There’s not a lot of actual meat on ham hocks, but boy oh boy, do they add flavor! Throw one of these strange knobby looking things in a pot of beans or some braising greens, and your whole dish will take on new savory dimensions!
Author: Emma Christensen
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Flavor Boosters: Ham Hocks
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Perfect Cups: How To Make Coffee Without a Coffee Maker
We have some house guests arriving next week who are big coffee drinkers and will surely want a cup in the morning. We usually just use a single-cup filter to make our daily cup, so we’ll have to switch gears to avoid brewing endless single cups while our guests are here! Here’s our favorite no-machine method – what’s yours?
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Worth Your While: What Makes You Trust A Recipe?
With all the cooking and entertaining we’ll be doing over the next few weeks, we’ve been regarding every new recipe with a critical eye. We don’t feel like taking a chance on a recipe that sounds delicious, but has a high risk potential — we just want the recipe to work the first time! How do you decide if a recipe is going to be worth it?
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Nutty and Gooey: Holiday Treats with Nuts and Caramel
Given the choice of a big platter of cookies and treats, our hand naturally gravitates toward the ones with nuts and caramel in evidence. We can’t help it! We love the combination of tender, slightly crunchy toasted nuts with gooey, sticky caramel. Which one of these tempting recipes do you think we should make this weekend?
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Baking Soda and Baking Powder: Why Use Both?
We’ve always wondered why some recipes called for both baking soda and baking powder. They’re both chemical leaveners that do pretty much the same thing in pretty much the same way. So is it just extra insurance? We finally found our answer in this month’s issue of Fine Cooking!
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Holiday Parties: How Do You Send Invites?
Once upon a time, we all sent paper invites through the mail when we wanted to invite friends and family to a party. Remember that?! These days, there are so many more options for getting the word out. We’re curious – how do you invite people to parties?
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Product Review: GelPro Kitchen Mat
We’ve been spending a lot of time in the kitchen lately getting ready for holiday entertaining and just enjoying the chance to putter around while the weather outside is frightful. The only downside? Sore back, aching shoulders, and tired feet! The company GelPro makes a series of floor mats that promises to relieve the fatigue from being on our feet all day, and over the last two months, we’ve put one of their new designer mats to the test.
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Definitely Try This! Tea-Infused Hot Chocolate
Want to add a little twist to your mug of cocoa tonight? Since it started getting chilly outside, we’ve been experimenting with steeping various teas in our hot chocolate and getting surprisingly delicious results. Peppermint and sweet vanilla teas are only the beginning!
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Garlic Powder: Yay or Nay?
We’ve recently started rethinking our stance on garlic powder. It’s always seemed to us like a poor substitute for the real thing, and something we can throw in when we don’t feel like going through the trouble of peeling and mincing. But a few situations have come up recently that have made us wonder if we’ve been a little too quick to judge.
What’s your opinion?
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Recipe: Rum-Raisin-Almond Brioche
Imagine greeting your overnight guests with one of these in the morning! This is one of the many recipes we fell in love with from Baking Artisan Breads & Pastries by Ciril Hitz. They’re a bit labor-intensive to make, but trust us, the pay-off is well worth it!
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Kitchen Keeping: How to Clean the Pot After Boiling Sugar
Chewy caramels and caramel sauce, we love. Cleaning the sticky pot shellacked with sugar residue after making those caramels, we love not so much. Here’s a trick that will save you some time and save your poor arms a lot of scrubbing!
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For the Ambitious Baker: Baking Artisan Pastries & Breads Book Review 2009
What’s better than a fresh pastry still warm from the oven on a cold winter morning? Maybe only one you’ve made yourself! If learning how to make homemade pastries was on your to-do list this winter, you’re definitely going to want to check this book out, put it on your wish list, and then keep it close to your kitchen. Or maybe you have an ambitious baker on your gift list? This would be the book for them!
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Holiday Gift Guide: Homemade Edible Presents for Mailing
Gifts of the edible sort are some of our favorites to give or receive! A little packet of cookies or a jar of cocoa mix can is the perfect way of saying “from my kitchen to yours.” Here are our top choices for treats that can be made ahead, wrapped up, and survive a trip through the mail:
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Warm and Toasty: Best Beers for Holiday Parties Beer Sessions
It might sound strange, but winter is one of our favorite times for beer. Now is when we appreciate those high-octane dark beers with their heavy roasted malts, ultra-rich flavors, and creamy sticky mouthfeel. Here are a few beers we’ll be enjoying at our holiday gatherings this year:
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Oodles of Noodles: 4 Things To Do With Leftover Pasta
We’re constantly miscalculating our sauce-to-noodle ratio and ending up with odd cups of sauce-less pasta left in the fridge. It’s never really enough to justify another whole batch of sauce, but it seems silly and wasteful to throw it away. Here are a few things we do with extra noodles – what about you?
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Gingersnaps: Do You Like Them Soft or Snappy?
This chilly time of year, we always have a batch of gingersnaps in our cookie jar, or at the very least, ready to bake in our freezer! They’re the absolute best for munching alongside an afternoon cup of coffee, and not so sugary that we feel like we’re ruining our dinner. Which kind do you like best: soft, chewy, or snappy?
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Inexpensive Party Accessories: SaveOnCrafts Online Store
Simple decorations and basic table settings are perfectly fine for dinner parties and little gatherings. But when we’re throwing a big party, we love to go the whole nine yards and give the night a special glamour! The online store SaveOnCrafts has become our first stop when looking for affordable party supplies. -
Fancy Flavors: How to Infuse Olive Oils
Herb-infused olive oil is fantastic for making a special salad dressing, drizzling over a dish of pasta, or simply as an appetizer with chunks of great artisan bread. Making it yourself is super easy – and can make a great DIY gift to share with your friends!
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Giving Food Gifts? Include Instructions!
Are you giving any food gifts this year? You might want to think about including a card with instructions or ideas about how to use your fabulous gift. You may use your signature spice rub or vanilla-infused liquor every week, but other people might not catch on so quickly!
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Recipe: Cinnamon-Raisin Whole Wheat Bagels
A warm chewy bagel smeared with cream cheese is one of our absolute favorite treats in the whole wide world. This recipe from Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoë François shows us how to make an easy and healthy version right at home!