Stress Free Cooking for the Thanksgiving Holiday

Summer is over and we’ve seen the change of colors in nature. This in turn signals one of the much awaited holidays of the year in the US. Thanksgiving. And what is the most anticipated part of Thanksgiving Day but the food. For some, cooking during Thanksgiving is a very stressful ordeal. Imagine cooking an extra large bird while having to create other things like mashed potatoes and pumpkin pies. But you don’t have to stress about Thanksgiving cooking.

Here are some tips to make your Thanksgiving cooking stress free:  Read more... (392 words, estimated 1:34 mins reading time)

Southern Cooking the Right Way

Good food has incredible history. Can you imagine that the soul foods we enjoy at bistros and at home were introduced by families of the ancient Southern slave states? These meals they share every Sunday have now become most American homes’ specialties. Even the Internet has been conquered by different Southern cooking recipes. So learning cooking techniques is easy for all homemakers.

Not every recipe that spells Southern cooking is indeed genuine. You must know how to set Southern cooking apart from other cooking techniques. Note that Southerners are fond of frying so Southern foods are mostly deep fried. If you are avoiding too much fat but love eating Southern foods, then you better use vegetable oils like corn and olive oils.  Read more... (432 words, estimated 1:44 mins reading time)

Hold on to Your Cooking Tips

What do you do with all of those great cooking tips you find? Most of us read them and forget about them. But, a lot of these tips can help you save time and money in the kitchen. Tips such as how to crush garlic, preventing lemon seeds from getting in your food, and what to do with stale bread can help take your cooking to the next level.
To keep track, simply add a section to your recipe filing system. If you store your recipes on your computer, make a new database category or a new folder for the tips. If you use the traditional recipe file box, start a category for tips and put one tip per index card. If you use a binder, start a section for tips and write them on sheets of notebook paper. Pretty soon, these tips will be second nature but until then, you can consult your files for inspiration.

Mise en Place – Preparing the Ingredients

Top chefs seem to really have it together when they are preparing meals. When we see them cook, they don’t scramble around the kitchen looking for last minute ingredients. Everything always seems to be arranged artistically right in front of them

The French have a term for this – mise en place. This basically means “preparing the ingredients”. You chop and measure things out in advance. It may seem as if this will lengthen the cooking time. But it actually shortens it and helps make your food come out better.  Read more... (156 words, estimated 37 secs reading time)