It’s fun and more efficient to work like a line cook when you’re doing that pre-Yomtov cooking marathon. Do you like to cook directly from a recipe? Do you cook with open cookbooks on your counters? Flip back and forth to find the recipe you’ll be preparing next? And then maybe something you planned on…
food tips
How to Prep Seder Essentials in Advance
Are you typically frazzled on erev Pesach because the Seder items were left until the end? It doesn’t have to be that way. First of all, before we start, we want to say that if your family has a minhag to prepare seder items on erev Pesach, we don’t want to mess! Perhaps it’s simply…
Bake Your 9×13 Cakes in a Loaf Pan
Is a 9×13 cake too big for your family? Or, do you want a shape that is prettier to serve or easier to display on the counter? Try this! We all love the ease of a no-mixer 9×13 cake. But in my family, we don’t usually finish a full 9×13 of cake before it goes…
The Art Of Roasting Chestnuts
Or better, the struggle. Back in 2012, I wrote a recipe in Ami on how to properly roast chestnuts. Or better, looking back, that was what I thought was the ONLY way one should eat a chestnut. I was still very new here and very European and very much homesick, especially for the roasted chestnuts…
How to Dice That Red Onion into Really Tiny Pieces
No big chunks in my salsa or guacamole when I take the time to do it right! There’s no denying that red onion adds some zing to a salsa (like our favorite), some guacamole, or a chopped salad. But in my household, nobody likes when you can actually bite into the onion pieces. So I’ve…
The White/Whole Wheat Pull-Apart Challah
Whether you like the look, or you need to please a table with people who have different preferences, this challah is a good idea. Does this sound familiar? You take out too many challahs because you need both regular and whole wheat, and they end up halfway done? Instead of keeping your white and whole…
Baking with Frozen Blueberries? Here is what you need to do.
Nobody likes to look at a greenish/gray muffin Ever cut a slice of blueberry loaf cake, or bite into a muffin only to discover that the muffin has a weird tinge of gray, maybe even green? Yup. We have been there too. Your cake or muffin might taste perfectly delicious, but, we also eat with…
How to Be a Calm Hostess
It’s more about your smile than your side dish. This post was written together, as the five of us sat around one table. It was inspired when one sister-in-law told an older sister-in-law, “I learned so much from being at your table.” “From me? What did you learn?” “You’re so calm. It makes me want…
How to Crisp Up That Baguette or Sourdough Bread
Nothing beats a fresh loaf. But when you have one left over, you can easily make it *almost* fresh again. Do you sometimes have leftover loaves that don’t seem quite as exciting the next day? Or do you like to shop/bake ahead of time and by the time you want to serve the bread, it’s…
Don’t Put Away That Leftover Corn On the Cob Yet
If you do it the right way, there’s a better chance it will get eaten. You know how sometimes you can buy super fresh corn on the cob for a great price? You get caught up in the farmers market vibe and put 10 ears in your bag. Or you buy that pack of 8…