April 10, 2011
As a child I occasionally visited relatives in rural Mississippi. They bought 50 lb bags of flour and sugar which might last 6 months to a year. The bags were coarsely woven cotton. The humidity was high so lumps were common. It also was very common to find mealy bugs in the flour. Less common ...
February 4, 2011
There is a reason well designed commercial kitchens isolate the stove areas from work surfaces and open counter tops. It’s fire safety. Designers of home kitchens often ignore this fundamental concept, placing the stovetop right into a countertop. The result – a fire just waiting to happen. Scenario: It’s early in the morning. Half awake, ...
January 18, 2011
Baking often involves foods that rise. When we fill a pan, we must be aware that the final volume of the baked goods will be larger than the initial volume. This is particularly TRUE of recipes that use baking powder (or baking soda and an acid such as Cream of Tarter) as an ...
November 18, 2010
Originally for cheese making, this loose weave cotton cloth (it looks like gauze) has many uses in the kitchen. Here we constructed a blanket out of cheesecloth and saturated it with wine to keep the breast cooler than the rest of the bird. The thicker areas centered above each breast (\ tittys\ ) give ...