The 2-Ingredient Dessert You Need to Know (and 5 Amazing Ways to Eat It) — Tips from The Kitchn

There’s a dessert that, at its core, requires just two basic ingredients you probably have in your kitchen right now. It’s simple, yet so impressive and wonderfully versatile. Once you have this sweet — not to mention gluten-free — dessert in its most basic form, you can eat it as is, but with a little extra work, it can also be transformed into so much more.

What I’m talking about is meringue; all that stands between you and this delightful dessert are egg whites and sugar. Now let’s see all the things it can do.

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cannoli pound cake

cannoli pound cake

Why did I make this cake? Was it a birthday, a dinner party, or a pot-luck brunch? Was I testing recipes for a new cookbook or auditioning one that I fell for at a bookstore? Did I see this recipe online and found it irresistible? Was it a Friday treat to relieve the pressure of a long week? For someone who might never run out of “excuses” to make cake in this lifetime, you’d think I’d come up with something more exciting than the truth, which is that I could only find a big tub of ricotta at the store when I made ziti last time, and forced myself to find a clever way to use it up. Alas, I rather enjoy a challenge and so it’s cake o’clock again; rejoice!

what you'll need
lots of zest

But, if I’m being honest, I really wanted a cannoli, I mean, the good kind, the kind that’s in a hand-formed shell that’s been deep-fried to a crackly crisp and is filled only once you order it so the outer crunch remains intact. A proper cannoli, with orange and lemon peel and a whiff of Marsala, chopped pistachios and always, always, always with the miniature chocolate chips.

whisked by hand, so simple

… Read the rest of cannoli pound cake on smittenkitchen.com


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10 Things Every Anxious Cook Knows to Be True — Life in the Kitchen

Anxiety is the pits. As someone who has struggled with anxiety since I was in middle school, I can tell you now that it extends into every aspect of my life – including the kitchen. Did I remember to turn the stove off? Did I accidentally get a hair in that batch of cookies I’m serving to my colleagues? It’s that not-so welcome friend that is always in my life. The daily struggle is real.

Anxiety affects everybody differently. Anxiety can be brought on in social situations, it can be triggered by something specific, or it can seemingly come out of nowhere. But when it comes to the kitchen and cooking, there are a few key things I bet every anxious cook can somewhat identify with. Can you relate?

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I Did Everything “Right” and My Toddler Is Still a Picky Eater — Kids in the Kitchen

Before I had a kid, whenever I crossed paths with a child who was a picky eater, I was sympathetic about the problem. I know there are a lot of factors contributing to a kid’s limited palate, especially when they are very young, and parents have little to no control over many of them. “I totally get it!” I’d say, while watching a friend’s three-year-old methodically munch through an entire restaurant bread basket and eat nothing else. But deep, deep down, in the dark place of naked honesty, I’d think to myself: But with my kid, it’s going to be different. I’m going to do everything right.

This is where you start laughing if you have a child over the age of one. Because you know what happened: I did everything “right” and my 15-month-old son is still a picky eater.

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13 Thoughts Everyone Has While Waiting in the Grocery Store Check-Out Line — Life in the Kitchen

You remembered to bring your coupons, you found the food on your grocery list, and now all that stands between you and home is the check-out line. Sometimes it’s super short and you can run right through, and other times it’s a drawn-out process with lots of heartache. Such is the life of a home cook.

Grocery shopping is a war zone and everyone is a soldier. Here are 13 thoughts everyone has had at some point while waiting in a grocery store check-out line — the good, the bad, and the meaty.

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10 Surprising Uses for Kitchen Items Around the Rest of the House — Double Duty

You know the feeling you get when you have a problem in your home — a stain, a crack, an annoyance or a mundane task of some kind — and realize, with relief and a bit of relish, that you have the means on hand to fix it immediately? That’s the feeling I get when I look at this list of kitchen items that pull double-duty around the house: I don’t have to buy anything new or special to fix this thing I’m dealing with, because I can just use this other thing that I always keep in my kitchen. Yes.

Here are the top 10 kitchen things we use to solve problems all over the house.

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5 Tips for Adapting Slow-Cooker Recipes to Fit Your Life — Slow-Cooker Savvy from Stephanie O’Dea

As an author of slow-cooker cookbooks, I often get reader questions about ingredient substitutions. I’ll hear comments groaning that certain family members “don’t like beans” or other common ingredients in slow-cooker recipes — and that’s okay! My very favorite thing about slow cooking is how customizable the recipes can be to fit your food needs and preferences.

Here are five tips for adapting non-slow-cooker recipes, as well as sizing up any slow-cooker recipe and making the necessary changes to fit your preferences.

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