66 especially wintertime Recipes

peel a banana from the bottom and you won tsp have to pick the little stringy things off of it. that s how the primates do it., take your bananas apart when you get home from the store. if you leave them connected at the stem , they ripen faster., store your opened chunks of cheese in aluminum foil. it will stay fresh much longer and not mold, peppers with 3 bumps on the bottom are sweeter and better for eating. with 4 bumps on the bottom are firmer and better for cooking., add a tsp of water when frying ground beef. it will help pull the grease away from the meat while cooking ., reheat pizza, heat up leftover pizza in a nonstick skillet on top of the stove, set heat to medium-low and heat till warm. this keeps the crust crispy. no soggy micro pizza., easy deviled eggs, put cooked egg yolks in a zip lock bag. seal , mash till they are all broken up. add remainder of ingredients, reseal, keep mashing it up mixing thoroughly, cut the tip of the baggy, squeeze mixture into egg. just throw bag away when done easy clean up., expanding frosting, when buying a canned frosting, remove frosting to a mixing bowl and beat with your electric mixer. the amount will come close to doubling., squirrel away, keep squirrels from eating your plants sprinkle your plants with cayenne pepper. the cayenne pepper doesn tsp hurt the plant and the squirrels won tsp come near it., flexible vacuum, get something out of a heat register or under the fridge add an empty paper towel roll or empty gift wrap roll to your vacuum. it can be bent or flattened to get in narrow openings., reducing static cling, pin a small safety pin to the seam of your slip and you will not have a clingy skirt or dress. same thing works with slacks that cling when wearing panty hose. place pin in seam of slacks and -- at da! -- static is gone., measuring cups, before you pour sticky substances into a measuring cup, fill with hot water. dump out the hot water, but don tsp dry cup. next, add your ingredient, such as peanut butter, and watch how easily it comes right out., foggy windshield, hate foggy windshields buy a chalkboard eraser and keep it in the glove box of your car. when the windows fog, rub with the eraser! works better than a cloth, reopening an envelope, if you seal an envelope and then realize you forgot to include something inside, just place your sealed envelope in the freezer for an hour or two. viola! it unseals easily., conditioner, use your hair conditioner to shave your legs. it s a lot cheaper than shaving cream and leaves your legs really smooth. it s also a great way to use up the conditioner you bought but didn tsp like when you tried it in your hair..., goodbye fruit flies, get rid of pesky fruit flies , take a small glass fill it 1/2 with apple cider vinegar and 2 drops of dish washing liquid, mix well. you will find those flies drawn to the cup and gone forever, get rid of ants, put small piles of cornmeal where you see ants. they eat it , take it home, can tsp digest it so it kills them. it may take a week or so, especially if it rains, but it works & you don tsp have the worry about pets or small children being harmed

any liquid can be reduced just by heating it - but why would you want to do that, answer comes back to two of our old friends, flavor and consistency (texture)., by reducing any flavored liquid you intensify its flavor and at the same time thicken it. you can continue this process until what you have left is a syrup if it contains sugar, or a sauce if it does not., this is 1 of the most important tools in the kitchen , believe it or not, because a great sauce can rescue an indifferent meal., literally any liquid can be reduced ., a few uses, wine is frequently used in cooking , both as a marinade and as an addition to sauces for meat., there are some problems with it though, 1 of which is that you need a really good wine and quite a lot of it to produce a reasonable sauce for, say, six people., on the other hand , if you use pure grape juice and reduce it to a syrup, that syrup, added to any sauce (or gravy if you prefer) will lift it into the realms of gourmet ., more , you don tsp have to make your reduction on the night you prepare your meal. you can reduce a liter of grape juice at any time to the consistency and flavor you want; then just store it in the fridge., you can do the same thing with any fruit juice - prune is sensational - and store it until needed. just about all of them will do things for ice cream, pies or tarts that will have your guests demanding the recipe, pork with apple sauce use a carton of fresh apple juice from the supermarket and reduce it. and if you want a real sensation add in a glass of apple brandy during the reduction process., are you getting an idea of how simple this is, take any carton of fresh stock straight of the shelf and reduce it. you will transform it into something even the manufacturer won tsp recognize. but beware, you need to start out with good quality in the first place, because when you reduce a liquid you intensify all the flavors, and not just the good ones., if it s salty to start with, for example, it will be salty beyond belief by the time you ve reduced it even by half. so if you are going to use a supermarket stock, make sure it s an extremely good 1., believe me when i tell you that stock cubes should not be used for reduction sauces., thickeners, because you will be tasting as you go (won tsp you ), you may find that you get the flavor you want before the desired consistency is reached., a couple of hints right now for your sauces., sweet ones can be thickened successfully without loss of color by adding in liquid glucose early on in the reduction process. surprisingly, this will add little in the way of sweetness and produces a beautiful velvety sauce when whisked., if you get it wrong and add too much, no problem. stir in a little extra water to thin it., reduction pans, reductions need to happen rapidly in serving to preserve flavors. and the greater the surface area of the liquid the faster the water will evaporate., however you may want to whisk something into the sauce while its cooking - such as butter or olive oil for example - and for that i find a small wok is best; 1 with a handle., a wok is less likely to reduce so fast that the sauce is burnt while your back is turned. but try both methods and see which you prefer. you may even end up using something totally different., no magic to this. whatever works for you, that s what you should use, in this and everything else to do with cooking., just bear in mind that what you re after is speed and ease of use. as well as a great tasting result, of course. :>), keeping, if they should dry out , simply add a little water and heat through., sauces containing meat juices of any kind must be frozen if you re going to keep them, and should be brought to boiling point before being used again. there is no need to thaw them out to do this, in fact it s better not to. simply drop the frozen cubes into a saucepan, melt them over a gentle heat, and then bring swiftly to the boil., why do you do this to avoid food poisoning, that s why. you are making sure that any bugs introduced into the sauce during the preparation process are killed off., worry , this will not be because of anything you have done wrong (i hope!), but because bacteria are part of our everyday lives and they exist in every kitchen, however clean., in fact your food , and especially your meat, is crawling with wildlife that you will never see. don tsp worry about them. careful handling and simple precautions will ensure that these miniature monsters can never multiply enough to harm either you or your guests.

flour, sugar (decrease to just under 3 cups especially if frosting), baking powder, eggs, orange juice, pure vanilla extract, oil, vanilla instant pudding mix

extra virgin olive oil, maggi seasoning, worcestershire sauce, dry mustard, fresh lime juice, celery salt, head lettuce, use your favorite , torn into pieces, tomatoes, cut into small cubes, onion, cucumber, seeded and sliced, bacon, cooked and crumbled, sliced radish, cheddar cheese, grated, avocados, peeled, pitted and sliced, sliced black olives, dill pickle slices (to garnish )

frozen mashed potatoes, butter or 1 tbsp margarine, milk, ground beef, cooked, finely crumbled, and drained, taco seasoning mix, sun-dried tomato, diced black olives, sour cream, grated cheddar cheese

vegetarian refried beans (pinto or black refried beans will work), taco seasoning (add to taste, i usually only use about half), corn tortilla chips, shredded cheese (cheddar, pepperjack, queso are all good), avocados, garlic clove, crushed, roma tomato, seeded and chopped, lime , juice of, mexican rice (spanish will also work)

chicken breasts, pineapple (the ring kind is best ), salsa (spicy is especially good), onion (thinly sliced ), red wine vinegar, black pepper

chicken (or uncooked shrimp peeled, or and shrimp both), dried shiitake mushroom (reconstituted, drained, and roughly chopped ), spinach (thawed and drained ), scallion (chopped ), celery (sliced ), red bell pepper (sliced ), jalapeno pepper (seeded and chopped ), water chestnuts (sliced ), garlic cloves (minced ), fresh ginger (grated ), cornstarch, rice wine, soy sauce (or tamari), peanut oil, sesame oil, salt, pepper, white rice (steamed )

flour, sugar, unsweetened cocoa, milk, egg whites, vegetable oil or 1/4 cup olive oil, vanilla, salt, strawberry, sliced (if they re not especially sweet, slice and sprinkle with balsamic vinegar and let sit for an hour), raspberries, blackberry, blueberries, kiwi, sliced

extra virgin olive oil, hot pepper sauce, garlic cloves, finely chopped, lemon , juice of, grated lemon peel, sweet smoked paprika, jumbo shrimp, deveined and peeld with tail left on, chorizo sausage, casings removed , cut on an angle into 12 slices, chicken broth, frozen peas, scallions, finely chopped, saffron threads or 1 1/2 tsp turmeric, couscous, chopped cilantro, sliced almonds, toasted, pimiento stuffed green olive, chopped

bulgar wheat, boiling water, cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced, fresh cilantro, chopped, tomato, chopped, diced onion, jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced fine, chili powder, salt, queso fresco, crumbled, limes, juiced, corn oil

sugar, condensed milk, equal amount fresh milk (pour into empty condensed milk can to measure), eggs, vanilla, almond extract, salt, amaretto or almond liqueur, oranges, peeled and cut into sections, strawberries, stems left on , if desired

ripe hass avocados, chunky salsa, lemon pepper, red pepper powder, diced jalapeno, white corn tortilla chips

gluten free self-raising flour of choice, grated cheese (only if you can eat cheese - i can tsp so don tsp use it and it still tastes good), oil, herbs of choice (try chives especially if you re adding cheese, other suggestions are: mixed herbs, parsley, oregano, basil, romsemary, thyme, marjoram), milk - lactose free if lactose intollerant (amount of milk is up to your preference - i add enough to make the mixture runny because it gives it a better texture at the end but since its a muffin mixture, its not actually meant to have that much), egg

chocolate tortillas, flour, sugar, good quality unsweetened cocoa, skim milk, egg whites, oil (either vegetable or evoo), vanilla, salt, fill with whatever fruit is fresh and wonderful, strawberries (grind a tiny amount of fresh pepper over them, or if they re not especially sweet, slice and sprinkle with balsamic vinegar and let sit for an hour), raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, chopped mango, kiwi, sliced peaches (grate some nutmeg over them)

butter, onion, chopped, fresh parsley, chopped, dill, basil, frozen chopped spinach, thawed, squeezed dry, juice of 1/2 fresh lemon, milk, feta cheese, crumbled, swiss chesse, shredded, ground cumin, nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste, eggs, separated, pie shell, unbaked (whole wheat crust is especially good)

italian fruit salad, honey, orange liqueur - i use orange juice, strawberries (halved, or quartered , if especially large), seedless grapes, mandarin oranges (drained ), fresh pineapple, peeled, cored and cut into 1/2-inch chunks , or 1 20-oz can pineapple chunks with juice, drained, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, in a small bowl, whisk together honey and fruit liqueur. wash the berries and grapes. add all the fruit to a large serving bowl, add the dressing and toss everything together. chill well before serving.

crushed town house crackers or saltines (ritz crackers seem to be too sweet, especially with the already sweet vidalias), melted butter, divided, chopped vidalia onions, eggs, milk, salt, pepper, grated sharp cheddar cheese, paprika