If you don’t know how to freeze blueberries don’t worry! It is so easy!  Most blueberries, at least in Texas, do not have natural pests so they are usually grown without pesticides. That is how the place we pick them does it anyway. The easiest way to keep blueberries, strawberries, and other berries for long term storage is to flash freeze them.
To freeze them just put them straight into a ziploc type freezer bag and lay flat in the freezer. Don’t rinse them, or clean them other than pulling out any obvious stems or leaves.  They will keep for more …read more

Some of my favorite kitchen tools are simple things. I mean, I love my electric mixer and all, but you know what? Nothing beats cream like the old fashioned Dover beater. If you are uninitiated, that is a hand cranked beater, just a step up from a whisk .  It is downstairs in a drawer at the moment or I would get a picture of it. Fantastic machine, red wooden handles and very eco-friendly. I have a  hand cranked mouli-grater from the 1930s. I would not trade that thing for anything. Nothing, and I mean nothing grates nutmeg like that …read more

The bread in the image above is Kalamata Black Olive Bread
In order to get those awesome artisan breads and pizza crusts you have to have a pizza baking stone of some type in your oven.
Why?
Simply because the baking stone makes for a far superior crust. It is the only way to get the crust right.
Personally, I have plans to construct

Take a deep breath. I am going to tell you a secret…
Making a wedding cake is not so very hard to do. You can save a TON of money, and end up with a better tasting cake than if you bought it. I promise.
And seriously, have I ever lied to you before?
The end product will be beautiful, especially if you keep it elegantly simple. Personally, I hate the idea of spending 600.00 on cardboard cake slices.

Making a romantic Valentine’s Day Dinner can be stressful. Not only does the food have to be great but you have to think about things like spinach int he teeth and garlic breath. Here is a menu that you can do, complete with links, using the food from the aphrodisiac list, for a seduction level of 10.
Don’t forget your favorite mood music!

I know that I explained how to fix a turkey in this post, Thanksgiving Preparation but sometimes pictures are so much more easily followed. So, when I fixed the turkey for OUR Thanksgiving I took pictures. I did not use the exact ingredients as in the other post. This year I decided to season it with Herbs de Provence rather than the cranberry sauce, however the techniques pictured can be used with any recipe. Ready?

Step 1- after the bird is thawed take the neck and bag of giblets out of the abdominal cavity and the chest cavity. …read more

I would just like to say that there is  now a mere five weeks until Thanksgiving, and nine until Christmas.  And I know that you are going to think I am even more weird than you did a minute ago but sometime this week I will be cooking the Thanksgiving turkey.  I bet you want to know why.
It is really simple, actually.   Cleaning up on Thanksgiving is awful. I hate it. One year I decided to try roasting the turkey in October to see what happened.  I was amazed.
You see, after the turkey is done you carve it up …read more

Tip: If it says thaw for 40 minutes, FOLLOW TO THE MINUTE. I left one sheet longer and couldn’t unfold it. So I had to roll it out.
Oh, if you HAVE to resort to rolling it out, make sure you only fold it, NEVER shape it into a ball. That’s the whole point of puff paste. It puffs up like that because it has been folded and re-rolled numerous times.
When unfolding, I find it best to slip a butcher’s knife between the folds, instead of trying to pull it apart with your fingers, which will stretch …read more

Just a tip — When grating lemon and orange peel, score the skin first, so that it’s easier to grate. I know it feels rough, but it’s slippery.

THAT got your attention didn’t it?
  I write alot about how strongly I feel about using organics when possible. I love the spectrum organic shoretening because it literally has NO trans-fats.  Hydrogenated shortenings can have a certain fraction of transfats and still have 0 trans fat per serving and I really am uncomfortable with that.
  Anyway, about a month ago I began using Spectrum, which is palm kernal oil that solidifies at room temp without hydrogenation or partial hydrogenation. All organic..and it performed beautifully in pie crust.
 However, I am so very dismayed to say that when it comes to a …read more