FROM SCRATCH CLUB

Homemade beef stock is something that I’ve found much more difficult to make well than chicken stock. The common bias is that beef is strongly flavored, being all red meaty and macho. But honestly, I think a decent chicken has more intrinsic flavor just boiled by itself than beef ever would. Good stock flavor also […]

Clockwise from top: White sugar, honey, brown sugar, demerara sugar, vanilla sugar, stevia, evaporated cane sugar Sugar is my weakness. If I could just eat dessert all day, I gladly would (rivaled only by cheese). Life could get a little one-dimensional, though, so maybe incorporating different sugars/sweeteners into my diet would be a good idea. […]

“Good soup is one of the prime ingredients of good living.  For soup can do more to lift the spirits and stimulate the appetite than any other one dish.” - 
Louis P. De Gouy, ‘The Soup Book’ (1949) From scratch chicken stock is so easy. It does takes some time to cook, but prep is simple […]

Is it just me or does a plate piled high with cut-out cookies look both elegant and homespun at the same time? Over the years, however, I’ve had many people tell me that they avoid making cut-out cookies. Due to bad experiences, they only make drop cookies. And while drop cookies are wonderful, it’s nice […]

Whether you are throwing a big holiday shin-dig, or you just want to keep a well-stocked cabinet of libations, it is good to know how to create a home bar to suit a variety of tastes and palates. You don’t need to spend tons of money or buy-out an entire liquor store to achieve this… […]

“She’s standing by the stove – stirring Her cat is in the kitchen – purring It smells so good in here I just wanna close the door and hook the latch Cause she’s makin’ everything – And I mean everything- From Scratch. She takes a little, makes a lot Careful sis, its kinda hot Is […]

If I am being honest I will tell you that dinner is my least favorite meal to make {and eat}.  And by least favorite, what I am nicely trying to say is “I hate making dinner“.  There, I have said it. What I would rather make {and eat} is muffins or pie or cookies or […]

Recently I was asked by someone how she, with multiple kids and several part time jobs, could fit more from scratch cooking into her life. She said she’d love to do it, but just wasn’t sure how she could fit it all in. Since I’d been meaning to write on this for some time now, […]

Editor’s Note: I am very excited that we have our very first contribution, by Deanna, in our ‘pulling back the curtain’ series, showing you, our readers, what & how we “typically” eat for our weekly 21 meals +snacks. I wanted to do this series because I often feel like readers of food blogs, not just […]

So, now we’re on to Part Three of the Pantry 101 series. We’ve covered oil and vinegar, and now it’s time to talk about salt! Salt is (in my opinion) the most important seasoning one can keep in a pantry. Usually when a dish is missing something, salt is the answer. Retailers seem to be realizing this, too, […]

Much like vinegar, cooking oil is such a broad category it can be hard to know which oil to use. There are so many options to choose from – olive oil alone has seemingly endless varieties. Keeping a well-stocked pantry means including a few different types of oils, but how do you know which oil […]

Since Christine lobbied & successfully resurrected our ‘What’s New In My Kitchen Wednesdays‘ I’ve known what my next WNIMKW post would be: Spoon Butta’. Spoon butter first made its presences known to me when Swapper Courtney brought her homemade spoon butter (and displayed it w/ an amazing tablescape) to January’s Saratoga Food Swap. What’s kinda sad, […]

Making vegetable stock is so easy, yet I’m guessing that not all of you have homemade stock on hand. By the time I remember to make some stock, I only have half an onion or a single celery stalk to work with and something about buying a whole basket of fresh veggies just to boil […]