this year Lunar New Year, the year of the Sheep/Ram/Goat, was on February 19. as it is celebrated for 15 days, m & i took k to Chinatown for dinner and picked up some treats. since the Oscars fell during the … Continue reading event: Oscar viewing treats – Lunar New Year style
i am a big fan of stuffed peppers so when i saw this recipe it was a no brainer – i had to try it and it was awesome! cooking tools small saucepan large saucepan loaf pan for 3 peppers or … Continue reading recipe: quinoa stuffed peppers
this recipe looked yummy so i decided to make it but when i was getting ready to roll them into patties, i saw my cookie cutters and had an inspiration – how about making them into different shapes? the first … Continue reading recipe: sweet potato / yam corn cakes
it’s fun when you can make something pretty with food. japanese cooking is known for this with its sushi rolls and beautiful food packages. in some way this takes on the beauty of the rolls with vegetables instead of seaweed, rice and fish. zucchini around sweet and savory vegetables. yum!
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there are many things you see often but every now and then you see something different. i’ve cooked bok choy before. if you’ve prepared bok choy you know that you have to clean well, pulling each leaf off and wash because there’s a lot of dirt between leaves. so today when i was prepping it, i saw something different: a baby bok choy attached to the inside of each leaf! Continue reading what’s on my chopping board? deux
i was prepping food for my little one and when i looked down, this is what i saw. how pretty! do you know what it is? if not, leave a comment with your guess! Continue reading what’s on my chopping board? une
supermarkets, as well as anywhere/anything else has been designed to influence your spending. we’ve heard of candy and junk food by the register – but what else? according to this article from FastCompany, here are some ways Whole Food Markets and other supermarkets have been guiding you: Flowers: Freshly cut flowers is an example of “symbolics” – unconscious suggestions. Flowers are among the freshest, most perishable objects on earth, which is why fresh flowers are placed right up front – to “prime” us to think of freshness the moment we enter the store. The prices for the flowers, as for … Continue reading manipulations at the supermarket
there’s was a lot of buzz going on when sprinkles opened in nyc in may and it has not died down. i finally went when i was walking by the neighborhood and i will be back! looking like sprinkles falling from the sky, the cute store on the upper east side is designed with catchy bold dots of colors inside and out. it just looks fun and inviting – as it should be – you’re gonna have some cupcakes! when you enter, you are welcome to a display with three rows of cupcakes – which flavor to choose! for my first … Continue reading sprinkle your cupcakes with joy
it has been a beautiful cake relationship between charm city cakes and harry potter. now that the last movie is coming out, the team pulled out all the stops for perhaps the last cake for the franchise. * this week, Charm City Cakes recreated a half-destroyed Hogwarts castle cake for the New York premiere of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2” “It’s got over 120 LED lights on it that are all on different circuits so they’re blinking at different moments, so it looks like it’s on fire, and then it’s got smoke machines that go through it, so smoke … Continue reading charm city cakes + harry potter = explosive cakes
“everything old is new again” – a common saying but it is just exciting when one can find new purposes for old things. so i was tickled to find this article on Real Simple that shows how we can reuse some items in out kitchen. there are over 100 ideas but here are some of my favorites that i have to remember to use! aluminum foil as glassware scrubber baby oil as chrome polish bubble wrap as produce protection bundt pan as corn holder and vertical roaster coffee filter as yogurt strainer cooking spray as candlestick cleaner wine corks as … Continue reading new uses for things in the kitchen
it’s hard to know what all these food labels stand for – when it’s just marketing language -vs- when it is good or bad for you. Real Simple decodes 12 labels: ORGANIC “100 percent organic” are certified to have been produced using only methods thought to be good for the earth. “Organic” means the item contains at least 95 percent organic ingredients. Research has yet to show that organic foods are nutritionally superior, but they are made without potentially harmful pesticides, fertilizers, antibiotics, synthetic hormones, or genetic engineering. Organic foods can cost up to 50 percent more than nonorganic products. … Continue reading food labels, decoded
since m made dinner, my contribution to the meal was dessert. since i am using a cakemix, i decided to make homemade frosting. now, i’m not a fan of icing because it tastes too much like eating sugar but what i do love is buttercream frosting! most buttercream recipes were packed with butter and eggs. so i was pleasantly surprised to find THE most basic recipe for buttercream by cake decorator, colette peters — AND — that the recipe even offers an alternative to using margarine. most chefs refuse to acknowledge the word! anyhoo, this buttercream was yummy – just … Continue reading basic buttercream
