Daily Archives: September 21, 2015

Eating In

Must Haves – Item 2 – Digital Kitchen Scale

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This is my second favorite kitchen gadget.  From measuring dry ingredients such as flour (5 oz per cup) to portioning out burger patties, it is quick and accurate.

When baking, accuracy in flour measurement is really important.  Depending on temperature, humidity and method used with the measuring cup, the actual amount of flour in ‘a cup’ can very significantly enough to affect the outcome.  With a scale, the weight is always the same.  and it is a fair bit faster to just pour flour into a bowl on the scale until you have just enough.

Then you can zero (tare) out the scale, and add your next ingredient by weight and so on.  It really does make life in the kitchen much easier – for real.

I place a bowl on the scale, and then portion out my meat patties into 6 oz patties (8 oz if Kathy isn’t looking) and then every patty is the same size and cooks in the same time as each other.

Buying meats in bulk is a great way to economize, but portioning it out into 1 lb portions then bagging it for the freezer makes it easy to use down the road.

You can even weigh a puppy prior to… no, not cooking him… figuring out how much food he should be getting!

No amimals were harmed in the taking of this photo. All dishes were cleaned prior to being used again. 8-)
No amimals were harmed in the taking of this photo. All dishes were cleaned prior to being used again. 😎

I have a different scale, but this one is very highly rated by a source I trust very much.

Next up – Prep Dishes

Eating In

Must Haves – Item 1 – The Thermopen

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I am in the process of adding a section to the site with links to some of my favorite kitchen gear.  Kitchens are a funny place – stuff accumulates with the same mysterious ways as crop circles pop up on the land (maybe their both aliens messing with us), and much of it is not actually useful.  So much if the gear is useful for little other than taking up space.

Much if it is designed to ‘make life easier’ in the kitchen – As Seen On TV.  Unfortunately, most of the time the bits of kit just don’t work, or worse take twice the time to use and clean up than just doing the ‘old fashioned’ way.  Alton Brown is my hero when it comes to what he calls ‘unitaskers’.  And the only permissible unitasker in his books is the fire extinguisher.  I tend to agree.

That said, there are a few items that every cook should have in their kitchen.  The first is an instant read thermometer.  A top quality instant read thermometer is something you will use pretty much every time you cook.  A cheap imitation will be buried in the back of your drawer faster than you can say “this piece of garbage…”.  My favorite, and the one that is generally considered to be the best, is the Thermopen .  Available by mail order only, it is indispensable in my kitchen.  I use it to measure the temp of water to bloom yeast (105-115 degrees), the temp of baking break (200+), to check meat on the grill or in the smoker, or to gauge poultry in the oven.  Tonight I used mine to make sure the smoked burger patty in the frying pan was fully cooked without having to cut into it and let the juices out.

The Thermopen is quick, accurate and has a very small tip that makes the smallest puncture in your food, which preserves juices and keeps it from looking like it got cooked on a dart board.

You can check it out here at:

http://www.thermoworks.com/products/thermapen/

I will add some more items that I find indispensable in the days to come.

Next Up – Digital Kitchen Scale

Daily Life, Eating In

A Perfect Sunday

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Some Lilies from our garden – a beautiful reminder of a summer slipping away from us day by day

Yesterday we had a visit from our friends Rick and Laurie, and their awesome kids Kyle and Caitlee.  They have recently moved to our home town from the coast, and it is great to have them here.

At long last,  we finally found some time to get together and have brunch here around our kitchen table.  They have been busy settling into their new home, and that all takes time so between that and our busy schedules, this was our first real chance to get together and have a visit.

Brunch was the usual fare, Pop’s Pancakes, sausage, bacon, scrambled eggs, fruit and a few toppings were the main course.  A few drinks, both adult and something for the kids topped it off.  But hands down, the best part was the company.  The kids are great, Caitlee ran the feet off of Eve and Harley, a bit of Call of Duty on the PS3 let Kyle show me exactly how bad… no, pathetic I am at video games.  It was really nice visit just hanging for the afternoon with R&L, and catching up on life.

One of the things I love most about food in general and cooking with or for friends,  is the social aspect that goes along with it.  Going out for brunch or dinner is great, but it is on a schedule with people all around and severs bustling to and fro.  Cooking at home is so much more relaxed and social, brunch can go 5-6 hours without a server coming to ask if you are EVER going to leave, and you can just sit back, relax and enjoy.  It doesn’t have to be grandiose, the point is the people at the table, the food is just the excuse to get together.

We had a great relaxed visit, and there is no better way to spend a day in my books.  Taking a few hours from our hectic schedules to just stop and ‘smell the roses’ is something that we all need to do more often.  Time passes, and before we know it we have lost touch with some of those who mean the most.  Take a few min, put on a pot of coffee and call some friends over for a social afternoon.  It is time that will pay you back with memories to keep dear.

Thanks to Rick and Laurie and the kids for a wonderful and memorable afternoon!  We look forward to seeing you guys again soon!

Best Budz!
Best Budz!
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One pooched puppy – dreaming of his next time with his new playmate