Products I Love

Products I love

store jars no bands

Why I Store My Jars With No Bands

Sometimes I’m asked: why do I store my jars with the lids sealed on, but the bands removed? As part of my normal canning process, I take the jars out of the canner, and let them cool for several hours or overnight. Then I remove the bands, and check the seal: […]

sous vide chicken teriyaki

Sous Vide Cooking in My Kitchen

January is a time when I return to the simple in my kitchen. After 6 weeks of feasts, cookies, pies, more feasts, and all the glitter of the holidays, it’s time to simplify. This month I want to eat down the freezer, use up the pantry supplies, and, in general, […]

mockmill on mixer

Grind Your Own Flour with a Mockmill

Everybody loves fresh bread, right? It tastes amazing. Now imagine really fresh bread made with freshly ground flour – flour that you grind yourself. And imagine it being easier than you ever dreamed of. I was offered a Mockmill to work with – and of course I said YES, and I’m going to tell […]

Microplane Elite Box Grater

Tools: Microplane Elite Box Grater

I’ve been asked by my readers to write about something ‘hidden’ in my kitchen: the equipment and tools I use day to day. They’d like to know how I cook, and if I use a fancy piece of equipment, if there’s some low-tech tool they could use instead. So from time to […]

Anove Precision Cooker Red

Experiment: Sous Vide Cooking

I’ve been intrigued by the sous vide cooking technique since I first heard of it: what if I could cook things in water, which transfers heat so much better than air does, as in  the oven? What if I could keep the food dry, but immerse it in liquid, and cook it […]

Canning Lids

Canning Alert: changes for lids!

Canning alert: changes for lids!! I first learned about this by reading Theresa Loe’s blog at livinghomegrown.com: the Jarden Company, who make lids for Ball canning jars, advise new procedures for using canning lids. It has to do with the red gasket on the inside of the lid. As of 2013, lids are made without BPA and are labeled […]