This is a self-indulgent, no-recipe post. You've been warned. … [Read more...]
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Archives for 2008
How To Make Bread And Butter Pickles
July 31, 2008 (Updated March 23, 2014) by
Ever since I was a kid I've loved bread and butter pickles. My mother's garden always produced way more cucumbers than we could possibly eat, and she would turn the extras into pickles. I don't remember if she made any other kinds. All I remember is the bread and butter. … [Read more...]
How To Crack Pepper
July 31, 2008 (Updated March 23, 2014) by
Most of my recipes that call for pepper will say "fresh ground black pepper". Or maybe "coarse ground black pepper". Sometimes, though, you need cracked black peppercorns. So the handy pepper mill you bought and got hooked on suddenly isn't enough. Oh great, time for more hardware, right? Nope. Time for a neat trick. … [Read more...]
Fried Potatoes and Onions
July 30, 2008 (Updated March 23, 2014) by
Ever since my wife did the green bean hash au gratin -- yes, it's got a name now -- I've wanted to do something similar. I still had half the sack of potatoes, but didn't have any green beans. And, as it turned out, I was out of cheddar cheese, too. Well, that's going to make it hard. So instead of the beans I did onions, and instead of the cheddar and bacon I did ... well, nothing actually. Just frying everything in the bacon fat made these delicious. I think I'm doing more of the … [Read more...]
Fair Food
July 29, 2008 (Updated March 24, 2014) by
No one cooks every night. Sometimes you aren't hungry. Sometimes you eat at a friend's house. And sometimes you're at the amusement park where you have no choice but to eat fair food. You know what I'm talking about. The nutritional value of wallpaper paste and more addictive than nicotine. But something strange has happened since I was a kid. Fair food got better. Like the fresh strawberries and frozen yogurt up top there. That's halfway-good food. Just don't tell yourself frozen yogurt … [Read more...]
