how to: basic pie crust
I've been in charge of making the Thanksgiving pies for the past 3 years. I usually make either 4 or 5 pies depending on the amount of people who are…
how to: candied walnuts
I usually have a bag of walnuts hiding out in the back of my pantry partially used from some long forgotten recipe. I recently came across a bag of…
how to: caramelizing onions
Almost nothing bugs me more than when recipes say that caramelizing onions takes 10 minutes. You can burn onions in that time frame, but proper…
how to: freeze peaches
Shortly after we moved to New Jersey we were out for a drive and passed a farm that had pick your own peaches. We decided to stop and ended up with…
how to: homemade butter
When I was in elementary school we learned how to make butter. It involved shaking a baby food jar full of heavy cream until it turned butter. I…
how to: homemade pasta
I love pasta. It used to mean opening up a box, but after eating fresh pasta at some of New Jersey's excellent Italian restaurants, I decided that I…
how to: make chicken stock
On Monday I posted about roasting chicken. After I make a chicken, I usually make stock. It is super easy to do, and I find that it is so much better…
how to: pesto
After the birds stopped using my window boxes as their own personal feeding/nesting boxes, my plants have been doing extremely well. My basil has…
how to: refried beans
I used to stay away from recipes involving beans because they usually require you to soak them overnight. I would always forget and then I would be…
how to: roast sugar pumpkins
Now that the season of roasting everything is upon us, I decided now would be a good time to show how to roast sugar pumpkins. I came across some…
how to: roasted chicken
When I first started cooking I was completely intimated of roasting a chicken. It seemed so out of my league that I never even attempted it. It…
how to: scrambled eggs
Poor, poor scrambled eggs. They are usually the saddest part of a breakfast buffet - all overcooked and dried out, or they are an afterthought while…
how to: simple pan gravy
Has anyone else had a huge craving for Thanksgiving food? I blame all of the articles and blog posts on delicious Thanksgiving food. A couple of…
how to: weekly menu planning
I started menu planning because I was tired of running to the grocery store every time I wanted to make dinner. A trip to get one item…
pizza dough
There are many things that I miss about New Jersey, but at the top of the list is the ability to get delicious pizza no matter where you go. You can…