Useful How-tos for Cooking Bacon & Eggs

My how-to articles are among my most popular posts on this blog. I don’t write nearly enough of them, because it’s tough to write a good how-to, especially for tasks I might do all the time and consider second nature.
That’s why I wanted to highlight some great how-tos that I’ve run across recently on my [...]

How to Make Rice Pilaf

Did you know that some parts of the world are currently experiencing food crises? A perfect storm of high energy prices, drought (possibly caused by climate change), increasing demand in countries like China and India, and usage of grains for biofuels instead of food is contributing to shortages of key staples like wheat, corn and [...]

How to Cook Green

Today is Blog Action Day, when blogs are all posting on a single topic: the environment. If you read my blog regularly, you already know that keeping a green kitchen is a topic of great interest to me. But I realize I can do more, and I want to challenge myself to do [...]

How to Make Cornbread

I think every Southern cook must have their own recipe for cornbread. I recently acquired a book of recipes by writers, and one of my favorite Southern writers, Fred Chappell (who lives just up the road in Greensboro), contributed a cornbread recipe. It goes like this:
Meanwhile, be making your batter — some buttermilk, about a [...]

How to Make Sorbet

A couple of weekends ago, my husband brought home a gigantic watermelon. “They were selling them by the side of the road,” he said. “I tasted it and it was so sweet I had to buy one.”
How were the two of us going to eat a whole watermelon before it went off? I had the [...]

How to Make Ice Cream

Summer is here, and that means it’s time to break out the one useful unitasker in the kitchen: the ice cream maker. Why do even avowed anti-unitaskers like Mark Bittman and Alton Brown own ice cream makers? Because ice cream is incredibly easy to make, and even the simplest homemade vanilla ice cream tastes miles [...]

How to Make a Simple Green Salad

Many of you will wonder why I am even bothering to post a recipe for a green salad. But I think those readers who are newly arrived in the kitchen will find these guidelines helpful. This recipe is easy to memorize and customize. Once you have it down, you will be able to bring a [...]

How to Make Frittata

When I’m pressed for time and stressed to boot, I turn to old favorites — recipes I’ve made time and again, so I know that the result will be both tasty and satisfying. Recipes like Pasta with Quick Tomato Sauce, Potato-Broccoli Soup and of course, Frittata.
A frittata is like an omelet, except it’s easier to [...]

How to Make Risotto

I don’t understand why risotto is considered by so many to be an up-scale, complicated dish. When I see a big bowl of creamy, cheesy grains, I think “comfort food.” That’s exactly what risotto is: warm, comforting and satisfying. It is really only a few steps removed from the Asian breakfast dish congee or even [...]

How to Make Lasagna

When I’m hosting a dinner — particularly a family dinner — or I have to bring something to a potluck, lasagna is one of my go-to recipes. Everyone loves lasagna, vegetarian versions are still satisfying to meat-eaters, and whenever you make it, you have to make a ton.
But I never make lasagna when it’s just [...]