I’ve always loved cookbooks. If you’ve visited my house, you know I have a floor to ceiling bookshelf that is FULL of cookbooks – and I still have some in boxes that won’t fit on the shelf. I need to pare these down, and will do that at a yard sale this spring – I’ll only hang on to my very favorites. I know Barry is very relieved – he probably feels like the cookbooks are about to take over. Today I’ll share with you my top 5 favorite cookbooks. [Read more…]
These are a Few of My Favorite……Kitchen Tools
If you haven’t caught on yet, I really like being in my kitchen. I spend a great majority of my time in there – experimenting, baking, burning, spilling, etc. I have several kitchen tools that I really love….and I have a really long list of kitchen tools that I would like to love – as I have extra money here and there, I buy something and remove it from the list. And yet, my list doesn’t seem to get any shorter. Hmmmm. Last year I gave you my five of my favorite kitchen tools – so this year I’m going to do it again. [Read more…]
8 Ways to Use Up Leftover Produce
 Do you ever have leftover fruits and veggies that you just don’t know what to do with? When I first got married, I was TERRIBLE about letting leftover produce go bad. Ahem, let me be transparent. I can be bad about letting leftover produce—or even excess produce from our lovely summer garden go bad. And I always feel so guilty. Sure, there may have not been enough leftover green beans or carrots for a side dish for an entire meal, but there must have been something I could have done with that food I let go to waste. Right?
And I’ve discovered there is! Whether it be a spoonful of leftover peas or 5 lbs. or extra carrots from your garden (I wish we had that problem!), there are lots of ways to use up all those veggies without letting them get all moldy in the bottom of the produce drawer of your refrigerator! [Read more…] |
Kitchen Tip: Using Butter to its Fullest
 Save those butter papers! When I’m done with a stick of butter, I fold the paper over and place it back in the fridge. I keep them all in the door compartment. When I need to butter a pan, I grab a butter paper and use it to do the job. There is still enough left on the paper to sufficiently grease an 8 inch pan. If you need more, then just grab another sheet. The way I go through butter around here, I have these on hand all the time. 😀 Another benefit is that your hands stay clean since the butter is on the other side of the paper.I’ve noticed that if I let a stick of butter soften on the counter in the paper, then I have extra butter residue left. Don’t throw that gold away ladies. 🙂 Use up every last drop of butter possible! |
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Open the Honey Jar Without Needing He-Man
 Have you ever went to get your honey out of the jar and the lid was plastered to it?You grunt and you grit your teeth. That puppy isn’t budging. You might run it under some hot water to loosen it up…..and that works sometimes. What happened? Is there a conspiracy against you getting honey today?The last time you were in your jar, this likely happened – some honey was remaining on the lip of the jar, and you just put the lid back on. Oops? I used to do this all the time. I thought “Ah, I’ll get it open somehow.” But having a fit in the kitchen over a jar of honey isn’t really worth the fit. 😀 |
 I’ve solved the problem by wiping down my jar every time I use my honey…..even if I think that nothing was dribbled. Sometimes it can get sticky and you won’t even know it. I use a clean dishrag and wipe down the lip of the jar and any surface that will come in contact with the lid. Now I can easily open my honey jar any time I need to get in it……which is quite often around here. |
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Butter Bell
| When we switched to full fat dairy and got rid of all the margarine in the house (gross) I started to wonder how on earth I was going to spread butter all over my toast? I mean really. Cold butter just rips bread to pieces…..and I am not even going to think I would remember soon enough before I wanted toast to get it out of the fridge to soften. I came across a recipe at Tammy’s Recipe for how to make spreadable butter using oil, and I thought about trying that. But then I changed my mind after I found………. [Read more…] |
Reuse Those Rubber Bands to Identify Cups!
You know those rubber bands that come around broccoli or asparagus at the grocery store? They are a lot wider than normal rubber bands – wide enough to write on. If you have children, keep those rubber bands and use them to identify cups! Use a sharpie marker and write the names of your children on them. They fit very tightly around a sippy cup or a tall regular cup.
This allows your child to keep the same cup all day long. They won’t wonder if it is their cup or if it’s Sister’s cup. It will really cut down on the amount of dishes you have to wash.
It’s also a plus if you’re going to a group gathering with lots of children. Sometimes several children might all have the same type of cup. Using the rubber band will help your child to identify their cup – because who really wants to spread more germs around?
Crock Pot Cleaning
| We have a very special guest post today from Crock Pot Recipe Exchange! Ginger is here today to let us know how to easily clean our crock pots without causing any damage to them…..because that would cause anyone major trauma. |
The ease of using the crock pot to cook your meals in is undebatable. Sometimes the cleaning of the crock pot is not so simply answered.The first thing you want to insure you do to make cleaning your crockery easier is to empty any remaining food out as soon as possible. The sooner you get the food out the sooner you can fill the crockery up with dish soap and water. The only thing I warn against is to make sure your crockery has cooled completely. Drastic changes in temperature of the water to the crockery can cause it to break, and no one wants that to happen. |
| If you do find that you have stuck on food inside your crockery don’t use anything abrasive including cleaners and scouring pads. If you use these abrasive methods for cleaning your crockery it’s going to scratch it. Which in return is going to A) allow bacteria to grow and B) make weak points which will cause the crockery to crack and eventually break.What you can do if you find some stubborn stuck on food inside our crockery is fill it ⅔’s full of water and ¾’s of a cup of distilled white vinegar. Just make sure you cover the stubborn stuck on food completely. Then put the lid on and turn it to high. Let the water and vinegar “cook off” the stuck on foods for at least a couple of hours. If the food was REALLY stuck on you may have to wipe out what has been released and do this a couple of times. |
 You also don’t want to forget to wipe out the inside of your base each time you use your crock pot. Keeping it clean will insure continued even cooking. Utilizing these simple cleaning methods each time you use your crock pot will guarantee ease of use from beginning to end and will give you and your crock pot many years of happy cooking. |
 About GingerGinger started the Crock Pot Recipe Exchange blog for her close group of friends and family to be able to share their favorite crock pot recipes. She never imagined that there were some many people that would share in this same love of crock pot cooking. You can now find hundreds of crock pot recipes that have been shared by many crock pot lovers. |
Protect Yourself from a Hot Grease Burn
Did you know there was a country song called “Loving You is Like Frying Bacon Naked?” Well, if you didn’t know it before you know it now. I’m so glad to give you that type of important information.I hate frying food when it splatters everywhere. Not only does it burn like the dickens, it also gets all over every surface in the kitchen. Clean up is a pain. So, I purchased this little lovely dohickey from The Dollar Tree. It works fantastic for keeping splatters to a minimum. Any time I’m frying, I use it. You really need one. Trust me. Guess how much they cost? [Read more…] |
Preserving Herbs
 My Farmer’s Market is full of fresh herbs each week…..and that’s where I have to buy them. Herbs and natural remedies can be beneficial for your overall health. I had high hopes this year of growing my own. I picked out some really pretty plants at the Market and brought them home – thyme, rosemary, cilantro, and parsley. I was so tickled……and naïve. I know I can’t grow plants. What was I thinking? They died a slow, painful, dry death. Poor babies. My House = the place where plants come to die. So, I have been buying organic herbs here and there at the Market (see photo). I want to have some during the winter, so I decided to start freezing some. Here is the method that I use. I’ll also touch on a couple other options for you. This particular batch consisted of basil and cilantro. [Read more…] |