Potato Chip Taste Test: Fun and Easy Labor Day Party Idea
BBQing with friends soon? Conducting a Potato Chip Taste Test is a fun and easy Labor Day party idea. No joke, the hardest part of this entire activity is deciding which chip tastes the best. I learned this when our family did a potato chip taste test just a few weeks ago, and we are still surprised by the results. The best thing about the taste test is that I didn’t have to make any extra food. Plus, the setup only took about 60 seconds, and this was a blast for teens, octogenarians, and everyone in between. Here’s how the Potato Chip Taste Test went down, and tips for how…
Summer Must Try: Lemon Curd S’mores
Summer is for play, but I’m not goofing around when I say you must make lemon curd s’mores this summer. They taste just like lemon meringue pie, but aren’t nearly as hard to make. *and the crowd drools* Lemon Curd S’mores Ingredients: lemon curd Ritz Original crackers (or an equivalent buttery cracker) Marshmallows Kosher Salt How To Make Lemon Curd S’mores: Ready your Ritz Original crackers by smearing some lemon curd on one side of two crackers. (I say two crackers, but we all know you’re going to eat more than one s’more, so you might as well prep a bunch! Just trust me and set up your s’mores assembly…
Bread Recipes I Swear By
The one thing I can’t live without is bread. I thank God and King Arthur* every day that I am not restricted to a gluten-free diet. Twelve years ago, the only bread I made was banana bread. You’ve got to watch out for the banana bread. It’s a gateway gluten. It starts with adding chocolate chips to the loaf, and before you know it, you’ve named your sourdough starter. I can’t invite you all over to break bread with me, so the next best thing is to dish up the 10 bread recipes I swear by that keep our bellies full and our house smelling delightful. No Knead Brioche Buns…
Summer Must Do: Savory S’mores
Have you heard of savory s’mores? If regular s’mores are dessert, savory s’mores are dinner. Imagine if a grilled cheese sandwich, a campfire, and a gourmet charcuterie board had a baby. The divine result would be savory s’mores. Think melted cheese on a cracker or bread and topped with anything that strikes your fancy – meat, olives, Â fancy condiments – and you’ve got yourself savory s’mores. I saw someone making savory s’mores on social media and all I could think was, “How fast can I get one of these creations in my belly?” We’ve had savory s’mores a few times now and it’s not even July. Here’s what I’ve learned…
In Praise Of: Pretty Pepper Mills
Let’s spice things up! I went on the hunt for a pretty pepper mill recently because our old one broke. Apparently, there are things we cannot fix around here. We are still recovering from that shock. In the process, I learned if you Google “pepper grinder,” you get a video game, not a spice grinder. Oops. Today, I will try and use the words “pepper mill” instead of “pepper grinder” because I’m fancy like that now. I went to college and everything. Ha! I also learned that spice aficionados are very particular about pepper mills. They know all about and argue over blade material, mill capacity, grinding speed, hand comfort,…
Wood Bowls: For Food or Decor?
Do you use your wood bowls for food or for decor? Or both? Or are you a wood bowl free household? Tell me everything. Leave no details out. I have a collection of wood bowls that I only use for decor purposes. You might have seen them stacked above our black pantry cabinet. The collection has grown larger, as collections do, since I took this picture. I started to wonder why I don’t use these wood bowls for holding food. And I’m not talking about food as in popcorn or a bunch of apples and bananas. I mean the wet, sticky, gooey stuff like pasta, soup, bread dough, cereal, etc.…
Safety Tips For Making Homemade Hot Sauce
You know what they say. When life gives you habaneros you make hot sauce. What? No one says that? Taco ’bout a missed opportunity. This year we planted a few vegetables in containers on our deck. I’d like to tell you they were lovingly and studiously attend to all summer but that would be incorrect. There was definitely some neglect. Nevertheless, our habanero plant thrived in these adverse conditions and we suddenly had an abundance of habaneros on our hands. What does one do with 50 habaneros? While there is probably not a limit on the amount of fresh salsa a person could eat, there is definitely a limit on…
4 Bread Recipes I Make On Repeat
We eat a fair amount of bread in our house. Life’s too short not to enjoy carbs, right? All. the. carbs. However, I don’t regularly buy bread from the grocery store unless my kids are going through a bagel phase or we are having burgers for dinner. If we’re eating bread it is usually because I’ve baked it. Yes, I’m one of those people. It’s not that I enjoy the act of baking bread particularly, but I do enjoy eating it. Here are 4 bread recipes I make on repeat around here. They never fail me. I’m also using the word bread loosely here. If it is dough-based, it’s bread…
In Praise of Blates (Pasta Bowls)
Have you heard the term blates? A blate is a cross between a plate and a bowl. You might also know them as pasta bowls, low bowls, or dinner bowls. I feel silly typing the word blate, so you know I didn’t make the word up. I read about it on Food52. It seems like a very English language thing to make up a new word, doesn’t it? However, using the term blate instead of pasta bowl does imply that things other than pasta can be eaten in these dishes with shallow sides. Now here’s where the story gets really wild. We eat almost all of our meals on blates…
8 Satisfying Things I’m Enjoying This Summer
I don’t know about you, but I’m spending an inordinate amount of time at home these days, so today I’m sharing eight satisfying things I’m enjoying this summer. I’ve always said it is the little things that make me happy and that’s even more true right now. Eight Satisfying Things #1: Bug Zapper I don’t know if there really are more bugs outside this summer or if we are just hyperaware of the number of bugs pestering us, particularly while we are swimming. Handy Husband ordered this ultraviolet bug zapper and thinks it is the best thing ever. I’m not joking. Find a person who looks at you the way…
