How To Keep Herbs Fresh, Longer

Make A Fresh Herb Bouquet

It's a recession. I don't know about you, but I'm trying to pinch every penny I have. Recently I bought three glass jars at the thrift store for 35 cents each and planned on using them for outdoor candles except Michael got a hold of one them.

When I popped into the kitchen, Michael had filled it with water and placed all of our herbs inside of it. "It'll keep 'em fresh and make the kitchen look pretty!" he said. I was a bit dubious that it would work. I mean sure, the kitchen would look nice with a nice green bouquet on the counter, but would it keep them fresh, longer?

It sure did. The herbs remained crisp and green when they would've wilted and softened in the refrigerator. So if you want to keep fresh herbs longer, place them in a glass or vase filled with water.

Freeze Caramelized Onions - Who Knew?

Here's a great and easy tip for quick, delicious caramelized onions....freeze them.

Make a big batch. Add them to an old ice cube tray and freeze them. Once frozen, pop them out and place them in a bag. Voila.

Genius.

Quick Tip: Freeze Caramalized Onions - The Kitchn

Improve Your Baked Goods In One-Easy Step

All-Purpose Flour Is Your Friend

Have you ever made blueberry muffins only to find that all of the blueberries have fallen to the bottom?!

Ditto the nuts in banana bread, the chocolate chips in a chocolate loaf, etc. etc.?!

Before you add the nuts or chips try this little secret---Toss the nuts or chips an a bit of flour, making sure that they are completely coated. THEN add the nuts to the batter. Because the nuts are coated in flour, they will no longer fall to the bottom! Now, wasn't that easy?

Why The Temperature Of Your Eggs is Ruining Your Cakes!

By Danny

Baking Tip: Room Temperature Eggs Are Better For Cakes

If you're not already baking cakes with room temperature eggs, stop what you're doing---put the cold eggs down, and read.

Room temperature eggs whisk to higher volumes and ensure that the cake rises properly when baked. It really makes a difference!

Want to make a CHOCOLATE LAYER CAKE but forgot to take the eggs out of the refrigerator? Not to worry. Simply fill a bowl with warm water and let the eggs sit for 15 minutes, and Voila! Room temperature eggs!

Do you have any other tricks to lower the temperature of the eggs? Leave us a comment and let us know!

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Throwing a Cocktail Party On A Budget

By Danny

Party On A Budget

As I mentioned in my earlier post, Michael and I recently hosted a cocktail party/fund raiser. We're both on a budget, so our little get-together had to be relatively cheap. One of the ways we cut down on costs was to limit the menu to a few dishes, and only offer one main beverage. Not only did this save money but it also made the preparation much easier!

Tips in the second part of post...



Tips on throwing a cocktail party on a budget after the jump...

Money Saving Tip: Make Food From Scratch!

We decided to make everything from scratch, like this delicious Bell Pepper and Gorgonzola Bruschetta. Making food from scratch makes the party that much more special, and it actually can cut down the costs of a party. A small jar of salsa can cost up to $4 dollars! For a party I usually need at the very minimum 2 jars....that's $8 dollars just on salsa. I can easily make double that amount for half of that price!

Home Baked Bread - Perfect For Bruschetta

Bread can also be a bit pricy so I made my own. I made a pugliese and a ciabatta. Perfect for Bruschetta!I was originally planning on making sourdough baguettes using my home made sourdough starter, but I unfortunately let Tiffany, my sourdough starter, die again. Check out this older post on how to revive sourdough starter. I followed the tips and I think she'll make a fine comeback.

Money Saving Tip: Make One Main Cocktail

Making just one cocktail can save an enormous amount of money. Booze is expensive, and if you're making three different cocktails it can really add up. We decided to make just one, a sangria.

Sangria is great because almost everyone loves it, and you can make a big batch ahead of time and simply put it out once the guests arrive. Sangria is also great because you can use in-expensive wines....we used our favorite Trader Joe's $5 dollar wine! We also had a few beers for a little option, but I find that most people will bring beer to a party, so we only bought a six-pack.

Do you have any cost-cutting tips for throwing a cocktail party? Leave us a comment and let us know!

3 Tips On Making The Best French Toast

By Danny

How To Make French Toast

I'm a huge fan of breakfast. It might be my favorite, actually! One of my favorite things to make is classic french toast! There are countless of recipes out there, so rather than offer another recipe, I thought I would share some of my tips on making the very best french toast!

Tips after the jump...

Tip #1 - Use Almost Stale Bread

I always use almost stale bread. I like to buy a loaf of sliced sourdough bread from La Brea Bakery, which is an amazing bread bakery here in L.A., and use it throughout the week for sandwiches and such. By the time the weekend comes along, I always have a few remaining slices that are just slightly stale. Perfect for french toast!

Tip #2 - Soak! Soak! Soak!

Let the bread soak at least 5 minutes on each side. Because you're using slightly stale bread, it's ok to let it soak. The reason you use stale bread is because that will allow you to soak the bread longer, which will lead to a silky, custard-like center!

Tip #3 - Use Thick Slices of Bread

The more egg mixture soaks into the bread, the silkier the toast will be. Therefore, thick slices of bread are perfect for french toast because they allow lots of the egg mixture to soak in while also retaining the structure of the bread.

Extra Tip! - Use A Heavy-bottomed Pan or Grill!

Using a heavy bottomed grill or pan will ensure that the pan retains heat while cooking the toast. Having a really hot pan is crucial when trying to form a golden crust on the outside of the french toast!

Do you have any tips on how to make delicious french toast? Leave us a comment and let us know!

3 Easy Chicken Dinner Tips!

By Danny

Quick Dinner Ideas

Now that Summer is over, I've returned to work and my once luxurious Summer schedule has turned into hectic, back-to-school madness. So when I get home from teaching, the last thing I want to do is cook! The problem is that I also don't want to eat crappy food. Hence, my easy chicken dinner tips!

3 Easy Chicken Dinner Tips after the jump...

Grocery Store Roasted Chicken

Pre-roasted chickens from grocery stores are your friend! Believe me, they are wonderful. I started buying these pre-roasted chickens in graduate school. They are just really convenient. I'm all about home made and making things from scratch, but picking up a warm, roasted chicken that costs me $8 bucks is just too tempting to pass up!

Convenient AND economical!

Not only are they convenient, but they are cost effective! I usually manage to make about 5 meals out of one chicken! Talk about economical! First thing I do when I get home from the grocery store is take the chicken apart and place all of the meat in a tupperwear container. When the chicken is fresh from the store and still warm it is really easy to tear apart.

Easy Dinner Tip #1

Make Chicken Tacos. Use corn tortillas, grilled onions, sour cream, salsa, and cilantro. Super easy and super yummy. One of our most popular posts was for Tequila Lime Chicken Tacos with Caramelized Onions and Sour Cream. I used store bought roasted chicken in that recipe!

Easy Dinner Tip #2

Make Chicken Salad. This is more of lunch, but I sometimes have chicken salad for dinner. Tear up some of the chicken and chop in some onions, parsely, garlic, lemon zest,and a bit of mayonnaise. I even add apples, and walnuts sometimes. Very yummy!

Easy Dinner Tip #3

Make Chicken Noodle Soup. Saute some onions, celery, and carrots. Add some chicken stock and boil noodles. Add the chicken and a bit of lime juice. Voila!

Do you have any other quick chicken dinner tips? Leave a comment and let us know!

And don't forget to Stumble or Delicious our posts if you like them!

10 Essential Pantry Ingredients

By Danny


Whenever I go food shopping, I try to stick to this list of essential pantry ingredients. These ingredients are essential in a pantry because they allow you to make a HUGE variety of recipes. Haven't you ever started a recipe only to realize that you're out of some basic, staple ingredient? How annoying is it to break the flow of cooking and head to the grocery store JUST TO BUY GARLIC??!!

That is why whenever I go shopping I make sure to stock up on these ingredients.

List of ingredients after the jump...

10 Essential Pantry Ingredients

1. Garlic
2. Tomatoes - Fresh and Canned! Crushed tomatoes are really helpful sometimes!
3. Chicken Stock - I don't have time to make my own, so I buy it in cartons.
4. Onions - I buy yellow and white
5. Balsamic Vinegar
6. White Wine - Buy something good!
7. Olive Oil
8. Eggs - Ok, these next few are not exactly "pantry" but they are essential in the kitchen!
9. Butter - Unsalted, of course!
10.Heavy Cream

The ingredients below are not essential, but they are pretty darn important!

11. Tomato Paste
12. Rice
13. Pasta

When making almost any recipe, you will most likely need to use some of the ingredients above, so get in the habit of keeping them stocked!

Do you have other ingredients not on my list that are essential in your kitchen?
Leave us a comment and let us know!

Breakfast in Los Angeles!

By Danny


Speaking of the devil! I swear, my scrambled egg post below was in no way timed with this LA Times article! I swear.

I'm still dubious about breakfast in L.A though. Do you know of any good spots for Breakfast in L.A? Leave us a comment and let us know!

Restaurant breakfasts make a comeback in L.A. - Los Angeles Times via Eater LA

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Previous Posts:
-How to make the best scrambled eggs...the right way!
-The best banana bread recipe, ever!

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Quick Breakfast Snack!

By Danny


I made my favorite breakfast snack today! Strawberries with yogurt and vanilla! I love making this in the Summer because the cold yogurt is really refreshing in the morning. Plus, it's really easy to prepare. Here's how:

1 Handful of Strawberries
1/2 teaspoon of good vanilla extract, like Mexican or Tahitian vanilla
1/2 teaspoon of sugar
1/2 cup of plain yogurt

Wash and cut the strawberries in half and place in a bowl. Scoop yogurt on top of strawberries. Sprinkle sugar over yogurt and drizzle vanilla over entire bowl. Enjoy!

Finger Poke Test for Cooking Meat!

I've always watched fancy chefs test the doneness of meat by poking at it with their finger. I'm totally jealous of them.


Thanks to the fine bloggers at Simply Recipes, that jealousy ends today! Check out this fantastic lesson on learning how to poke steaks and chicken breasts!

Finger Poke Test -via Simply Recipe

How To Truss A Chicken

I'm always making recipes that call for trussing a chicken even though I don't really know how to do it. Today I decided to end this gap in my culinary knowledge. Below is a link to this great video that shows you exactly how!