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Wine Wednesday|Bogle Old Vine Zinfandel

Sep 7th, 2011
by Kathlyn.
2 comments

Man the weeks go fast!

Time for another shot at wine tasting.  This one is another Zin – I liked the first one enough to give another recommendation from a coworker a shot.

We liked this one a bit less, although I think I liked it more than my husband did.  He said that it felt “thick” and “spikey in the back of the throat.”  I think the “thick” he was experiencing was a concentration of flavors (at least, this is what I think based on the info I found poking around on my Internets), which he might not care for, being more used to Cabernets.  The “spikey” feeling could mean the wine was harsh, a quality that is (supposedly) not desirable.

This is a preview of Wine Wednesday|Bogle Old Vine Zinfandel. Read the full post (250 words, 1 image, estimated 1:00 mins reading time)

Posted in: Wine Wednesday.

Friday Tip|Fast Meals (part 1)

Sep 5th, 2011
by Kathlyn.
No comments yet

It’s way past Friday, but we’re writing a tip anyway.  Why not?

This tip was suggested by my husband.  Well, that’s not entirely true.  He suggested that I post something about how we roast chicken on the grill.  The idea of making a “fast meals” series was mine.

I figured that it’s September, summer is winding down, the “work” part of life is picking back up (or at least, that’s how it seems to be in my life) and it’s nice to have a few easy and fast dinner plans on deck for times when it seems like there isn’t enough time.*  Since today is the the last summer hurrah of Labor Day, this idea seemed perfect.

This is a preview of Friday Tip|Fast Meals (part 1). Read the full post (788 words, 1 image, estimated 3:09 mins reading time)

Posted in: Friday Tip.

Wine Wednesday|The First – Stonehedge Zinfandel

Aug 31st, 2011
by Kathlyn.
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Not the world's best photo - we'll do better next time!

Let’s be honest – I wanted to call this “Wino Wednesday,” but that just seemed unprofessional.

While I drink my fair share of the stuff, I’m not particularly well-schooled when it comes to knowing about different brands and varietals of wine.  I know the standard bits and pieces – Chardonnay is drier (which means “less sweet”) than Riesling, white wines are lighter and generally paired with fish, poultry and pasta (depending on the sauce) and reds are generally heartier and paired with red meats as well as delicious treats like chocolate.  Oh and I know that varietals are about the kind of grape used or the region the grapes are grown in, as well as knowing that varietals are generally a blend (with the majority of the blend being wine from one type of grape).

This is a preview of Wine Wednesday|The First – Stonehedge Zinfandel. Read the full post (770 words, 1 image, estimated 3:05 mins reading time)

Posted in: Wine Wednesday.

Friday Tip|When Is It Done?

Aug 26th, 2011
by Kathlyn.
1 comment

Did you miss me last week?  I love my new job, but it is whooping my backside!

Enough with my excuses for laming out on you.  Today let’s deal with the question that plagues all chefs (or at least everyone in this household), “when is it done?”

This applies to all things that you can cook or bake, from chicken to cake, but for this post I’m just going to deal with steak, for two reasons: 1. it’s a pretty straightforward example of how to figure out when something is done (without butchering it a second time) and 2. it’s a real shame to overcook a steak.

This is a preview of Friday Tip|When Is It Done?. Read the full post (1080 words, 2 images, estimated 4:19 mins reading time)

Posted in: Cool things, Could be helpful, Friday Tip.

Friday Tip|Easy Poached Eggs

Aug 12th, 2011
by Kathlyn.
No comments yet

Friday!

I am a solutions-through-gadgets kinda gal.  When I have a problem, like my poached eggs not coming out the way I want (I know, not the world’s biggest problem, but work with me), I can easily fall prey to gadgets that claim to be the solution to the problem.  Hence my ownership for years of these things:

I’m not sure what these are called, but I do know is that I never got them to work.  I also never got the “add vinegar to the water” method of egg poaching to work.  Or the “swirling the water before dropping the egg in method.”

This is a preview of Friday Tip|Easy Poached Eggs. Read the full post (348 words, 6 images, estimated 1:24 mins reading time)

Posted in: Could be helpful, Friday Tip.

Friday Tip|Coffee Grinder Spices

Aug 5th, 2011
by Kathlyn.
3 comments

Hola!  It’s almost the end of Friday, but a tip you shall have!!

I just started a new job (yay!), which will likely lead to more food postings (I’m now in the grocery business and work with quite a few folks who love to cook and eat, so I’m anticipating a lot of idea sharing), but has also led to me being more or less exhausted.  I’m expecting this to sort itself out in the next few weeks, but for now, posting may be thin and sporadic.

This is a preview of Friday Tip|Coffee Grinder Spices. Read the full post (685 words, 1 image, estimated 2:44 mins reading time)

Posted in: Cheap food, Could be helpful, Friday Tip.

Friday Tip & Daring Bakers Twofer!|Cheap Food Molds and Fresh Fraisiers

Jul 30th, 2011
by Kathlyn.
1 comment

So am I late or what?  No Friday tip last week and three days behind with my Daring Bakers post.  What’s going on? (No need to point out that it’s now Saturday, thanks)

I’m in Alabama, where the weather is hot and life moves a little slower.  Plus I’m at an economics conference, so I’ve been kind of busy.  Apparently too busy to do a Friday tip or post my Daring Bakers on time.

Oh!  Before I forget…the bot words:

This is a preview of Friday Tip & Daring Bakers Twofer!|Cheap Food Molds and Fresh Fraisiers. Read the full post (2180 words, 7 images, estimated 8:43 mins reading time)

Posted in: Cake, Daring Bakers, Friday Tip, Recipies.

Friday Tip|For The Nerds!*

Jul 15th, 2011
by Kathlyn.
No comments yet

This week’s tip is not so much a tip, as a recommendation.  We don’t have many gadgets in the kitchen, and I really don’t use the computer to organize anything like recipes, etc. (although the computer does get used a lot to google things like “how many grams in one cup of whole wheat flour”).  That said, I do like this little app.  It’s a…an add-on, I guess you’d say, to the fantastic book Ratio by Michael Rulhman.

This is a preview of Friday Tip|For The Nerds!*. Read the full post (263 words, 1 image, estimated 1:03 mins reading time)

Posted in: Cool things, Could be helpful, Friday Tip.

Daring Cooks July 2011|Pasta!

Jul 14th, 2011
by Kathlyn.
3 comments

Let’s get down to it!

Steph from Stephfood was our Daring Cooks’ July hostess.  Steph challenged us to make homemade noodles without the help of a motorized pasta machine.  She provided us with recipes for Spätzle and Fresh Egg Pasta as well as a few delicious sauces to pair our noodles with!

So…we’ve made a lot of pasta.  In the fall, it’s an almost once-a-week kind of thing around here.  We love it.  This past winter and spring, we created a sweet potato ravioli to die for.  It’s super yummy.

This is a preview of Daring Cooks July 2011|Pasta!. Read the full post (2817 words, 22 images, estimated 11:16 mins reading time)

Posted in: Daring Cooks.

Friday Tip|Rescuing Mayo

Jul 8th, 2011
by Kathlyn.
1 comment

Happy Friday!

As promised, we’re moving from philosophical to hands-on practical around here.  Today’s tip is a fantastically easy way to save a broken mayonnaise.

Don’t know what that is?  Well then, skip to the bottom of the post and let’s get you making some mayonnaise!

If you do have experience in making mayo at home (or aioli, which is marvelous and the main reason I make mayonnaise instead of buying it), you have likely found that many recipes “break.”  I don’t know why exactly breaking happens, but it’s maddening and until last night, I’d never been able to save a mayo that had done this.

This is a preview of Friday Tip|Rescuing Mayo. Read the full post (743 words, estimated 2:58 mins reading time)

Posted in: Cheap food, Could be helpful, Friday Tip, Recipies.

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