the ground beef into the sauce. I think that somewhere along the way, we all got duped into thinking that homemade meatballs were difficult and messy to make. Those in the know will tell you that this couldn't be furthe
It's just not Christmas at our house if we don't do a little cookie baking as a family. My kids wanted to decorate some gingerbread men, so I took the opportunity to kick the tires on a gingerbread cookie recipe from my modest collection of community cookbooks. This is a cookie carried by the aromas of ginger, cinnamon, and clove; bolstered with the sweetness of molasses and brown sugar.
I make no excuses where my lack of temperance is concerned. Sometimes, it's just nice to kick your feet up at the end of the day and sip on a nip of liquor and forget about all the crap you didn't get done (if there's one thing I've learned it that it'll still be there tomorrow). Anyhow, during the holiday season I figure if you're gonna take a booze break that you might as well b
I'm no expert when it comes to designing cakes. Even a simple layer cake takes me forever to assemble. One layer cake in particular took me so stinking long that I had to film the thing in time-lapse to show it all step-by step. Seriously, if I gotta bake, I'd much rather have my mitts in some bread dough; but you can't really get a birthday cake outta that now can you? Anyhow, I re
Somewhere along the way, casseroles got a bad rap. I'm a big fan of a good casserole, but I gotta say that there's a dogma associated with one-dish cooking that inherently dooms a casserole to mediocrity. The good casseroles are not a "dump and bake" affair. Proper casserole making is akin to Tetris in a Pyrex dish; flavors are built up and balanced in a way that makes somewhat disparate
The dust has settled. The dishes are clean. Company has all gone home. Your big ol' holiday meal is all but a memory, but there in your fridge tucked under a tent of foil is the remains of your meticulously-prepared turkey. Once the meat's picked from the bone, the party ain't over. Your turkey has one swan song left to sing, and that means a few quarts of really good stock for you.
Every year, I do my Thanksgiving turkey a little different, and as long as I got this little patch of Interwebs here, I figure it'd be a crime for me to share my post-game report as far as what worked and what didn't for the greater good of all of us that work hard to put the biggest meal of the year on the table. For Thanksgiving Turkey this year, I went with a recipe I'd been tink
I've found some really neat ideas in the bevy of community cookbooks held up in cabinets, but lets be honest here; a lot of that mid to late-century fare is an uninspired mess of processed food. However the recipe I found for a "salmon party ball" in an employee cookbook from a now-defunct medical supply factory really had some potential. This is essentially one of those meat and cheese
I'll be the first to admit that more often than not, the only consistent thing about the way I make soup is that I'm darn inconsistent. Oh sure, I often start with a good stock, and I'm not ashamed to use a Crock Pot when it makes sense to do so, but for the most part, soups are an exercise in creativity. That being said, I think potato soup could very well be the exception to the rule.
The Holiday baking season is just around the corner (hell who are we kidding; it's here!), and as I needed to bring a dessert for an office potluck, I figured now was as good a time as any to try a new bar cookie recipe. The last time I opened up a pound of butter, I found a real doozy of a recipe inside. For my interpretation of this Caramel Chocolate Pecan bar recipe, copious amounts o
As much as I love a good community cookbook, there are very few recipes that survive in-tact once I get a look at 'em. This pumpkin bar recipe is one of my favorite "victims"; as the recipe ratios are solid enough to survive some pretty substantial swappage. It's nobody's fault really; times just change. In 1978, no one would think to bake a snack cake with olive oil, and I understand th
When I'm looking to eat a quick healthy meal and I'm cooking for one, I turn to oatmeal. And with Autumn upon us, adding roasted pumpkin to a bowl of rolled oats is very appropriate. This recipe for single-serving pumpkin oatmeal not only tastes good, but is good for you. With all those raisins and pecans nestled in creamy oats spiced with cinnamon and cloves, it's really beside the poin
I grew up believing the myth that a box of Jello and a can of ginger ale were necessary for a decent homemade cranberry sauce, when in all actuality, the key to a good cranberry sauce lies within the berry itself. Y'see, cranberries are packed with pectin, which given the right amount of heat and a proper ratio of sugar just happen to "sauce up" marvelously. You don't have to use red win
This data comes from pipes.yahoo.com but the Pipe does not exist or has been deleted.
Just as important in our household as the evening ritual of family taco night is pancake night (the "family" part should be implied at this point, right?). Even the dog looks forward to pancake night, and while plain pancakes are fine, in our house pancakes from a box are not. Nobody's being presumptuous here; we just happen to think that quality time with loved ones deserves proper panc
For the theme cake diy-types out there, the Interwebs is and absolute god-send; and in the age of Pinterest, you'd think it'd be super-friggin' easy to find a proper pattern to use to magically transform a couple of nine-inch rounds into a dolphin. Well, apparently that isn't the case; and the one blog post that kept popping up on everyone's pinboards didn't have a pattern. Well, one thi
My kids are suckers for peanut butter (it's likely genetic on their mom's side). Problem is in this day and age is that peanut butter is verboten in many a school lunch room. I've got some conspiracy theories about the whole deal, but the fact remains that my kids are gonna have to come home for a PB fix. My son begged and nagged me to make this recipe ever since he found the original re
Ok, when was the last time you had a brimming, hot bowl of split pea soup? Alright, now everyone that gets their split pea soup from a can please put your hand down. Wow, not many left huh? Well, that's a shame because homemade split pea soup is a real treat. It's not at all difficult to prepare; but cooking the right ingredients the right way swaps out "just ok" for descriptors like "he
Packaged food doesn't always mean processed food; and in this video recipe, we've got three great examples. Firstly, you can't go wrong with dry pasta; and if you wanted to go with the whole grain stuff (love it in salads) you'd probably be ok as anymore the stuff doesn't taste like the box it came in. Second, frozen vegetables are fantastic for so many things; adding a bit of color, fla
Beta recipes are my own experiments that I've only tried once. Usually palatable, they often could be better with a little tweaking - So please do, and let me know what works! I don't know about you, but if I'm having company over, I feel compelled to bake. And when your ninety-year-old Grandma comes to visit? Well, you wanna do it up right; and you can't get much more right than a
I get a little crazy when it comes to peach season. The plateaus of Palisade, Colorado are an easy daytime drive due west from here in Hays, USA; and as long as there are folks entrepreneurial enough to truck them back East down I-70, there will always be suckers like me who will buy them. Half of the fifty pounds(!) of peaches purchased this time around are of the "Angelus" variety
The best made plans for an easy weeknight dinner shouldn't need to always involve opening a few boxes or passing the contents of bags straight from the freezer to the toaster oven. Case in point: These hamburger steaks are always a winner at our house. A study in decidedly un-snobby simplicity; this take on burger-sans bun begins with responsibly-sourced lean ground steer seasoned with t
The pies and cheesecake alone are enough reason for me to roast my garden grown pumpkins, but equally as tasty are those pumpkin seeds! The seeds of those smaller, sweeter pie pumpkins are my personal preference, as they can be eaten shell and all without the need for a whole reel of dental floss after the fact. Properly roasting pumpkin seeds is really a two-step process, as the seasoni
I'm pretty sure that all Grandmas keep a magic wand in their cabinet that transforms anything that comes out of the oven into comfort food. My love for things like posole and a big ol' mess of greens was kindled thru my Grandmother, and the way I cook will probably always reflect her style of cooking. For this banana muffin recipe, I've built on the foundation of my grandmother
