Blogs

Nothing beats the crispy crunch and delicate flavor of batter-fried fish and seafood. While the simplest coating for fried fish is simple seasoned flour, batters form a protective coating that seals in flavor and has a pleasing texture. Read more »

There are basically two types of chefs: culinary chefs and bakers. I'm not much of a baker, and I never have been. No cakes, cookies or scones for me. I prefer the messiness and quick gratification of grill and saute, chop and mash. But bread-baking is the one exception. I love baking bread. The transformation from flour and water to the staff of life is magical to me. So I was excited to hear that a colleague of mine was publishing a bread-baking book. Read more »

Ever wonder how a tandoor oven works, and just how they bake naan bread and tandoori chicken in it? These videos show you how it's done.

Tandoor ovens have been around for a long time. Seven thousand-year-old remains of these cylindrical clay or brick cooking powerhouses have been found in the ruins of the Indus Valley civilization located in modern-day Pakistan. Read more »

My favorite week of the year is the week between Christmas and New Year's. No, it's not because of all the post-Christmas shopping specials. We don't do that out here on the prairie. It's because it's the week that my rural mailbox becomes inundated with bunches of garden and seed catalogs for the spring planting season. Read more »

We're so happy to finally have the best of Whats4Eats recipes now available as a cookbook. We've worked with Tastebook.com to create a beautiful and elegant cookbook of the most popular recipes from Whats4Eats.com and make it available for purchase online. Read more »

As I pulled out of the parking lot, I caught a glimpse of red and noticed that the homeless gentleman had his right hand held at ear's level, holding a large ripe red tomato. The tomato had a big bite out of it, and juices ran down and off the man's elbow. Read more »

Ever get a hankering for some great Hokkien mee? Want to throw together the perfect shabu-shabu? Looking for beautiful photos of mouth-watering caldereta? If you answered yes to any of these questions — and even if you didn't — you won't want to overlook these great websites dedicated to the cuisines of East Asia. Read more »

A couple of weeks ago I received a phone call from Cousin Joni. She said, “What are you doing Saturday morning?” Since it was early in the morning, and I had not finished my first cup of coffee, I absentmindedly said, “Nothing.” Joni said, “Good, we need some help butchering our rabbits!” Read more »

East Asian cooking, especially the cuisine of southeast Asia, uses a lot of rice noodles. They are served hot, cold, in soups, in salads and rolled up into spring rolls. Their lightness and chewy texture make rice noodles a pleasant change from heavier wheat noodles. Only thing is, many of us don't have a clue how to soak them properly. Perhaps I can help. Read more »

Out on the prairie, in the southeasternmost corner of Iowa's Pottawattamie County, on the eastern slope of the Nishnabotna River Valley, located on the third terrace at the south end of my upper garden is my perennial vegetable garden. Read more »

The Huffington Post has a piece today on the Top 10 Farmers Markets in the US. They have a pretty good list: Portland, Seattle, San Francisco, New York, Savannah, Madison. But as with any Top 10 list, they miss quite a bit. Read more »

These days Melon Cauliflower is turning into a Bitter Melon. My perpetual "sigh" is turning into an "ACCCCKKK!!!" It's this cooking thing. I do it, every day, every night (well almost every night) and I'm starting to really DESPISE it. Read more »

There are a lot of yogurts out there on the market. Quality plain yogurt should be just milk, live cultures and perhaps a pinch of salt. But so many brands out there have additives, stabilizers like gelatin and carageenan, or preservatives. Others are so spiked with sugar or high-fructose corn syrup that they have more carbs than a can of soda. I found a yogurt with none of that, but one that has all the thick, creamy texture of a great Greek yogurt. Read more »

I love mole poblano. The subtle heat of the ancho, pasilla and mulato peppers. The sauce, its flavor deepened with chocolate and thickened just enough to coat slices of turkey or chicken with a cocoa-velvet sheen. But all that wonderfulness can take a long, long time to make. I came up with this speedy version that—while not quite as ethereal as the hours-long stuff—can still make your heart sing and your tummy beg for más! Read more »

Today I planted one of my easiest/hardest gardens, the Heirloom Dry Bean Garden. It's one of the easiest because once you get them planted and — with a little weed cultivation later on — you don't have to do a darn thing to them until you harvest them. Which is the hardest. Read more »

Given that Whats4Eats is a website with international recipes, it's no wonder that we get visitors from around the world too. The Philippines, India, Germany, Mexico — they are all big sources of traffic for the website. Not all Whats4Eats visitors speak English as their first language. So now we have a tool that can help you. Read more »

With travel season starting, I thought it would be a good time to check out the food festivals and events taking place around the country this summer. Here's a list of some of the more interesting happenings. Some are big, some are small. But I'm sure there's fun to be had at all. Read more »

April 27, 2009...just 8 months until Xmas.

Yesterday I planted cabbage plants in my garden. Usually I grow all my plants from seed, because I'm cheap. But this year I purchased my eight plants from a local garden center for a total of $3.50. According to my personal garden ledgers they should have been planted last week, but I was busy planting all of the other vegetables that can handle a late frost. Read more »

Here I go again ranting and raving. All that touchy-feely business from my last posting all down the drain.
I am attempting a baby back ribs recipe. What was I thinking? I can barely follow a recipe, what made me pick a difficult recipe?
I'm such an idiot sometimes. Why do I make my life harder? Why I am always such a Melon Cauliflower?
Next time I need to THINK and choose wisely. Know thyself. I am clueless in the kitchen... at least for tonight.
UGH...

I just finished reading a new friend's blog (parent in my son's class)  and I was very inspired (Hi Nicole!).
I'm always happy to find fellow crafters and mamas (Nicole, are you friends with Erika -the one with the massive curly hair and gorgeous boys?) Anywho, that made me rethink viewing myself as a crafter.
I'm a better crafter than I am a cook. I mean, I love to eat, but cooking stresses me out. Crafting does not. Crafting is way more fun for me. Crafting however doesn't nourish my family and keep them alive. Read more »