It’s one of those tips that it seems everyone knows, until you hear from that one person who doesn’t. And to them it’s mind-blowing, earth-shattering… okay, maybe not. But it’s super-neat and cool! Or, maybe just really handy.

So with that in mind, I share the flavor-enhancer-in-an-ice-cube-tray trick. When you have bits of liquid or semi-liquid things left over (or if you just want to perfectly portion a huge batch of something), pour into an ice cube tray and freeze. Each cube usually yields 1 to 2 tablespoons of whatever. You could do this with stocks for those recipes that call for 1 tablespoon here or there, leftover wine, citrus juices, or, as I’ve done here, my pesto. These are perfect for a serving of pasta or tossing into a baked egg. (more…)

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Prep for Later Use, Quick tip by Courtney

Let’s just preface this post by saying I’ve always hated pickles. Not just disliked, but hated in that “oh my god I’m so grossed out by this thing” way that you can hate a food. In high school someone taunted me by waving a pickle in my direction (of the food variety, let’s not let our minds end up in that track!). I immediately, without hesitation, slugged her as hard as I could. Hmmm, anger issues much?

Anyhow, fast forward to the present-day, calm-cool-semi-collected Courtney, who last year in her CSA received a pound of pickling cucumbers. Not one to throw away good food, I decided I would attempt to pickle the things, and at the least I could push them off on my husband and friends. I dug in, searching my favorite sites for pickle recipes, hoping to come across something that didn’t include dill. After all, if I’m going to spend the time in the kitchen, I would like to at least try the thing I make. Not being a fan of dill or pickles, I can’t imagine bringing such a thing near my tongue.

Then I stumbled upon it – the Sriracha pickle! Sriracha = something I love. Pickle = something I hate. (more…)

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Condiments, Dairy free, Gluten free, Prep for Later Use, Vegetarian by Courtney

As soon as I saw this recipe on Food In Jars, I knew I had to make it. I had quite a few roma tomatoes, and while I initially had set them aside to make massive amounts of pizza and pasta sauce, I was really, really dreading peeling that many tomatoes.

Enter the Tomato Jam recipe. Tomatoes, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and red pepper. Those ingredients alone sounded too good to be true. But the kicker was definitely this line, which was like poetry to my ears: “It needs the skin and seeds, to keep things interesting. Don’t take them out.” (more…)

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Appetizers, Condiments, In the Garden, Prep for Later Use, Vegetarian by Courtney