When I turn on my computer, on one of my browsers, I have yahoo as my homepage. I usually browse thru the stories there as I am getting ready to start my online time. Here is one of the stories I ran across today, from the Woman's Day website:
11 Kitchen Tools You Don’t Really Need
So being a food and cooking blogger, this was one story that I just had to check out. So here is their list of 11 kitchen tools that their writer thinks you don't need:
1- electric griddle
2- electric steamer
3- funnel
4- juice reamer
5- mandoline
6- meat mallet
7- panini press
8- pastry bag
9- roasting rack
10- rolling pin
11- wok
So here are my thoughts on their 11 most not needed:
1- electric griddle - I don't have one of these. Have never really found a need for one in my kitchen. We usually buy microwaveable breakfast foods. But if you cook breakfast a lot and have plenty of kitchen room for it, I can see how one of these would be handy.
2- electric steamer - Just this year I purchased a stove-top, non-electric pan set that included 2 different steamer inserts with the pan. I got the set particularly for the steamer inserts. I agree with this one. You can get great stove-top pans with steamer inserts that then serve a dual function of steamer and cook pan.
3- funnel - Don't agree at all! I don't have a large kitchen right now, but my plastic funnels are must haves in my kitchen.
4- juice reamer - I don't have one of these, never have. My mother never did either. She just took her hand and squeezed the fruit. Good old hand, always there at the end of your arm, and comes free with the equipment of being a human.
5- mandoline - I have one of these, got it at my local Walmart. Tried using it and didn't have much luck with it. Now days they make food processors that do the same things a mandoline does. My preference would be a food processor that does these things.
6- meat mallet - I don't have one of these. My mom did. Not particularly necessary. Now days you can buy cuts of meat already tenderized. Also, it is my opinion that if you cook the cut of meat right, it will be tender.
7- panini press - Don't have one of these, have seen them in stores. Depends on the kind of cooking that you do as to how necessary they are in your kitchen. Don't buy one unless you find you really have a need for one.
8- pastry bag - Used to have one of these, when I lived at home with mom and dad. These pastry bag sets can be nice if you do a lot of cake decorating. But unless you do a lot of cake decorating, there really isn't much of any other use for them.
9- roasting rack - Don't have one of these. Would love to find a good stainless steel one to go with the great roasting pan my mom gave me. Can be handy to have, but once again - having this all depends on the cooking you do, and how often you would use it.
10- rolling pin - Like I said about the panini press - Don't buy one unless you find you really have a need for one. Essential if you do a lot of baking of items such as cookies or biscuits or pie crusts. Otherwise it could just end up as a space taker in your kitchen,
11- wok - I have one of these. Haven't used it in ages, but wouldn't take anything for it. Got mine as a gift from my parents ages ago, when I was taking karate and got interested in oriental cooking. Mine is an electric, non-stick one. If you find a good one of these, either electric or non electric, for a great price - grab it. Nice big roomy pans, can be handy in about any cook's kitchen.
Now . . .
you tell me - what is your most un-needed kitchen tool?
What kitchen tool did you buy that you regret? What ones do you have that you use the least, and can live without? Let me know, and I will make an upcoming blog post of them!
Happy cooking and delightful eating from
-- Jacqueline D. --
the cook behind it all
Saturday, September 10, 2011
A new blog feature - J's preferred picks
Welcome to the info about a new blog feature you will be seeing. I call it --
J's preferred picks
As I buy different food and cooking related products, when I find a product I really like, that I think is really good - I like to share with you about it and let you know about it. Well now, just today, I have come up with a new way to do that. I will do it thru blog posts that I will call 'Js preferred picks'. And being one of Js preferred picks will be a high honor for the product chosen. I am picky about my food, and like good quality products for a good price that taste good.
So enough of that. You get the idea! Now on to our first J's preferred pick:
Oscar Mayer Angus Selects hot dogs
So then I started trying different hot dogs to find out which ones I liked the best. I tried the Hebrew National brand, which are good hot dogs. But then I got a coupon online for these Oscar Mayer hot dogs, so I tried them. They are now our favorite hot dogs.
Now the Hebrew National are great hot dogs too, my second favorite. But these get the first spot. They taste great cooked the way I talk about in my blog post. Good taste, really satisfying and filling, and juicy too. Great flavor. Highly recommend these!
So there you have it! My first J's preferred pick. Keep a lookout for more to come.
Happy cooking and delightful eating from
-- Jacqueline D. --
the cook behind it all
J's preferred picks
As I buy different food and cooking related products, when I find a product I really like, that I think is really good - I like to share with you about it and let you know about it. Well now, just today, I have come up with a new way to do that. I will do it thru blog posts that I will call 'Js preferred picks'. And being one of Js preferred picks will be a high honor for the product chosen. I am picky about my food, and like good quality products for a good price that taste good.
So enough of that. You get the idea! Now on to our first J's preferred pick:
Oscar Mayer Angus Selects hot dogs
For the longest while, my IBS wouldn't let me eat hot dogs, which I dearly love. But recently it has gotten better, and I am once again able to eat hot dogs again. We discovered a great way to cook them in our toaster oven:
So then I started trying different hot dogs to find out which ones I liked the best. I tried the Hebrew National brand, which are good hot dogs. But then I got a coupon online for these Oscar Mayer hot dogs, so I tried them. They are now our favorite hot dogs.
Now the Hebrew National are great hot dogs too, my second favorite. But these get the first spot. They taste great cooked the way I talk about in my blog post. Good taste, really satisfying and filling, and juicy too. Great flavor. Highly recommend these!
So there you have it! My first J's preferred pick. Keep a lookout for more to come.
Happy cooking and delightful eating from
-- Jacqueline D. --
the cook behind it all
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Cooking hot dogs and sausages
Friends, I have just discovered today the absolutely best way to cook your hot dogs and link type sausages in the oven. For the longest while, a digestive problem I have wouldn't let me eat hot dogs and the like. But lately I have been doing better, so I decided to try some hot dogs. I got some of the Ball Park brand hot dogs that come individually wrapped, and threw the package up in the freezer.
Well today I decided to cook a couple for my husband and me. So here is what I decided to do:
I unwrapped the two hot dogs. Then I took a piece of aluminum foil and laid the two hot dogs on one half of it, then folded the other half over; and folded the edges over, and sort of made a packet out of it. Then I put it in my preheated toaster oven and baked them for about 20 minutes. This worked really well.
It worked so well, that just a few minutes later my husband baked some hot dog type sausages he had that way too. He baked those for 30 minutes. And they turned out really good too!
I used just a simple little toaster oven set to 350 degrees. Below is a simple illustration to help you understand about making the foil packet. The foil packet works great in that it keeps all the juices inside. So you end up with really juicy, tasty hot dogs or sausages.
Well today I decided to cook a couple for my husband and me. So here is what I decided to do:
I unwrapped the two hot dogs. Then I took a piece of aluminum foil and laid the two hot dogs on one half of it, then folded the other half over; and folded the edges over, and sort of made a packet out of it. Then I put it in my preheated toaster oven and baked them for about 20 minutes. This worked really well.
It worked so well, that just a few minutes later my husband baked some hot dog type sausages he had that way too. He baked those for 30 minutes. And they turned out really good too!
I used just a simple little toaster oven set to 350 degrees. Below is a simple illustration to help you understand about making the foil packet. The foil packet works great in that it keeps all the juices inside. So you end up with really juicy, tasty hot dogs or sausages.
 |
| Packet folding illustration |
Happy cooking and delightful eating!
:))
Jacqueline Driggers
the cook behind it all
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Having a great pizza at home
We had a great pizza last night, and it didn't come from a pizza restaurant. But before I get into what we did last night, I want to talk a bit about what we had been doing.
For a long while, we didn't order pizza home delivery from our local pizza restaurants because we didn't think they were too good. We would get the occasional frozen pizza. But lately we had discovered that they had improved, and that a new restaurant had opened up. We would sometimes get a pan pizza from Pizza Hut topped with ham, bacon, and mushrooms. Also sometimes we would get a pizza from Pizza Kings, also topped with ham and bacon and mushrooms.
But last night we did something different. Now the heat doesn't agree with my husband or I, so we wait to do our Walmart runs late at night when it is much cooler. And last night we decided we wanted pizza. Now by the time we got home -- well, it was already too late to order one from a restaurant when we went out. So we got the fixings to do what we had done in the past, but hadn't done in a while. So here is the recipe for our prize winning pizza that we had last night:
Get 1 Digorno's 4 cheese pizza
http://www.digiorno.com/Products.aspx/Four-Cheese/0f668676-30d2-437d-aecb-125cfc33b22d
Also get your favorite meat toppings. Last night we used canadian bacon and smoked turkey. You could use any meat toppings that you like.
You will also need some shredded cheese.
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Put some Reynolds non-stick aluminum foil over your pizza pan or cookie sheet that you are going to bake your pizza on.
http://www.reynoldspkg.com/reynoldskitchens/en/product/nonstick.asp
For a long while, we didn't order pizza home delivery from our local pizza restaurants because we didn't think they were too good. We would get the occasional frozen pizza. But lately we had discovered that they had improved, and that a new restaurant had opened up. We would sometimes get a pan pizza from Pizza Hut topped with ham, bacon, and mushrooms. Also sometimes we would get a pizza from Pizza Kings, also topped with ham and bacon and mushrooms.
But last night we did something different. Now the heat doesn't agree with my husband or I, so we wait to do our Walmart runs late at night when it is much cooler. And last night we decided we wanted pizza. Now by the time we got home -- well, it was already too late to order one from a restaurant when we went out. So we got the fixings to do what we had done in the past, but hadn't done in a while. So here is the recipe for our prize winning pizza that we had last night:
Get 1 Digorno's 4 cheese pizza
http://www.digiorno.com/Products.aspx/Four-Cheese/0f668676-30d2-437d-aecb-125cfc33b22d
You will also need some shredded cheese.
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Put some Reynolds non-stick aluminum foil over your pizza pan or cookie sheet that you are going to bake your pizza on.
http://www.reynoldspkg.com/reynoldskitchens/en/product/nonstick.asp
This will help keep your pizza from sticking to the pan, and I think it helped to make our crust crispier.
Put your frozen pizza on the pan. Add the chopped meat you got. In our case I chopped up some slices of canadian bacon, and just hand shredded some slices of really thin smoked turkey. Then cover this with your shredded cheese. I used Kraft shredded pizza cheese. Bake for 28 minutes in a 400 degree oven. When putting the pizza in and out of the oven, you will want to use care as the non-stick foil is really slick; and your pizza will slide around. You want it to end up in your tummy and not on the floor.
Our pizza turned out just great. Crisp, brown crust; and plenty of toppings. I would show you a picture of it, but hey -- it's just a great food memory now. We will definitely be doing this again. I think it is safe to say that Pizza Hut and Pizza Kings won't be getting too much of our business anymore. The cost for this pizza was around $10-11 dollars, and you will probably end up with extra toppings for other uses. We did. A delivery pizza from either of the 2 places I mentioned: ham, bacon, and mushrooms -- runs around $12-15 dollars. A better deal and just as good a pizza.
Happy cooking and delightful eating!
See you on my facebook page!
http://www.facebook.com/rcandfood
:)
-- jd --
Friday, June 17, 2011
Making your own popsicles, and some family fun too!
It is summer, and the kids are out of school. Maybe they are clamoring for something to do. Maybe they are clamoring for a popsicle. Maybe they are doing both. Why not take care of both issues with one activity. Gather your kids and make popsicles with them. To help you out, here are some recipes for you to choose from:
-- These links are for single recipe pages.
This one uses fresh fruit and yogurt, and is written by a facebook friend of mine. I highly recommend this one.
This one is a good sounding one too that uses sugar, water, and juice.
This one is an orange-banana smoothie pop recipe.
Here is a strawberry popsicle recipe that uses fresh strawberries and milk.
And here is one that uses jello in it.
This is a sugar-free popsicle recipe that uses sugar-free jello and kool-aid.
Here is another sugar-free popsicle recipe that uses sugar-free jello and crystal light in it.
-- The following are all links to pages that have several recipe links for you to choose from:
-- This one gives you some popsicle making tips as well as recipes:
So now you need to pick out the recipe that suits you. Then gather your ingredients. Involve the kids in every step of the process. Let them help you pick out the recipe, and help with gathering the ingredients. If you have to go shopping for something, let them help with that too. When you get in the store, perhaps assign one to carry the list and another to help search out the ingredients.
So what do you freeze them in? You can buy reusable plastic popsicle molds. Or you can simply use an ice cube tray. Put your popsicle mix in the tray, cover it with foil, and poke popsicle sticks thru the foil in the center of each ice cube compartment. I have read that you can also use dixie cups as popsicle molds too. As I write this, I am sitting here thinking that you could also use disposable plastic drinking cups for popsicle molds. As with the ice cube trays, you would cover them in foil and poke the sticks thru. If you have trouble getting the popsicles out of the mold, with plastic containers, you can simply run the end of it under a little warm water at the faucet. That should do the trick.
So go forth and make some popsicles to keep yourself cool with this summer. And you can also turn it into a great activity to do with your kids (or grandkids) too. And think of how much more fun it will be for them to eat something that they helped make.
Happy cooking and delightful eating!
See you on my facebook page!
http://www.facebook.com/rcandfood
:))
-- jd --
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