Food Hacks How-Tos
How To: 3 Bakers' Tricks to Getting a Perfect Crispy Bread Crust at Home
One of the best qualities about fresh bread (such as sourdough) is a thick, crispy crust—which is easy to create in a commercial oven, but can be tricky for home cooks to replicate. Luckily, the the trick to baking a professional-style crust is a simple one—just bake your loaf with steam using one of these three methods to achieve the perfect, crispy crust.
How To: This Yogurt Trick Will Help You Get Professional-Tasting Sourdough Bread at Home
Sourdough is a delightful twist on your traditional bread, but creating and maintaining a sourdough starter can be a headache for many home bakers.
How To: Oops! Food Too Spicy? Here's How to Fix It
The headline above may have some spice addicts shaking their heads, but, believe it or not, there are people out there who either don't like or can't handle a ton of spice.
How To: Make Copycat Trader Joe's Spices at Home
The spice selection at Trader Joe's is both inexpensive and truly top-notch. According to their site, they deal with some of the highest-quality spice manufacturers in the world and, in working with them directly, they eliminate hidden costs spent on promotions, brand-building, and advertising. This allows the customer to experiment with new flavors and build up their spice rack—without the usual limiting factor of high cost. If you don't have access to a Trader's in your culinary neck of the...
How To: The Ultimate Carb-Conscious Alternative to Sandwich Bread
If you're gluten-free, on a diet, or just cutting the carbs like me, eating a sandwich can be a dangerous game. There are traditional alternatives such as lettuce or egg wraps, but they have their drawbacks: they can't hold as many ingredients, they can be lack flavor when raw and un-rendered, and it's hard to layer the toppings and condiments to create your perfect bite.
How To: This French Press Hack Makes DIY Almond Milk a Snap
We've been on a constant hunt for the best way to make almond milk at home, and we think this trick might just be the most genius yet.
How To: These 5 Recipes Prove That Tea Is a Delicious Addition to Anything
A cup of ginger tea with lemon first thing in the morning, a pick-me-up cup of green tea (or matcha) to fight off the afternoon slump and a soothing cup of chamomile tea to help me unwind before bed—I would be lying if I said I weren't a major tea enthusiast.
How To: Rehydrate Rock-Hard Dried Fruit with This Clever Hack
Dried fruit makes a great snack or salad topping, but after a while, they tend to become fossilized, rock-hard versions of their former selves. At this point, most folks probably just toss them out, as they're unpleasant to chew on when eaten raw and even more unpleasant to eat in bread or cooked with other ingredients.
How To: Make Perfectly Circular McMuffin-Style Eggs Without Special Tools
We like our Egg McMuffins around here, albeit homemade with our preferred ingredients: whole wheat (or homemade sourdough) English muffins, a slice of thick Tillamook cheddar cheese, a meat, perhaps, like Canadian bacon, and finally—that perfectly-fried, perfectly-shaped egg.
How To: Try These Awesome Copycat Recipes to Make Easter Candy at Home
Make delicious candy for Easter from the comfort of your kitchen with copycat versions of your favorite classics: Marshmallow Peeps, Cadbury Creme Eggs, Reese's Peanut Butter eggs, Almond Joy bars, and chocolate bunnies. The best part is that you get your sugar fix without the preservatives.
How To: Make Your Recipes Pop with Seltzer Water
While seltzer water is commonly consumed as a beverage (and a healthier alternative to carbonated soda), it is less known as a fantastic addition to many familiar recipes. The bubbles in seltzer water expand when heated, and when added to certain foods, it instantly allows them to be lighter in taste and texture.
How To: Store Meat to Avoid Freezer Burn
Frozen meat is a saving grace for weeknight meals. Whenever I crave a certain protein, all I need to do is defrost it. Sometimes, I don't even need to defrost it in order to use it.
How To: 10 Reasons You Need to Add Cinnamon to Your Coffee
Creamer, milk (whole or skim), sugar, or even butter—you've probably added at least one of these to your coffee to improve its taste at some point. If you're looking for something different, though, try a new twist with a dash of cinnamon. This sweet, sharp spice can do so much more than improve coffee's taste, and I've got 10 examples for you to consider.
How To: These Easy Hacks Transform Trader Joe's Frozen Foods into Gourmet Feasts
If you have a local Trader Joe's, you know first-hand how enchanting the frozen aisles are—almost every item offers the promise of a delicious meal or dessert. (We're always tempted to open the package and eat the cookie butter cheesecake, stat.)
How To: It's Actually Really Simple to Make Fritos, Doritos, & Tostitos at Home
Chips are one of the most overpriced snacks on the market, and they're wildly unhealthy... even though they don't need to be.
How To: Make All-Natural Green Food Dye for St. Patrick's Day
When we were kids, Saint Patrick's Day was a green-hued holiday that promised green eggs in the morning and green mashed potatoes in the evening... along with some traditional corned beef and cabbage, of course.
How To: 10 Quick & Easy Herbal Drinks That Relieve Aches & Pains
When a headache strikes, I reach for the nearest painkiller. Forget closing my eyes, laying down, or even applying an ice pack—I seek the quickest and most immediate relief possible, and normally that comes in the form of pills. However, fast relief can be found from another, more natural source: herbal beverages. So if you're tired of popping pills when you have aches and pains, try some of these herbal drinks out instead.
How To: Making Reese's Peanut Butter Cups at Home Is Super Simple
Rich, creamy chocolate cups stuffed with smooth, salty-sweet peanut butter in a bite-sized package—yep, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups are an amazing fix for your sweet tooth at best, and a guilty pleasure at worst. It's easy enough to buy them on a whim at the local grocery store, but it's even easier than you might think to make them right at home.
How To: 10 Reasons to Drag Your Egg Slicer Out of the Back of Your Drawer
I have to confess: my egg slicer has been neglected ever since I bought it. I had ambitious dreams of using it to slice perfectly symmetrical slivers of hard-boiled egg into my salads... but the truth is, once I tucked it into a kitchen drawer, I completely forgot about it. That is, until recently when I discovered that it can be used to slice way more than just eggs.
How To: Cooking in Parchment Paper Is Easier & Tastier Than You Thought
En papillote may sound like a difficult French cooking method you'd never use at home, but don't be fooled by its fancy name—it's actually a really easy way to cook food that is moist and flavorful, and all you need is some parchment paper and your oven.
How To: Toss It or Freeze It? The Ultimate Guide to Refrigerated Meats
When to throw meat away is a common question, and one I often ask when faced with meat sitting in the fridge after a few days. With vegetables, you can usually tell on sight (or with this guide) when they're past due, but meat is not as simple.
How To: These Impressive Pastries Are Actually Super Easy to Make at Home
If you've ever found yourself staring at intricately woven pastries at your local bakery and wondered how they do it, you'd be surprised to know it's not all that difficult. Those pastries with differing shapes and lovely lattice work may scream endless preparation and meticulous attention to detail, but they're actually quite easy to make at home.
How To: 20 Easy Dips You Can Make in 5 Minutes or Less Using Your Food Processor
Hands down, chips and dip are the best entertainment foods to ever exist. This fact can be confirmed in an instant by any grocery shopper strolling down the chip isle on Super Bowl Sunday or New Year's Eve. However, you may want to hold off on buying those standard salsas or dips at the store—especially if you own a food processor.
How To: 5 Fantastic Ways to Cook with Leftover Lemon Peels
Lemon peels have long been known for their ability to be home remedies for cleaning and medicinal needs. In the kitchen, they are equally as useful and can transform many common dishes and drinks into more memorable ones with just a hint of citrus. To give you some ideas, below are five ways that lemon peels can spruce up your recipes.
How To: Prep Oats Overnight for Easy Grab-&-Go Breakfasts All Week
Many of us are guilty of sacrificing a delicious breakfast for a few extra minutes of sleep in the morning during the busy work week. Grab-and-go breakfasts are definitely timesavers, but granola bars and other packaged items often lack the fresh breakfast feel that makes the first meal of the day so great.
How To: 10 Amazing Reasons to Dust Off Your Ice Cream Maker
My Cuisinart ice cream maker was a wedding gift; it wasn't something on my list, but I jumped up and down with delight when I unwrapped it. I never would've purchased this appliance on my own because it didn't seem practical, yet I loved the idea of making homemade ice cream.
How To: 7 Sweet & Savory Ways to Use Pancake Batter
In my household, we are frugal and somewhat picky eaters, so we have to be a little creative with the things we buy. We like to purchase items that can be used in multiple dishes to reduce cost—and because it's just more practical. Pancake mix is a favorite because it can be used in various dishes where any type of breading may be involved. To help inspire you, here are some of my favorite ways to use pancake batter at home.
How To: Make Jamba Juice's 5 Best 'Secret' Smoothies at Home
Whenever I go to Jamba Juice, I usually gravitate towards either the Matcha Green Tea or Caribbean Passion smoothies. But when I learned about their secret menu a few years ago, I felt like a little kid all over again—especially with flavors like Pink Gummy Bear and Orange Dream Machine.
How To: Make Amazing Dessert Art Using Bubble Wrap
The internet was blowing up recently over this mind-blowing, mouth-watering video of a woman making a cake decoration out of… wait for it… chocolate bubble wrap. Yes, that's right: she turned the ubiquitous packing material into the mold for an absolutely gorgeous cake embellishment that, deservedly, went viral. You can watch the video below.
How To: This Quick & Easy Shortcut Minces Garlic in Seconds
Don't like mincing garlic into tiny pieces with a knife? No matter how you mince garlic, it will never be as easy as this kitchen trick. You won't even need a knife—just a fork! It's a great hack for kids just learning how to cook or if you only need about one or two cloves for your recipe and feel like speeding things up a bit.
How To: Screw Sandwiches—Toast Is Where It's At
Local cafés and food bloggers are catching onto a gourmet toast trend that makes bread and butter look like movies before color TV was invented.
How To: You Can Make Rice Krispies Treats in the Microwave in Just 5 Minutes
It's no secret that the microwave is a modern-day wonder that, when used correctly, can cook a wide variety of food in a snap.
How To: Kill Your Cold Naturally with These 5 Common Ingredients
Uh-oh: you wake up one morning with the telltale signs that you are coming down with something. Your throat is sore, you can barely breathe out of your nose, and you have a nagging cough.
How To: Everything You Need to Know About Cooking with Plantains
The produce section is full of fruits, both familiar and quite strange. Depending on the season, you may see giant, bright-green bananas on display next to the normal bananas that you know and love. No, those aren't super-unripened bananas—they're plantains, and they are definitely a different fruit altogether. However, once you get to know them a little better, you'll find that they're much more fun to cook with.
How To: Make the Best Fried Chicken of Your Life with These 5 Pro Tips
Everyone has their own reality, and in that same vein, everyone has their own guidelines for what makes the "perfect fried chicken." Now, I'm not saying that my version is the ultimate for everyone, but it's definitely a crowd pleaser in my experience.
How To: Greek Yogurt Makes a Surprisingly Great Substitute for Mayo & Other Dairy
Greek yogurt has always been in my regular snack rotation. Packed with more protein than plain yogurt, it fills me up and stabilizes my energy with its low levels of carbohydrates and sugar.
How To: Eat More Sprinkles with These 12 Fairy Bread Creations
If you've spent any time at all recently on social media, then you've probably seen pictures of fairy bread. This magical creation comes to us courtesy of Australia, so we have yet another thing to thank those clever folks Down Under for... along with shrimp on the barbie, Vegemite (the Aussie cousin of Marmite), and Hugh Jackman.
How To: 5 Amazing Ways to Bake with Coconut Oil
I remember the first time I used coconut oil; the whole kitchen was filled with a fragrant aroma that reminded me of the tropics. After learning it was a healthier alternative to traditional cooking oil—not to mention a great source of the good-for-you saturated fat—I was hooked.
How To: Make Perfectly Crispy Hash Browns at Home with This Trick
Delicious hash browns are ridiculously easy to make at home. So skip the diner and save your money—use this salad spinner trick instead to make crispy and seasoned hash browns quickly and with ease.
How To: Tell if Beef, Pork, or Poultry is Cooked (Without a Thermometer)
Knowing if your meat is cooked properly is both the difference between a delicious meal and an inedible one... and the difference between making your guests sick and keeping them safe.