As a home cook, there are several little things you can do that will make a big impact on your food. If I had to pick my top 3 small things that make a big difference, they would be (in no particular order):
1- Use a meat thermometer to not only safeguard against serving someone raw chicken, but also to avoid serving them a dried out piece of meat. Temperature control on meat is key to delicious proteins.
2- Replace your iodized table salt with kosher salt. We keep iodized salt for baking, but outside of that I can’t stand it anymore. I think some people are under the illusion that kosher salt is expensive. It’s not. You will notice an immediate difference in the flavor of your food. Just taste the two salts by themselves if you need more convincing.
3- Always use fresh ground pepper. I can’t think of any food item that you would put pepper on where the flavor would not be significantly enhanced by using freshly ground pepper instead of the pre-ground, stale-as-all-get-out, flavorless pepper that fails at seasoning your food but succeeds at making you sneeze uncontrollably. I have never purchased pre-ground pepper and I don’t plan to.
The first two I encourage you all to take the initiative on. If you don’t have a meat thermometer, you can buy them at Walmart or Ross for maybe $5, and you can find kosher salt at any grocery store (where you find the baking stuff like flour and what have you) where a big box of it costs maybe $2.00. As for the third, well, maybe we can help you with that… with this month’s Ikea as-is giveaway! (applause)
Okay, so we were walking through the as-is section of Ikea and saw this pepper grinder for a great deal. If you don’t have a pepper grinder, or if yours is falling apart or if you just don’t like looking at it anymore, we’d love to hook ya up. Check out this tall guy-
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Diameter: 4 ” Height 15 “
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I’m all about the function on this bad-boy, but from what Jules tells me, it’s pretty “chic” looking, too. So we’re gonna send it to one of you lucky folks. Â We want to hear about the worst meal you ever made. Â Some day I’ll share mine (Jules and I laugh about it all the time, because it was legitimately horrible), but as for now I have to look like I actually know what I’m doing with my food posts.Â
- To enter: Leave a comment on this post about the worst meal you’ve ever cooked. Â (don’t forget to leave an email address so we can contact you if you win)
- Giveaway closes: Thursday, March 17th at 9 pm MST
- The winner will be selected using random.org and announced on Friday. Good luck!Â
Only one entry per person. Prize only ships to 48 contiguous states. (We still love you Alaska and Hawaii).Â
THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED,Â
BUT KEEP CHECKING BACK FOR OUR NEXT ONE.Â
THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED,Â
BUT KEEP CHECKING BACK FOR OUR NEXT ONE.Â
I tried a recipe using brussel sprouts once – yuck!
hrddiana556@gmail.com
I made basil friend rice while pregnant only to find out that I did NOT like basil anymore
slsteffen86(at)gmail(dot)com
I made a pumpkin pie without any sugar. It was disgusting. I just forgot
sarahlovesvegas@hotmail
Ewww. Once I decided I was going to make a Salmon and Potato Soup…easy enough, right? Wrong! I worked really hard cutting the fish and doing everything just perfectly! It cooked down to a nasty, mushy mess! On top of that I accidentally let it boil which caused the milk to curdle! Yuck! Lol! It smelled so bad we had to open the windows! Anytime I ever mention cooking fish my family quickly thinks of something else they want for supper!!
dana10879@yahoo.com
I would say the first time I made spaghetti,burnt it….
ardelong2(at)gmail(dot)com