Posts under ‘Could be helpful’

~This is the twenty-sixth (and last!) post in a series running through the month of June 2009 in which I attempt to post once a day for the month.~

Ever wondered what powdered sugar is? Apparently I have, which is why I knew when I ran out of it on Saturday that it was made of sugar and corn starch. I also knew that flour can be substituted for corn starch if you just double the amount, because the last time I needed corn starch, I found that the cupboard fairy (otherwise known as me) had “organized” our corn starch into the garbage.  So I had to look up a substitute for that.*

~This is the nineteenth post in a series running through the month of June 2009 in which I attempt to post once a day for the month.~

~This is the sixth post in a series running through the month of June 2009 in which I attempt to post once a day for the month.~

The title of the post is an affectionate poke at the seminal worm wrangling book by Mary Applehof, Worms Eat My Garbage. While I am being goofy, it is true that I am an avid worm composter, and one of the things you put into your worm bin is paper “bedding,” which can be made out of a number of different materials, including wet paper. If ever you were worried about your credit card statements being stolen from the recycling and used for ill, consider setting up one of these babies – nothing like having to dig through worm poop to make potential identity thieves think twice!

~This is the second post in a series running through the month of June 2009 in which I attempt to post once a day for the month.~

Hoo boy – are we having fun yet? Day three of “post-a-day” month and I’m still alive!

Our neighbor moved recently, making us the grateful recipients of a number of food odds and ends that he didn’t want to pack them up and take with him.  One of these things was a miraculous loaf of something called “egg bread,” which the husband has fallen in love with.  The loaf was a little like bread made from brioche dough, making dangerously delicious grilled sandwiches.  Eggy, but also buttery, the bread verged on making our grilled cheese into a pastry sandwich, right on that lovely edge of overkill which is exquisitely tasty.

***************UPDATE******************

Cook’s made this video into a “members only” thing, so here’s the skinny on how to test your oven temperature:

Put your oven rack in the middle of the oven. Heat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit for at least a half hour. Put a half cup of 70 degree tap water in your 2 cup Pyrex measuring cup. Place the measuring cup in the oven and close the door. After 15 minutes, take the measuring cup out of the oven and take the water’s temperature with your thermometer. Swirl the water around to make sure the temperature is even. The thermometer should read 150 degrees Fahrenheit.

Hey!  The husband is a genius.  Check out what he made for me!

The extreme coolness of this invention is not evident at first sight.  In order to truly appreciate what this sweet little marvel can do, you have to have spent some time dealing with this

What could be better than a post that both links to a fine blogger and also writes itself because it’s just a point to a fine blogger? Good bar of chocolate maybe. Marrying your best friend. Sunday dinner and a new recipe. Ok, a few things, but it’s still pretty damn cool and anyway, I digress. This post is about something else…

A fine chap named Chuck Westbrook has suggested an idea for increasing readership of under-read blogs that’s so genius, it kind of looks like a pyramid scheme…

Before you run in fear, check it and join in the fun.  Every two weeks, a new blog.  Broaden your horizons.  Do a good blog deed.

Cheers.

A few days ago, I made one of my kitchen arch-nemeses, gnocchi, with much success and froze a batch.  Making good on my promise to report back on the should-be-simple-and-cheat-yet-surprisingly-difficult-and-infuriating lumps of potato and flour, I’m happy to say we ate the frozen gnocchi last night and the “cooking first then freezing” technique worked extremely well!  If you use this technique for storing gnocchi, be sure to drain them well (which can be tricky since they want to all stick together once they dry out) and spread them on a cookie sheet without letting them touch each other and freeze completely before transferring into a freezer bag or other container.  When you’re ready to eat them, just heat some oil in a non-stick frying pan, and fry ‘em up.  They’ll cook pretty quickly, so have your saucy-sauce ready to go.  It’s like having your own frozen food, only better!