Posts tagged under Tips. Show all posts.
One of the best things about being away last week was a reprieve from the monotony of packing school lunches for the kids. But they go back to school in a few days, and there are still 60 or so more school days this year, so I’m determined to keep refining our school lunches to get them made more easily and get them eaten more often. With those goals in mind, I’ve found a few great tips to make school lunches better:
What are your favourite school lunch tips?
Full disclosure: I don’t love to make jam.
I know that as a food-loving mama who gets on board most trendy trains, I should be completely immersed in all things canning and preserving these days. But, honestly I just can’t do it.
I tried last year. I bought the books and the supplies. I picked and grew my own produce. I worked really hard to turn myself into someone who spent my days jammin’. But the truth is, it just wasn’t me. Having said that, I do get the urge to make food in jars every once in a while, which is why quick pickles and skillet jam are just the thing for me.
The preserves you see in these photos were made in less than fifteen minutes, using only three ingredients. It can’t be left on the shelf for many months like traditional jams, and it should be eaten within two weeks, but it’s homemade, easy and tastes delicious when slathered on a fresh, buttered baguette.
Do you like to can? What are some of your favourite foods to jar?
Quick and Easy Skillet Jam
You’ll Need
Prep and Cook
Hi Kelly - Definitely! I’ve done it and it’s worked great.
Can you freeze this jam ?
Seeing that back-to-school is starting to seep into our minds these days, I thought it would be fun to do a ‘cooking school’ post. We can all use a little culinary refresher once in a while, and what better place to start than with our knife skills.
One of the first things taught in any chef-training program, knife skills are an essential tool for anyone who spends time in the kitchen. And knowing which knives you should keep on hand is just as important as knowing how to use them
I have many knives in my kitchen, but the four I use most often are the paring, chef, santoku and serrated.
The Paring Knife—Use this for task’s when a chef’s knife is too large. Can be used to slice strawberries or dice shallots.
The Chef’s Knife—8–10” in length, a chef’s knife is good for almost anything you need to do in the kitchen including mincing herbs, slicing fruits, chopping vegetables and cutting meats and fish.
The Santoku Knife—This is an all-purpose favourite which can be used as an alternative to a chef’s knife. Chop, dice and mince with a Santoku, a Japanese-designed knife meant for cutting meat, fruit and vegetables. Slightly smaller than a chef’s knife, the Santoku is quickly becoming a favourite for the home cook.
The Serrated Knife—Otherwise known as a bread knife, this one makes for easy slicing of breads and hard-skinned foods like tomatoes.
This summer, I’ve been using my chef’s knife to remove corn from the cob. Normally a messy job, I once read that if you rest the cob on the middle hole of a bundt pan and shimmy the knife along the corn in a downward motion, the kernels will fall down and pool in the bottom of the cake pan. I tried it, it works brilliantly and I’ve never done it any other way since.
Which knives are essential in your home kitchen?
Hi Denise - You’re right…a tomato knife is a great addition to the kitchen (even though tomatoes are my least favourite food). I agree with you about the bread knife though. I do have one JUST for bread, and another I keep around for other foods.
A great topic Janet. I have an affinity for my knives as well and would agree with your top four essentials. The only other knife that I would add to the list, that I can’t live without, is my tomato knife. We eat a lot of tomatoes and there is nothing worse than a sloppy slice. Much to my husband’s dismay, I won’t let anyone use our bread knife for anything but bread.
This video made the Internet rounds a few weeks ago, and I was dumbfounded as I watched Saveur magazine’s Executive Food Editor peel an entire head of garlic in less than 10 seconds. In other words, approximately 30 cloves of garlic shed their skin in less time than it took me to write this sentence.
Have a look yourself to see what I mean:
I’m obsessed with clever kitchen tips like this, and love learning new ways to do everyday tasks.
Do you have any of your own kitchen short-cut tips? We would love to hear them.
Hi Andrea - Thank you so much for your comment. We love hearing from our readers and appreciate all the feedback we receive. I love your tip about the microwaving the garlic, and think it is great for those who have a microwave at home (i do not - ha!). With respect to using a whole head of garlic as per the video’s instruction, if you don’t require that many cloves you can always store the leftovers in a container in the fridge for the next time, which means you’ve actually done the work for a few recipes in one go.
Dare I suggest I have a better way of peeling garlic than Saveur? :)
I cringed when I saw the chef in the video squashing the whole head of garlic and all the garlic skins flying everywhere. I don’t often need a whole head when I’m cooking either. I take one or two cloves, slice off the ends, and put them in the microwave for 10 seconds. The skin pops right off. Try it. You’ll be amazed.
Isn’t it great when you eat something that tastes so good you forget just how good for you it is?
I can think of approximately 10 foods that fall into this category, but none please me as much as garlic. We eat an inordinate amount of garlic, specifically roasted garlic. I tend to throw a few heads in the oven each time I make a cake or bake something that requires the oven to be on for at least 20 minutes. Then, we use the garlic that day, or the day following in a myriad of ways. I call it culinary multitasking at it’s best.
We have always fed garlic to the kids, so the strong and pungent taste is not offensive to them and they adore it now. Here’s a list of how we eat roasted garlic at our family table:
Do you roast your garlic? Or do you have another multitasking ingredient in your kitchen?
Find the full printable recipe here: Roasted Garlic
Comments
Cutting sandwiches into shapes is definitely a fun way to encourage picky eaters to eat!
We’ve just got some new BPA-free animal and puzzle-shaped cutters in that are specially-made for sandwiches. They’re deeper than normal cookie cutters and are slightly larger to try and cut down on sandwich waste. They’re made by a brilliant Aussie mom.
To change up her sandwiches, I roll luncheon meats or cheese (or both) in colourful or whole-wheat tortillas. She calls them “rollies” and it gives her a break from the usual breads or buns.
I once tried cream cheese, a banana and a small amount of chocolate chips rolled up in a plain tortilla. She didn’t like it, but I’m sure there are others out there who would!