Category Archives: Cooking

Here you’ll find everything about cooking that isn’t actually a recipe. Tips, techniques, gripes, whatever.

Baguette tricks and techniques from King Arthur Baking Education

We traveled to Norwich, VT a few weeks ago for the half-day “Beauty and the Baguette” class at the stste-of-the-art King Arthur Baking Education Center. We’ve taken a more intensive baguette class there in the past and mainly wanted to experience … Continue reading

Posted in Cooking, Eating | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Fourth of July barbecue 2021

We celebrated our Fourth of July early this year to accommodate some out of town visitors. The highlight was sweet local corn grilled with a technique we’ll use from now on. The ears in their husks had the ends lopped … Continue reading

Posted in Cooking, Eating | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

Boozy Baking with Great Exbaketations

Last night we attended a Yelp event, Boozy Baking with Great Exbaketations. Cheyenne, the master baker, led us through the creation of a rich chocolate cake and then hit it hard with a simple syrup infused with booze of your … Continue reading

Posted in Cooking, Drinking, Events | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

We’re eating chemicals. Anybody got a problem with that?

We’ve recently discovered Sugar Free/Fat Free Jello 5-Minute Pudding. A box is 93 cents at our local Wal-Mart (there’s also a house brand, with identical ingredients, for 50 cents) and makes four half-cup servings. You mix it with milk: skim … Continue reading

Posted in Cooking, Eating | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Best mayonnaise taste test: Hellman’s vs Duke’s vs Kewpie

Who doesn’t love mayonnaise? A happy marriage of oil and eggs with a kiss of acid, mayo moistens our sandwiches with a lubricious layer that tames the crustiest bread. It serves as a playground monitor when mixed into slaws and … Continue reading

Posted in Cooking, Eating | Tagged , , | 41 Comments

To cook a rabbit

Our freezer died the other day and, due to pandemic shortages, we had to buy a smaller one and defrost a number of items for immediate consumption. The package pictured above was one of those items. It was purchased from … Continue reading

Posted in Cooking, Food for Thought | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Making Croissants with King Arthur

Last weekend was packed with March Madness and SXSW, but when an email arrived announcing a last-minute opening in the Lofty Layers class at King Arthur Baking School everything else got pushed aside. The class had an unusual format: watch … Continue reading

Posted in Baking and Baked Goods, Cooking, Events | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Best and worst online cooking and drinking classes

Like you, I have spent a lot of time in this past year eating and drinking with strangers through online classes and tastings. Maybe the best so far was Kenji’s Japanese soufflé pancake class which I attended with my daughter … Continue reading

Posted in Cooking, Eating | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Food for Thought: The Casual Sourdough Baker

The King Arthur Flour website is always a good resource for recipes and baking tips, but PJ Hamel’s blog The Casual Sourdough Baker is especially welcome in these times. As she puts it, “I’ve always been a rather casual baker. … Continue reading

Posted in Baking and Baked Goods, Cooking | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

How to find hot spots in your oven

I fell into a deep slumber during The Weekend’s LV Super Bowl halftime show and badly overcooked my Oven-Roasted Buffalo Wings. The wings on the bottom rack were salvageable but those on the top shelf were literally toast. This motivated … Continue reading

Posted in Cooking | Tagged , | 3 Comments