Hot Food Hacks Posts
DIY Bacon Rose Bouquet: Who Says Bacon Can't Be Romantic?
Show your significant other just how much you love them by surprising him or her with one of life's most precious, romantic gifts—bacon! Best thing is, this passionate treat works for any day of the year (Valentine's Day, a first date, anniversary, etc.), since love and bacon go hand in hand.
News: Store-Bought Almond Milk Is Bad for You (And the Environment)
While Kobe beef cows get massaged, American dairy cows are taking a real beating. Many people are cutting back on dairy while a growing number of people are discovering that they're lactose intolerant. As the public's disdain of cow's milk grows, milk sales themselves are at a forty-year low.
Weird Ingredient Wednesday: Would You Risk Your Life to Eat This Deadly Fish?
Sushi aficionados and Simpsons fans alike know all about the joys of fugu. Known also as blowfish, it's reputed for being tasty if sliced from the correct part of the animal and many even say they experience a "fugu high" after eating the fish. Alas, if you have an unskilled chef, fugu is famous for being deadly.
How To: Skip the Green Beer & Indulge in These 8 Desserts for St. Patrick's Day
Soda bread, corned beef and cabbage, and colcannon are all great dishes to serve up on St. Patrick's Day, but desserts really let your inner leprechaun come out to play. Not only can you have fun incorporating all kinds of tasty Irish liquors into baked goods, you get to dye things green.
How To: 9 Ways to Hack Your Life with Coconut Oil
Coconut oil must be sent from the gods themselves, because this stuff is made of miracles. If you ever wondered why your mother always has it around, it's because she's smart enough to know the countless uses for it.
Food Tool Friday: Meet PancakeBot, the World's First Pancake Printer
3D printing is getting closer and closer to becoming an everyday reality—which means revolutionary things are going to start happening for the home cook. Already there's a 3D printer that can produce edible tailored fruit and the Foodini, which can print full meals, including spaghetti and burgers. However, neither are available for purchase, and most likely won't be within reach of the average cook for years.
News: This Chart Tells You What Kind of Pie to Make Depending on the Season
Pie and pi lovers rejoice: whether you like eating pies or calculating their area, 3/14 is your day. March 14 is a holiday for both bakers and math nerds: Pi Day, where the day and month correspond to the first three digits of the most famous mathematical constant.
Weird Ingredient Wednesday: Zucchini Blossoms
Those ordinary green zucchini you see in the market are hiding a lovely, delicious secret: Actually, all summer squashes produce these delightful blooms, but the zucchini's are most frequently used for eating since they taste the best: fresh, clean, and zucchini-like, but with a little something extra. They used to be a rarity at supermarkets, so you had to have a garden or a gardener friend who would generously share the bounty with you.
How To: This Trick Makes Spaghetti Squash “Noodles” More Like Actual Pasta
Using spaghetti squash "noodles" for a healthy, low-carb meal seems like such a great idea, but as many of us know, turning this vegetable into a decent pasta facsimile usually has less-than-satisfying results. The usual method is to cut the squash lengthwise and roast, microwave, or steam it. Often, it comes out overcooked and underwhelming.
Food Tool Friday: Cut Your Cooking Time with a Pressure Cooker
Kitchen tools are a personal thing. One hard lesson for me to learn is that just because something is popular doesn't mean that it's right for me. Take the slow cooker, for instance. Many rave about it, but I never cottoned to the thing. However, the more research I do, the more I think the pressure cooker might be a game changer for my cooking style.
How To: Cut Back on Calories with These Easy, Tasty, & Healthy Cheese Alternatives
Cheese might be one of the most satisfying snacks around, whether you prefer a slice of snappy Irish cheddar or a creamy, rich portion of Brie. It's been called "dairy crack" by a respected physician and for good reason: eating cheese produces casomorphins, which effect the human body like opiates. It also contains trace amounts of actual morphine.
How To: 12 More Delicious Reasons to Dust Off Your Waffle Maker
Your waffle maker might just be the most underutilized tool in your kitchen. This one appliance can make bacon, eggs, hash browns, cupcakes, falafel, mac and cheese, and cinnamon rolls much more quickly and with less mess than traditional methods. Plus, the results all come out waffle-shaped—what's not to love?
How To: Make Tater Tots Even More Delicious
Tater tots have a bad rap as a soggy cafeteria staple, but bake them at home and they crisp up nicely in the oven. Drain any unwanted oil from them on paper towels and they become perfectly crunchy on the outside and fluffy on the inside.
Pop Rocks Recipes: Add Some Fireworks to Your Food
If you're a child of the '70s, then you'll probably remember Pop Rocks, those fizzy little candies that created such a buzz. They went out of style in the States for a while, but now they're back with retro status. I was surprised to see them in my kids' Halloween bags a few years ago, and one taste brought me back to my childhood.
How To: Tasty Low-Carb Pasta Alternatives That Aren't Just Shaved Vegetables
Enough with zoodles (zucchini noodles), spaghetti squash, and carrot 'pasta' spirals. A well-prepared dish of zoodles with sauce is beautiful and tasty, but let's get real, it doesn't fill you up. If you use it as a meal replacement, then you'll be hungry about 30 minutes later.
How To: When Life Gives You Snow, Make Snowy Desserts
You've heard the old saying, "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade." Well, the same goes true for snow. When Mother Nature dumps loads of the white stuff onto your neighborhood, then make the most of it with treats like maple snow candy, snow ice cream, and snow cocktails.
How To: DIY Grenadine Syrup Will Change How You Make Cocktails
When I was younger, my family would go to fancy restaurants and I would invariably order a Shirley Temple. (Ironically, the real Shirley Temple actually didn't like it much.) But it's hard to really find anything offensive in this kiddie cocktail: It's ginger ale with a splash of grenadine. There's also the less famous Roy Rogers, which is Coca-Cola with grenadine. The grenadine, red and sumptuous, always made its drinks look and taste much cooler.
News: Blowtorches Aren't Just for Crème Brûlée
One of the most mind-blowing meals I ever ate occurred when I was 12 years old. The main course and sides were good, if unmemorable, but my jaw dropped during dessert when my friend's mother whipped out a blowtorch—as in a bona fide welding torch from the hardware store—to finish off the crème brûlée.
How To: Deconstructed Sushi for All the Flavor & None of the Labor
If you're a sushi lover but not an expert sushi maker, you can still enjoy the flavors of sushi rolls at home with these deconstructed sushi dishes.
News: Use Blood for Pancakes, Sausages, Desserts & More
Cooking with animal blood is as old as civilization itself. I promise that your ancient ancestors, no matter where you're from, didn't have the luxury of throwing away any part of the animal, including the very lifeblood that used to run through it. Animal blood, along with everything but the skin, would invariably end up in the stew.
Pancake Art: 10 Cool Breakfast Designs to Try Out at Home
When it comes to making pancakes in the morning, most of us probably follow the instructions on the box. Mix all the ingredients together, pour onto a hot greased pan, and form perfect circular flapjacks one by one.
How To: Make Tot Chos (Bacon, Tater Tots, Gravy, Cheese)
This is an amazing appetizer, called Tot Chos. This is for anyone and everyone that love bacon, tater tots, gravy, and cheese. Such an awesome combination! You can't go wrong. An explosion of flavor with every bite. I was first introduced to these over a year ago at a burger joint here in AZ. It was hooked after the first bite. So I decided to make them. Enjoy!
Tongs: Your Most Underrated Cooking Tool
Don't leave your tongs out by the grill, as they are one of the most useful and versatile cooking tools to have in your kitchen. In my house, they come in a very close second to chopsticks, which I cook with everyday. Like chopsticks, they make it easy to delicately flip and turn food with precision. But unlike chopsticks, there's no learning curve, so anyone can use tongs for easier, simpler cooking.
How To: 6 Hilarious Anti-Valentine's Day Treats
Valentine's Day can seem like Singles Awareness Day if you're newly broken up, but that's all the more reason to treat yourself on this pink-and-red consumerist holiday. Whether you're happily single or bitter and bitchy, there's definitely something on this list of Anti-Valentine's Day treats to fit your mood. Remember: cake is still cake!
Weird Ingredient Wednesday: Freekeh, Your New Favorite Superfood
Freekeh is the next great supergrain that you might not have heard of yet. According to nutritionists, it comes out on top compared all to other grains, with more protein, fiber, vitamins, minerals, and a lower glycemic index.
How To: 15 Clever Ways to Use Coffee Filters for More Than Just Java
Even if you've put aside your percolator and have gone the way of the pod coffeemaker, there are still dozens of ways to use your leftover coffee filters. Incredibly cheap, absorbent, and shaped with a ruffle, coffee filters are useful in the kitchen, garden, and around the house.
News: Flash-Freeze Anything with the Anti-Griddle
Essentially, the Anti-Griddle does exactly what its name promises: it turns things almost instantaneously cold when you drop them on its "grilling" surface. Unlike home methods of flash freezing, its staggeringly low temperatures (-30°F/-34.4°C) allows ingredients that normally can't be frozen—like oil or alcohol—to turn into solids in the wink of an eye. As you might imagine, this allows chefs to play with textures and tastes in a way that was previously unimaginable.
Lemon Aid: Use Lemons to Clean Copper, Keep Pasta from Sticking, & More
Lemons and limes might be among the most useful fruits in the kitchen and even beyond. Their bright, tart flavor livens up just about any dish, while their mildly acidic nature makes them incredibly useful when you want to clean your house safely. We already knew lemons were great for keeping fruits and vegetables from turning brown, deodorizing garbage disposals, disinfecting cutting boards, and neutralizing odors. But just when we thought we knew all the ways that lemons can be used around ...
How To: The Know-It-All's Guide to Caramelization
Look on any bistro or pub menu in America and you'll likely find the term caramelized onions as an option for your burger. The word "caramel" may conjure up images of candy, which is somewhat correct.
Buffalo Chicken Pizza Beer Dip: The Ultimate Super Bowl Party Snack
Chicken wings, pizza, beer, and chips are among the top five most popular Super Bowl foods, and we eat them in staggering quantities. According to the stats, Domino's and Pizza Hut sell over 25 million slices of pizza during the Super Bowl, and Americans snack on over 1 billion chicken wings, over 11 million pounds of potato chips, and drink over 49 million cases of beer.
Food Tool Friday: A Flexible Fish Spatula Is the Only Spatula You'll Ever Need
Most people who cook end up having at least three or four different kinds of spatulas in their drawers. I personally have at least five. However, if I had to do it all over again, I would purchase only one, and that would be a flexible fish spatula.
How To: 5-Minute Super Bowl Snacks for the Win
Planning a Super Bowl party, or any football-themed party for that matter, can be fun for even the most craft-adverse host, as almost anything brown can turn into a football with just a little decoration. With a little planning, you won't be serving up any Pinterest fails this Sunday night.
Super Bowl Snacks: Gatorade-Infused Treats for Game Day
Gatorade and football go hand in hand, from player endorsements to the traditional Gatorade shower that coaches get at each Super Bowl. So, get in the game-day spirit with these Gatorade-infused drinks, desserts, and snacks. The good thing about Gatorade is that it comes in every color of the rainbow—so feel free to make these in your favorite team's colors.
News: You Should Be Adding Charcoal to Your Food & Here's Why
Charcoal is a famously prized substance when it comes to food and drink. Grilling aficionados swear by it, and its purifying properties make it the main ingredient in Brita filters (and its alternatives).
How To: No Pasta Maker? Use Your Paper Shredder for Homemade Noodles Instead
Normally, office supplies and food don't mix, but you can use a paper shredder to make fresh pasta in your very own home (...or office). In other words, you don't have to buy a bulky and expensive piece of equipment to make fresh pasta. If you already have a paper shredder, you can simply feed pasta dough through it for perfect tagliatelle noodle strips that will taste far better than anything you can buy at the store. Step 1: Clean Your Machine
How To: Make Your Own Sore Throat Lozenges
It's that time of year again. The month after we exchange gifts, most of us tend to exchange germs. Cold and flu season always seems to creep up on us, often leaving us ill-prepared to deal with the ailments.
How To: 3 Tips to Better Tasting Beer
We are living in a golden age of craft beers. Originally invented by the ancient Egyptians, every culture now has its own tastes regarding beer. The process of making beer is so multi-faceted, it's a miracle that any gets made at all.
Food Tool: Jaccard Beats All Other Meat Tenderizers
Meat tenderizers are absolutely necessary when dealing with leaner, tougher cuts like flank or skirt steaks. And while fruit like papaya, kiwi, and pineapple contain enzymes that can tenderize meat, the results can be hit-or-miss, and impart a fruity flavor that you may not always want.
How To: Make Your Own Pesto Plus
Among the many gifts that Italy has bestowed upon the world, culinary and otherwise, pesto stands alone. The exact birthplace of pesto, that herby sauce made of pine nuts and olive oil, is an area of Italy called Liguria, whose microclimate is particularly kind to basil, one of pesto's key ingredients.
News: How Chemistry Creates the Ultimate Cheese Dip
I have a weird fondness for the texture, if not the taste of Velveeta (and Kraft American cheese slices). No other cheese has quite the same amount of slip or smoothness and manages to stay that way, undoubtedly because Velveeta contains sodium alginate, an algae derivative that helps it stay so silky-smooth even as it heats up. It also contains a high level of protein-to-fat ratios, which is what makes it a champion melter.