The Cookie Sheet

The coupon inserts have been full of baking coupons and baking ingredients have been on sale for several weeks. The smell of fresh baked cookies is just around the corner. The blogosphere will be full of cookie recipes over the next few months and lots of websites are hosting Cookie Countdowns.  All this means cookie baking time is here! Are you planning to bake cookies this year?

I love baking Christmas cookies. It's one of my favorite Christmas traditions. Growing up cookie baking took several forms. Sometimes it was bake a batch here and there. But, when I was in middle school, cookie baking became a cookie marathon.

My mom, an aunt and one of their friends would get together at our house and bake cookies all day long. I got to be there a few times through unusual events -- a major bought of bronchitis coincided with cookie baking day.

It was about this time that an unusual tradition began in our family:

the use of the cookie sheet.

This is not the kind of sheet you put cookies on and bake in the oven. This is an old bedsheet used to cover the table and allow the cookies to cool before they are boxed up.

My mom had one that she used for many years, and later after she passed away, I raided the closet and found the sheet. Now I use the same sheet to cover my table and cool cookies as I cook them.

In my memory, the many dozens of cookies were primarily consumed by my siblings and I. But occasionally they would be shared. Today, I give away many cookies as gifts to teachers, neighbors and specials friends.

Baking Cookies for friends and neighbors and using the Cookie Sheet definitely works for me.

Tools - Not Just for the Garage

Ever been in the midst of preparing dinner, pulled a pan from the cabinet only to realize the handle is about to fall off? Or the knob on the lid is only barely hanging on? If you've been cooking for more than, oh say, a week, this has probably happened to you. This can be abundantly frustrating because nothing says kitchen mess like a dropped pot of sauce when the handle falls off.

If you're standing there trying to get dinner together with a loose lid and you realize the closest screw driver is in the garage, shed or basement workshop, you are probably frustrated. I once had a lid knob come off, leaving the hot lid on the pot with no way to take it off and stir the sauce without burning my hand. Not fun.

So what to do?  Enter a bit oif advice I learned from my mother -- keep a small tool  kit in your kitchen. Mom kept a multi-purpose screwdriver and hammer in her "junk" drawer. I keep this small tool kit in a bottom kitchen drawer. Everyone in the house knows where those tools belong. They look different and are a bit smaller than my husband's tools so there is no confusing them with the real  manly tools of the house.

They work for more than just pot fixing too! Tonight, when asked to remove a Lego from a Bionicle's hand, and when bare-handed pulling didn't work, I sent my son to get the pliers. He knew without asking which pliers I meant. And he didn't have to go rooting around in his father's tools. A few seconds later the task was accomplished.

Personally, I think every woman should be given a small took kit when she leaves home. Keeping tools in the kitchen definitely works for me.


You can find more kitchen tips at Tammy's Recipes and more great tips at Works For Me Wednesday.

Making Muffins Rise

I have a great tip today for making muffins. I bake a lot of muffins at my house - about once a week and this tip always works! Are you ready? --

When baking muffins, preheat your oven to 375°, then when you put the muffins in the oven, raise the temperature to 400° for the baking time.

Here's the reason for this: when you preheat your oven, it will get a little bit hotter than the temperature you set it for, but then it will drop down below that temperature before the oven kicks in again. When you bake muffins you want the heat to really kick into with baking powder quickly so they will rise properly. By resetting the oven to 400° when you put them into the oven you get more rise.

I must give credit where credit is due, so, many thanks to Alton Brown's muffin episode for this tip. I bake a batch of muffins about once every two weeks, so I use this tip often. (I confess, watching Food Network is one of the things I miss not having cable. I learned a lot from Alton.)

For more great tips visit Works For Me Wednesday @ We are THAT Family.
 This tip was originally posted on May26,2009.

Cleaning Glass Top Stoves

This week at Works for Me Wednesday is a theme edition, "cleaning tips."

If you have a glass top stove, you know that they can be tricky to clean because many of the usual cleansers will scratch the surface. Scratching the surface of a glass top stove is not good.

When we moved into our current home a few years ago, the stove was a bit foreign to me - it has a glass top stove. I had a hard enough time keeping my "regular" stove top clean in our previous homes. I did not get the clean gene in my family . That would be my sister. I got the cooking gene. I make a mess. She cleans up.  So that left me with a dilemma... how do you keep a glass top stove clean?

I had no clue, but for the graciousness of the previous owners. They left the owner's manuals for all the kitchen appliances.

SO, I searched the owner's manual,. "Cleaning a glass top stove."

It, of course, recommended their brand name product, "specially designed for cleaning glass top stoves." It had to be ordered and shipped. I didn't want to wait for that process before I cleaned my stove top (I think I'd spilled spaghetti sauce on it.) So, I went to the grocery store and searched the cleaning aisle and sure enough I found a small slightly expensive bottle of cleaner that was safe for glass top stoves. I brought it home and used it.  It worked great.

But, I cook a lot. So, I tend to make a mess of my stove top fairly often. That would mean a lot of expensive cleanser over the years. Then, my sister, the cleaner, mentioned in passing what she uses, and she doesn't have to worry about scratches either.

Are you ready?  Here it is...

Baking Soda. Well, to be specific, baking soda, hot water and elbow grease.

And you know what? It works. And it works really well. I have even cleaned sticky jam spill-overs off my stove top with baking soda, hot water and elbow grease.

I can't tell you how thrilled I was to have this tip. It works and it's frugal. As cleaning tips go, it doesn't get much better than that!

For more cleaning tips and lots of other great ideas, visit Works For Me Wednesday at We Are THAT Family.

How to Steam Frozen Corn

... Or How to Kill a Pot

I recently decided to try something new ... cooking corn by steaming it in the microwave. I'd never tried this method before, but I figured it had to be more energy efficient and wouldn't heat up the kitchen on a hot day.

Here's my tip .. How to steam frozen corn in the microwave:

Place desired amount of frozen corn in your chosen microwave-safe dish with the amount of water directed on the package.

Cover bowl.

I didn't have a lid for the bowl I chose. I needed a lid. What could I use for a lid? "Oh, I think the lid from this pot will work - they're about the same size." Try it out. It fits perfectly.

Place bowl and lid into microwave.

Set microwave on high for 5-7 minutes.

Continue with fixing the rest of dinner.

5 minutes later, wonder where that awful smell is coming from.

Enter Hubby... "What's that weird smell?" **Ding** - Microwave is done.

Pull dish out of microwave. "Eww. The smell is worse."

"Oh. Maybe using a metal lid in the microwave wasn't such a good idea!"
The handle of the metal lid popped - like a piece of popcorn. It's really funny looking. (If I ever get my computer to read my camera I'll post a picture of it.)

Hmmm. How am I going to find a replacement lid for a pot I bought 6 years ago?

On the other hand, maybe I don't need to replace it. Maybe I need to keep it just to remind myself how dumb I can be sometimes!

My Notes:
The corn tasted fine. I added a small bit of salt and butter.
Seriously. Steaming veggies in the microwave is probably more energy efficient; especially in the summer. But, please don't use a metal lid to cover the bowl. Plastic wrap should work just fine!

For more kitchen tips that are, you know, helpful! visit Tammy's Recipes.

Another Favorite Kitchen Tool - Small Whisks

I can't believe I haven't posted about these wonderful tiny whisks. (I put the chapstick in the picture to give some size perspective.)

These were given to me back in my single-living-on-my own days. That means I've had them for more than 20 years! (Ack, I can't believe I just admitted that.).

I love them.

I think we use them at least once a week. And believe it or not, sometimes we use all three in less than a week.

Now, you might be asking, "What on earth do you need a whisk that small for?" Well, here's how we use them...

• scrambling an egg for a recipe
• mixing liquid ingredients before adding to dry ingredients when baking
• mixing cream/sugar in coffee when the spoons are all in the dishwasher!
• letting kids stir things in recipes
• stirring a small amount of cornstarch into sauces or gravies (This is my favorite!)

The first time I used one (way back in the dark ages) it was to stir up a container of Garlic Butter Sauce from Papa John's. That's when I realized, "Aha, small containers and small amounts of liquid need a small whisk. That's what these are for. " Until that moment I'd never used them and I think I'd had them for about 2 years.

There are other things we use them for, but I can't quite remember at the moment.

There are more of my favorite kitchen tools listed here, here and here.

What are your favorite tools in the kitchen?


For more great kitchen tips visit Tammy's Recipes.

My "Ah-Ha" Moment

Or maybe it's a "Duh... What was I thinking" moment.

Thanks to a recent post from LifeAsMom I had one of these moments this week.

She mentioned in the post that her measuring cups were a bit dusty. "Huh. That means she doesn't wash them every time she uses them. That's interesting."

And then it occurred to me, that it really isn't necessary to fully wash every utensil and measuring cup that I use in my daily cooking. If all I've done is measure flour or baking powder do I really need to wash it? Probably not. Liquid stuff... yeah it could probably use a wash. But, flour, sugar, dry stuff... a quick rinse is really all it needs and it's fine to measure the next thing.

Imagine the dishwashing liquid and time that I will be saving by not washing and rinsing every item in my kitchen!

Do you wash everything, or are there some items that just get rinsed? This tightwad needs to know company.

For more tips on being a tightwad, visit BeingFrugal.
And for more Kitchen Tips be sure to visit Tammy's Recipes.

Baking Muffins

I haven't had a real kitchen tip (not a recipe) for Kitchen Tip Tuesday over at Tammy's Recipes in quite a while. But, this week when I was making Carrot Raisin Muffins I realized, "Wait! I do have a kitchen tip I've never posted. And it's one I use frequently."

So here it is:

When baking muffins, preheat your oven to 375°, then when you put the muffins in the oven, raise the temperature to 400° for the baking time.

Here's the reason for this: when you preheat your oven, it will get a little bit hotter than the temperature you set it for, but then it will drop down below that temperature before the oven kicks in again. When you bake muffins you want the heat to really kick in with the baking powder quickly so the muffins will rise properly. By resetting the oven to 400° when you put them into the oven you get more rise.

I must give credit where credit is due, so, many thanks to Alton Brown's muffin episode for this tip. I bake a batch of muffins about once every two weeks, so I use this tip often. (I confess, watching Food Network is one of the things I miss not having cable. I learned a lot from Alton.)

For more great tips to make life in the kitchen easier be sure to visit Tammy's Recipes today.

Mushy VS Crispy

I confess. I am a picky eater.

I am an adult. But I am still a picky eater.

Especially when it comes to veggies.

I do not like mushy vegetables. My mom was a good cook. But, she grew up and learned to cook an era where all vegetables were canned vegetables from the garden. Canned vegetables are always mushy, never crispy. I honestly don't think my mom knew how to cook a hot crisp vegetable. I did not like them.

Then in my 20s I met a wonderful lady who is a great cook. She cooked crispy vegetables! Wow! I liked those. She taught me how to stir fry veggies and from there I learned how to roast and par-boil veggies so that they were hot, but still crispy.

Then, 10 or so years later, along came my kids. As soon as I gave my kids table food they stopped eating vegetables. They had loved the baby food veggies. They refused to eat my crispy veggies. Ugh. This was a problem. They needed veggies in their diet. What to do? What to do?

I finally came up with this plan -- When I chop/dice/slice veggies, I do not chop in uniform sizes. I make some big, and some small. This goes against everything that a professional cook will tell you.

"Vegetables should be chopped all the same size so that they cook in the same length of time," they will tell you. That may work great in a fancy restaurant. But it doesn't work in my house. I don't want them to all cook in the same length of time. I want some to be crispy and some to be softer.

So, I cut them up into varying sizes and cook them all the same length of time. When I pull them out of the water or oven - some are crispy and some are softer. I am happy. My kids are happy. Our dinner time conversation is much more peaceful. This makes Daddy (and Mommy) very happy.

Variable sized vegetables.

This kitchen tip definitely works for me.

Are you a Cripsy Vegetable fan? or a Softer Vegetable fan? Vote for your favorite in the poll on the left.

For more great kitchen tips visit Tammy's Recipes.
For other great ideas that work visit WeAreTHATFamily.

Cheat Sheet for Meats

I love to cook. But, I have a lousy memory about what temperature meat should reach. Every time I cook a chicken or chicken parts or pork chops or pork roasts or meatloaf or, well any kind of meat, I find myself scrambling to find the safe temperatures for that particular meat. Is it in this cookbook? or that one? Oh - it's on the thermometer. Oh. No, it's not. It rubbed off of that thermometer. Maybe it's on this thermometer! Ugh.

So, I finally decided to create for myself a cheat sheet.

I wrote down all the meats I regularly cook and their required temperatures on an index card and taped it to the inside of a kitchen cabinet. Now, I don't have to go searching through cookbooks or thermometers where the print has rubbed off from use. When I need to know what temperature the porkchop should be I just open up my cabinet and use my handy little digital probe thermometer and --- Wahlah! problem solved.

The cheat sheet definitely works for me.

My Favorite Cookbook

This is without a doubt my very favorite cookbook.

Why?

Because basically... I wrote it.

No, I didn't create the recipes in the cookbook (well, not most of them, a few are my own creations), but I did write my favorite recipes in it.

This was given to me several years ago. At the time, as a busy career woman who did little cooking, -- it sat on the shelf ... completely empty ... for several years.

Then once I had children and my interest in cooking and serving my family healthier meals grew, I pulled this off the shelf and started entering my favorite recipes.

The book is already broken down into sections, you just transfer your recipes to the pages in the book. I really like this feature, because it allows me to tweak recipes the way my family likes them and then, I can write the directions the way I want them - because my control-freak-self has to have them written my way!.


See that.


That is my recipe for Honey Garlic Chicken. Definitely a family favorite. I'm making that tonight for a friend who just had surgery.




And this one is my Whole Wheat Banana Chip Muffin recipe. I've since removed the applesauce - it made them too heavy and they didn't rise properly.

I love that I can have all my favorite recipes in one place. This has become my "go to" cookbook. It doesn't live on the shelf with the other cookbooks; it lives on the counter. There is rarely a day that goes by without me using some recipe from this book and there's never a week I don't use it - unless I'm out of town.

This personalized cookbook definitely works for me.

For more great kitchen tips visit Tammy's Recipes.

Best Kitchen Tool #3

For the last two weeks I've been sharing my favorite kitchen tools. First we had the microplane. Then last week, we had the long handled kitchen tongs.

This week I have another tool that I love --this digital probe thermometer. This isn't any particular brand or recommended by any cooking gurus. But I love this thermometer. It reads instantly. You stick it in the meat and within a few seconds it tells you the internal temperature of whatever meat you're cooking.

I can use it on the grill.
I can use it on the stove.
I can use it when I'm oven roasting.
I can use it with the crockpot.
I can use it for chicken, pork, and beef.
It's wonderful.

I just pop off the cover. Stick it in the meat and wah-lah, within a few seconds I know if the meat is done or if it needs a few more minutes. I love that the cover lists the desired internal temperatures for the various meats. The button on the right also makes it switch to centigrade, if that's your preference. I just love this digital probe thermometer.

I've got one more week of sharing kitchen tools. What are your favorite kitchen tools?


This post is linked to Kitchen Tips Tuesays at Tammy's Recipes.

Best Kitchen Tool #2

Last week, I introduced you to one of my favorite kitchen tools, the microplane.

This week I have another tool that I just love. It is this pair of kitchen tongs. I think this pair of tongs, shown in the picture, is by Oxo Good Grips. I've had them for several years and I can't remember exactly where they came from. It is not the pair of Oxo tongs sold on Amazon or on the Oxo website.

I use this pair of tongs for lots of things:

• sicking up hot chicken to turn
• serving spaghetti noodles
• picking up hot porkchops.
• serving any pasta
• picking up hot steaks
• picking up hot, almost, anything

I use them on the stovetop. I use them on the grill. I love the way they grip without crushing the food. I love the non-slip handle. I love that they're long enough to turn hot food without burning my hands. I love that they goes in the dishwasher. I REALLY love that I can open or close them with only one hand.

See that thingy on the end (where the arrow is pointing)? That is the magic of this pair of tongs. Turn them down, that thing falls in and the tongs open. Turn them up, that thing pops out and the tongs stay closed. If my other hand is holding something, which happens frequently, I don't have to set one thing down in order to open the tongs. They're wonderful. I do not know why Oxo changed the design. I really think that was a mistake. The ones they sell now require a second hand to pull or push the nob on the end in order to open or close them. It really stinks. I was given a pair like that. I sold them at a yard sale.

Kitchen tools can be very personal. What do you look for in a pair of tongs?

This post is linked to Kitchen Tip Tuesdays at Tammy's Recipes and to Things I Love Thursday at TheDiaperDiaries.

Best Kitchen Tool

I confess I am a bit of a kitchen gadget collector. For several years, if Pampered Chef came out with a new tool, I wanted it - even before I had a kitchen of my own, I would buy some of these great kitchen gadgets they have. It really got bad for a while. My husband would groan whenever I was invited to another Pampered Chef party.

I've kinda gotten over my kitchen gadget obsession; partly because I've gathered so many tools and partly because I've finally figured out which ones I really need, which ones will do multiple jobs, and which ones just make one more dish to wash instead of actually being helpful. And in fact now, most of my kitchen gadgets are not Pampered Chef tools!

The microplane is one of my favorite kitchen tools.

This gadget is most definitely one of my very favorites. It helps me with so many small quick jobs, and yet it also handles several large jobs very well also. I'll admit I don't use it every day, but I do use it at least once/week, sometimes more often. I use this baby for:

• adding a bit of cheese to my daughter's tomato soup.
• grating fresh ginger and garlic for my stir fry.
• grating carrots for salad.
• grating parmesan or mozzerella into spaghetti sauce.
• grating chocolate to garnish a dessert.
• zesting a lemon, lime or orange.
  
• grating a 1/2 cup of fresh ginger for Indonesian Ginger Chicken (recipe posted soon).
• and more.
• and even more.
  

I love the way it grates so easily. I love that I can easily scoop off whatever is sticking to the underside. I love that it goes in the dishwasher. This tool just helps me get the job done faster and better in so many ways. It really is fantastic. I think every home cook should have one.

I have a few other favorite kitchen gadgets which I will share over the next several weeks. I'm curious. What are your favorite kitchen gadgets?

For more great kitchen tips visit Amy's Finer Things and go visit DiaperDiaries for more things other people love.

Potato Storage

Storing potatoes has always been a bit of a challenge for me.

I've known for a long time that they should not be stored in the refrigerator. My mom, from whom I learned most of what I know about cooking, always stored them in the basement. always assumed it was because there wasn't much space in her kitchen. A few years ago I read somewhere that I shouldn't store onions and potatoes in the same place, either. Hmm - this one confused me. If I'm not supposed to store them together why do I see those nice wooden bins at kitchen stores that have a spot for onions and a spot for potatoes too??

Then, some time ago, someone told me that you should also put a ripe apple in the bin with the potatoes. I can't for the life of me remember why you're supposed to do that. Anyway, this week I happened to get my weekly "Notes from the Test Kitchen" email. I love this weekly email.

One of the things I love about The Test Kitchen is they are scientific about their recipes and the tips they give. They test and refine recipes a zillion times before publishing them, and their tips are always well tested as well. Last week I learned about mushroom storage. This week I learned about potato storage.

I've always wondered if those old tips I'd heard on storing potatoes were accurate or not. So, I was particularly interested in this article. They stored a bag of potatoes in various conditions - dark, cool, light, warm, with and without an apple. As it turns out, YES, potatoes last longest in a cool (less than 60 degrees), dry place. Now I just need to find a place in the basement for mine. My kitchen is too warm, even in the winter, for potatoes. Where do your potatoes live?

For more great kitchen tips, visit Tammy's Recipes.

And for more tips on being a tightwad visit Tightwad Tuesday.

Mushroom Storage

I recently came across a really good sale on mushrooms. And in my excitement over the deal - I, um, bought a few too many. Like 5 packages of mushrooms - that's a lot of mushrooms! When I got home I realized, "Oh my goodness! I've got to find a use for these now!" So, what to do with all those mushrooms? And equally important -- how to keep them decent for the longest amount of time possible?

Here's how I used them:
1 pkg used for steak subs
2 pkgs to make cream of mushroom soup from this recipe.
1 pkg sauteed and used in chicken casserole
1 pkg sauteed and served with steak for Valentine's Day dinner

In the meantime, I also discovered from America's Test Kitchen that the best way to store them is in the refrigerator in their original packaging. Don't take them out of their package until you're ready to use them. They stay fresh much longer this way.

For more great kitchen tips visit Tammy's Recipes.

Cornstarch with No Mess!

I have a new favorite product!

I have been making this stir-fry recipe for more than 12 years. And for more than 12 years, every time I made it I had a mess on my kitchen counter. Every time I measured out the cornstarch it made a mess all over the counter. I tried several different brands with a varitey of packaging - it didn't matter. I still had a mess. The closer I got to using up a box or container of cornstarch, the bigger the mess. There just didn't seem to be any way to get a spoon of any type into the container and back out with the cornstarch without ending up with cornstarch everywhere. Very frustrating.

But no more. I have discovered the wonders of the new Argo Cornstarch container. I was nearing the end of one container, so about a month ago I bought a new container when it was on sale and I had a coupon. I finally opened it this week and have used it several times already.

Let me just say -- "I love this new container!" I managed to make my family's favorite stir-fry without having cornstarch all over the counters and floor. It's wonderful. If cornstarch is on your grocery list. I strongly recommend this.

And no, I didn't receive compensation of any kind for my use or admiration. I'm just very happy to now have a cornstarch container that doesn't leave me with another job to do.

Check out more Things I Love over at the Diaper Diaries.