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10 Spices & Seasonings To Always Have on Hand
We all have those spices and seasonings we reach for on a regular basis. What spices and seasonings are essential for a new home cook? Kosher Salt – Kosher Salt is iodine free and tastes much better than regular table salt. It has a larger and more coarse crystal size than most other salts. Kosher Salt is great for seasoning meat and is the most common salt used for cooking in recipes. (Not great for use on the table). Sea Salt – Sea Salt has less iodine in it than traditional table salt. It is great for both cooking and seasoning at the table. I recommend getting the sea salt grinder container. Black Pepper…
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The Pioneer Woman Cooks the New Frontier
“This new frontier in my kitchen is about having the freedom to have fun and to spread my cooking wings…but it’s also about appreciating that some things never need to change…” Ree Drummond. The Pioneer Woman Cooks The New Frontier is a great cookbook. It has a wide variety of recipes that use many different cooking vessels from a skillet to an instant pot or a dutch oven. Some of the recipes are a little healthier and some are indulgent. It gives you the best of both worlds. This cookbook has quickly become a staple cookbook in my kitchen and I enjoy making the recipes.
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5 Recipe Tips for Better Meals
Worried about trying a new recipe? Wondering if it will turn out okay? Follow these five tips to make a great meal tonight! 1. Read Recipe Three Times It Is so important to read your recipe multiple times. I have been guilty of skipping this step a few times. Unfortunately, when I have done this, I have realized halfway through a recipe that I needed to do something prior to making the full dish and now won’t be able to finish making my meal. It is very frustrating when this happens – but reading the recipe three times helps you process all the steps to make sure you know what will have to…
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Sugar, Butter, Flour The Waitress Pie Book
“I learned that you don’t bake a pie with your hands, you bake it with your heart. It requires the essential ingredients: a dash of hope, a cup of courage, a little spice, and some good friends to share it with in the end,” Jenna Hunterson. A few years ago for my birthday we went to see Waitress the musical on Broadway. At the time Katharine McPhee was in the lead role. It was an amazing show! I was so excited to see they were selling a cookbook and immediately bought it. Since I grew up baking and it is my first love – these recipes speak right to my heart. The recipes…
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20 Kitchen Must Haves
We all have those items in our kitchen that we use daily and could not live without. What about new cooks, what would I recommend for them to have in their kitchen? I have created a list of my top twenty must haves for a kitchen and an additional ten that are great to have but not necessary for every day. 20 Must Haves 1. Mixer (hand mixer or stand mixer) I love a stand mixer. My favorite is the KitchenAid. I have had one for many years and it is versatile. There are so many great attachments you can purchase to go with it making it a true power house in the…
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Bobby Flay Fit
“I still eat everything I want to; I’m just careful about how much I eat and when I eat,” Bobby Flay. When first reading through this cookbook I marked so many recipes that I want to try – making it almost impossible to narrow it down to two to try for my review. The recipes I tried are tasty and healthy. The ingredients are easy to find and the directions are pretty clear. It is great to have a cookbook that offers healthy meals that are truly delicious as we have all tried some healthy recipes that are terrible. I liked that the nutritional information is listed as well.
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Mise en Place
Have you ever watched a cooking show and heard the chef mention “mise en place”? I’m sure the first time you heard it you thought what in the world is that – I know I did. In french the phrase means “putting in place” or “everything in its place.” In cooking the best way to describe this is to prep everything before starting to cook. For example, the photo above shows my prep work to make Italian Meat Loaf from the Cooking Light Complete cookbook. (One of my favorite cookbooks –click here for the review)! I took the list of all the ingredients and measured everything out. This included dicing onions, and soaking and chopping…
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The Pioneer Woman Cooks Dinnertime
“Dinnertime also happens to be the one time of day that home cooks struggle with the most!…But when it comes to churning out dinner several nights a week, I’ve learned through the years that I just can’t fake it till I make it, or things start to get boring and lifeless really fast,” Ree Drummond. If you were to ask me today which cookbook I use the most – hands down it would be The Pioneer Woman Cooks Dinnertime. I love all the recipes in the book and especially the freezer food section. It is really helpful to have meals on hand that are quick to cook and really tasty when you don’t…
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Inspiralized
“Inspiralized is what your meal and you become – a healthy and inspired version of the original,” Ali Maffucci. The recipes are really easy to understand and straight forward. Any home chef would be able to follow along. I have used both the KitchenAid stand mixer spiralizing attachment and a regular spiralizer for these recipes – both work well. You can also make these recipes using store bought spiralized veggies in the fresh or frozen section to save a little time.
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Mastering The Art of French Cooking
“You’ve got all the directions and if you can read, you can cook” Julia Child. One of the most talked about and featured cookbooks is Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child with Louisette Berthole & Simone Beck. Julia is well known for her cooking show, “The French Chef.” I was very excited to try new recipes from this set of cookbooks. The recipes are very detailed and must be read multiple times before cooking and before shopping. I would recommend following the French tradition of “mise en place,” which is prepping all of your ingredients before you start so you don’t run into a place in the recipes where you…
