During an oppressive heat wave, my cooking ranges from iced tea pops to cold pasta salads. But the fine folks at ThinkGeek and the Cedar Rapids Gazette are not me, and they combined heat and deliciousness in the pursuit of culinary science. They decided to find out whether you really can bake cookies by leaving them on the dashboard of a car. Verdict: Yes. And they are delicious. [More]
cooking
Cut Carbs With These Food Substitutions
By 1.26.12
If you’re trying to lose weight by cutting down on carbohydrates, you don’t necessarily need to alter your diet drastically. By swapping out carb-rich ingredients in favor of low or no-carb stuff with similar shapes, tastes and textures, you can stick to your plan without much sacrifice. [More]
Streamline Your Grocery Shopping Routine
By 1.3.12
While one way to be more efficient when grocery shopping is to pick up what you need every day, it’s tough to find the time or patience to do that. Another way to simplify your routine is to go the opposite direction, minimizing trips to the store with careful planning. [More]
Banish The Annoyance Of Cupcake Wrappers
By 1.2.12
Cupcake wrappers are a necessary evil at best. When you tear them off, they cling to bits of your treat, forcing you to either debase yourself by nibbling the crumbs off the insides or be wasteful and throw them away. But clever cooks do away with the tyranny of the cupcake wrapper by replacing them with something edible. [More]
Cooking Ingredients To Substitute When You're Missing Stuff
By 12.27.11
If you’re cooking and missing an ingredient, you don’t necessarily need to run off to the store to get it. You might have enough stuff laying around to concoct a suitable replacement, saving you the hassle of having to stop or scrap your meal. [More]
4 Bad Cooking Habits People Need To Break
By 11.15.11
Thanksgiving is next week, meaning that even some people whose version of “home cooking” involves pressing a button on the microwave will be playing chef for the day. But there are a number of kitchen habits — some of them handed down through the generations — that home cooks need to break themselves of before they pop in that turkey (or tofurkey, if you’re so inclined). [More]
Recycle The Pumpkin Slop In Your Freezer Into Something Edible
By 11.11.11
Flash back a couple weeks. With Halloween on the horizon, you got festive and butcher-knifed an unsuspecting pumpkin into a Jack-o’-lantern. Feeling guilty about tossing all its waste into the garbage, you stored it in a plastic container and tossed it in the freezer with hopes of one day resurrecting it in the world of tomorrow. [More]
Peel A Head Of Garlic In 10 Seconds
By 9.30.11
Peeling garlic can be a pain in the tuchus but here’s a method for peeling a whole head of garlic in less than 10 seconds. Really! [More]
Calphalon Replaces Flaky Omelet Pans, Delights Customer
By 4.20.11
When the non-stick coating began to flake off Denise’s set of Calphalon omelet pans, her first plan was to get rid of them and buy new ones. Then she had a different idea: pack the old pans up and send them to Calphalon in an attempt to get a discount on a new set. They sent something back, but it wasn’t a coupon. [More]
Make Your Own Thin Mints When The Girl Scouts Aren't Around
By 2.1.11
Like other delicacies such as the McRib and eggnog, Girl Scout cookies only come around every so often, leaving you to spend your time craving them in abject misery. But anyone with a cookie sheet and the ability to follow directions can easily make the latter for themselves. [More]
Wash Your Potatoes In The Dishwasher
By 11.3.10
Need to wash a lot of potatoes in a hurry? Pop them in the dishwasher. Set it to quick rinse and go. Of course, don’t put any suds in! [More]
Burger King Greases Palms With Oil From Company That Kills Fewer Trees
By 9.6.10
Kings — especially ones with creepy face masks — are there to serve their subjects, so Burger King responded to complaints from critics by switching its source for palm oil in which to cook its delicacies. Led by Greenpeace, environmentalists had harangued the company from buying from a subsidiary of Sinar Mas, Indonesian outfit accused of deforestation. [More]
Hey You In The Kitchen: You're Doing It Wrong
By 7.13.10
Are you holding on to some old kitchen myths? If so, this website will shock and astound you as it slap chops the truth into your face. For example, baking soda in the fridge isn’t an efficient way to prevent odors, aluminum cookware doesn’t cause Alzheimer’s, and mayonnaise–at least the commercial brands made in the U.S.–will actually help prevent spoilage in dishes like chicken salad. [More]
How Long Is It Ok To Freeze Food?
By 7.2.10
Freezing food is a good way to save time and money, but how long is too long? [More]
Somebody On The Set Hates Sandra Lee
By 3.9.10
Here is a video of the Food Network’s Sandra Lee telling people to mix cream, lemonade and vodka to make a “delicious, sweet treat.” From the look on her face, we suspect this is a lie. Also, when you put accidentally put cream in tea that has lemon — it curdles (sigh). This leads us to further suspect that someone hates Sandra Lee. [More]
Keep These Numbers Handy If You're Cooking A Turkey
By 11.26.09
Are you cooking a turkey, but not accustomed to baking and carving entire animals? You’re not alone, and there are hotlines full of helpful and knowledgeable people ready to help you with any and all poultry crises. Or other food safety issues.
There’s also an app for that–the interactive Turkey Timer iPhone application is on sale for $1.99 today (regular price $2.99). It reminds you when to baste, tells you how long until the turkey is cooked, and even estimates the internal temperature of your bird. (Warning: do not insert iPhone inside turkey.)
Consumers Forgo Restaurants, Cook Fancy Steaks At Home
By 10.31.09
Americans love steak. Now, in a recession, we still love it, but we’ve shifted to buying and cooking delicious high-end steaks at home instead of eating them in restaurants, thanks to greater availability of fancy cuts of meat to consumers.
Cook Your Own Delicious Food At Home, On A Budget
By 10.25.09
Do you want to save money by making your own meals at home, but aren’t sure where to start? Let the blog Budget Bytes help you. It contains not only frugal but delicious recipes (including vegetarian ones) broken down by total cost and cost per serving, but a guide to stocking your pantry when you first live on your own or learn to cook.
