BEFORE: The sad state of my oven door.

You may remember last fall when I cleaned my oven that everything came out looking pretty good except my oven door. Despite vigorous scrubbing with baking soda and Bon Ami, the spatters wouldn’t budge (this is a rental oven, and likely had never been cleaned prior to this). It was frustrating and a pain that we couldn’t see through the glass into the oven.

Fast forward six months (yes, it took me six months to revisit this problem), and the glass on my oven door is now perfectly clear, and looks nothing like the photo above. So how did I do it?

READ MORE »

Ten reads that made us laugh, look, or think this week.

• The Atlantic looks at the grassroots movement against GMOs in food and asks, “But do they have science on their side?”
• Why you might find Bud Lite Lime-a-Rita in my fridge this weekend. – Emma
• The New York Times just launched a new cooking website — have you seen it yet? – Cambria
• Nutella Cronut holes are happening, people. I repeat: Nutella CRONUT holes are happening! – Ariel
• What exactly is a lamington? – Christine

READ MORE »

Depending on how you calculate it, the Leap Year cocktail either turned 86 this year — or is just embarking on its 20s. We know this because the exact date this drink was invented is documented in the Savoy Cocktail Book, bartender Harry Craddock’s popular mixing manual, first published in 1930. This blend of gin, orange liqueur, lemon, and sweet vermouth was born on Leap Day, 1928.

READ MORE »

This may sound crass, but I have yet to find a lemon sorbet from the grocery store whose flavor doesn’t remind me of cleaning fluid. Luckily, lemon sorbet is an easy dessert to make at home, and it’s so worth it. You don’t even need an ice cream maker to get good results.

READ MORE »

We’re in the middle of asparagus season, and it’s easy to get lured into buying bunches of the sweet spring vegetable. But the longer asparagus sits in the fridge, the more the ends are going to dry out, resulting in more to trim off and less to eat. Let me show you the best way to extend the life of your asparagus and keep it from drying out.

READ MORE »

Ahhh, couscous! The food so nice they named it twice. Except this isn’t really couscous. It’s cauliflower. And I feel like I won a gold medal in the kitchen when my couscous loving husband didn’t bat an eye while he gobbled up this “pretend” version. I’ll be the first to admit I don’t usually like when food is referred to something it’s not. However, the texture is so close to the real deal you won’t miss a beat and honestly, I wouldn’t know what else to call it!

READ MORE »