We are constantly combing the web for good resources on decluttering, reorganizing, and improving kitchen storage. Many of us have little kitchens, and we’ve discovered a lot of ingenious and truly functional ideas for maximizing space. Many of these ideas have come straight from you, our readers! Here’s a look back at 20 good ideas on storage and organization from the past year.
There are a few topics that we feel deserve special mention and regular column space here at The Kitchn. Those currently include beer, wine, cocktails, and cheese — all fascinating subjects with rich histories and intelligence. Every week our lovely columnists in these areas bring you beer reviews, cocktail history, wine lore, and passionate writing about cheese. Here’s a look back at a few of our favorite posts in 2009 from our beer, wine, cheese, and cocktail columns.
Soup and salad, salad and soup. That combination sounds like a menu for happiness right now, after the rich indulgence of the holidays. Here’s a look back at some favorite soups and salad recipes from 2009, including raw kale slaw with peanuts and peppers, creamy soups with rutabaga and potatoes and leeks, and more than one crunchy, flavorful fennel slaw.
Oh sweets and treats — as healthy as we’d like to be, sweets still end up being the most popular recipes around here! (Last January and February, during our Light Eating theme, do you know what the most popular recipes were? Oreo cake, cake pops, and birthday cake.) Well, we do love our baked treats, and so here’s a look back at 30 favorites from 2009. My personal favorite is currently the recipe for brown butter rosemary walnut cookies, although the Chez Panisse gingersnaps are still dear to my heart, as is oatmeal cake with broiled topping. Toffee cakelets are up next! Read on to browse through these sweet recipes and more.
You guys ask the best questions! You ask us whether to buy a tilt-head or bowl-lift KitchenAid stand mixer. You ask why you should avoid high-fructose corn syrup. You ask for advice on making foolproof oatmeal, or quick breakfasts. You wonder how to keep food from sticking to a skillet while cooking, or how to to make fakeout food for April Fool’s, or how to cook beans. Here’s a look back at 30 popular reader questions from this past year.
From colorful open kitchens to tiny yet well-appointed city galleys, we have peeked into many kitchens this year! Here are thirty peeks into kitchens big and small.
We know that many of you have small kitchens, and space is at a premium. Any tool that comes into your kitchen has to earn its place. So as we poke and prod, and test and review kitchen tools throughout the year, we’re looking for the ones that will really be worth the money (and the cupboard space). Here are 20 tools we reviewed this past year, with all their pros and cons.
Vegan tamales, baked tofu, roasted vegetables on polenta, and the very best veggie burger ever. These were just a few of the vegetarian and vegan recipes we published in 2009. Here’s a full roundup of our favorites from this past year; bookmark this for some fresh and healthy January cooking!
Q: My best friend is expecting her first child (a girl!) and can’t celebrate with champagne on New Year’s Eve. I want to bring her something bubbly for the toast, but want it to be a little more special and exciting than simply a bottle of sparkling cider.
Do you have any suggestions for fun, bubbly virgin cocktails for the New Year?
Sent by Julie
Q: I’ve become frustrated with my analog dial candy thermometer and want to upgrade to a digital, but I’m finding it hard to find one I like! Does anyone have any recommendations for a digital candy thermometer?
I’ve seen a few things about people using their digital instant read thermometers (the kind with the probe on a lead) for candy too; does this work well?
Sent by Sara
Q: Do you have any advice on storing the blades for a fixed stem food processor? Because each stem has an attached disk, the clever new storage containers don’t work. The stems also don’t stack, and I keep being afraid they’ll hit me on the head as I try to get things out of the cabinets in my small kitchen.
Sent by Lydia
Q: Is there a natural alternative to paraffin wax for candy coating? I have made the most delicious pistachio cookies (Martha’s recipe) that are dipped in chocolate but melt the minute you touch them.
The normal wax is full of artificial ingredients and chemicals, no thanks! I would love some tips!
Sent by Linds
Q: I have just started a mini-catering service for a discerning client and need durable serveware that is both reusable and transportable en-masse. I have seen Pyrex portables for one or two casserole dishes, but I need something that will easily transport six or more.
Does this exist? Have you ever heard of such a thing?
Sent by Zom
“Christmas is the season for kindling the fire of hospitality in the hall, the genial flame of charity in the heart.” — Washington Irving
We don’t eat chocolate very often, but when we do, we go all out. Here, from candied bacon fudge to olive oil mousse, and from chocolate cookies that are nutty and dark to ones that are featherweight and chewy, are some of our favorite chocolate recipes from this past year. Chocolate with Nutella, chocolate with Guinness, chocolate with peanut butter — it’s all here.
“Dear Apartment Therapy, Thank you all so very much for supporting my classroom. It is very rewarding to know that people still value the art of cooking and teaching children to cook.” — Mrs. S. in Indiana
We’re rounding up some of our favorite posts and recipes from the past year, and where better to start than with pasta? Here’s a look back at some of the pasta recipes from this year, including a recent dish of extremely cheesy fusilli, and a collection of lighter (yet still rich) pasta sauces. It’s not just pasta here, though; there are dumplings, potstickers, and cold noodles too!
From powdered seasonings to sushi to candy corn to mayonnaise and pretzel bites: we enjoy encouraging you to cook foods you might not otherwise think to try at home.
Here’s a look back at some of these DIY-style posts and recipes, with instructions and recipes for chutney, coffeeshop-style lattes, Girl Scout cookies, corndogs, and more!
Meat, poultry, seafood — we had a lot of great quick and delicious recipes published this year. Turkey meatballs, weekend pot roast, rosemary pork chops and goat tacos — read on for these and more!
The beginning of a meal is often our favorite part. We have so many recipes and good ideas for starters, snacks, and little nibbles in our 2009 archives. There are bacon-wrapped potato bites and chicken nuggets, cheese-stuffed dates and peppers, a creative and beautiful Mediterranean platter, homemade beef jerky, cheese straws, tomato jam, gluten-free chickpea pancake, and much, much more.