I totally understand why your kitchen's not organized. I’m supposedly an organizational maniac, yet I’m battling my kitchen daily. My spices are impeccably organized and my silverware drawer is awesome, but my utensils drawers are a disaster. The rest of the Hectic Family is partly to blame, but I know if I made the time it would be better. It boils down to how much I … [Read more...]
5 Questions – Mise en Place
Sometimes English doesn’t possess one word that conveys a specific concept. That's why I use the German word Gestalt all the time. The closest English equivalent is the phrase "greater than the sum of the parts". Yet that only scratches the surface. It’s not just the sum…it’s about being a unified whole. Alas, that’s still not quite it. So I use gestalt and then spend time … [Read more...]
Effective Grocery Shopping – Skip The Store
Previously I wrote about effective grocery shopping. I won’t remind you to use a list. You know that already, right? I’ve talked about having a plan for what you're purchasing and a scheme to avoid backtracking on your journey. In the future I’ll be adding more thoughts about maximizing your time in the store, but for today I want to talk about thinking differently. Have you … [Read more...]
3TIL – Cooking Spray
I’ve been working in the kitchen for a really long time. My kids contend that my first recipes were on stone tablets, but I hate to burst their bubble: They were on Papyrus in hieroglyphics! Seriously, I have been cooking for a really long time…almost as long as cooking sprays have been available in the US. In fact, PAM Cooking Spray was introduced to the US market in 1961, … [Read more...]
Effective Grocery Shopping – Make That List!
Let’s face it, grocery shopping is a pain in the butt. Yeah, I said it. And I even used the word butt, although the Minions would probably prefer bottom so they could get a giggle. If you want to have food at home that's not from a fast food drive-thru, you have to venture to the grocery store. It’s a fact of life. When I was younger those visits seemed simpler because there … [Read more...]