Food, Dining, Culinary, Recipe
What is a drupe?
What is a drupe? I’m familar with this as a verb not a noun. Droop: What happens to my plants on hot days, or a descriptor, Droopy: How I feel after a long hot walk on a summer day, when the closest parking was 6 blocks away. Well that’s not what we’re talking about … Continue reading
Shade Grown Coffee
What is Shade grown coffee?How do you grow coffee in the shade? Wouldn’t you want to grow it in the sun like other crops?Doesn’t seem like a way to get a very good yield if you’re a commercial grower, does it?The difference between shade coffee and coffee grown in the sun:Coffee grown was originally grown … Continue reading
Baking Powder Gone Bad
Does Baking Powder Go Bad? You bet and it can ruin the best of baking intentions. I speak from experience. It doesn’t go bad as much as flat. It just doesn’t have the ability to leaven the baked goods any longer. So how do you know? Does it smell? is it discolored? No. You can’t … Continue reading
When an A grade isn’t necessarily better than C or D?
When is an A grade not necessarily better than a C or D? When you’re taking about maple syrup, Grade A doesn’t mean it’s better. A is the lightest in color and flavor, B is stronger, with C and D being darker and much more flavorful. Another way to remember is: A -for “atop” of … Continue reading
Carmine–mmmm bug juice!
Next time you read the ingredients on a food package and see the ingredient Carmine, relax it’s a natural (minus the chemical extractors) additive used the produce a red or purple coloring. It’s extracted by boiling scale insect bodies in ammonia, producing carminic acid. Nothing like a little extra bug juice in your food. Mmmmmm … Continue reading
Black, Green, White, Red Tea? What’s the difference?
Black, Green, White, Red Tea? What’s the difference? Black, green, white or red, these teas are made from the Camellia Sinensis plant. The difference between black, green and white is the oxidation/fermentation and drying process. White–young tea leaves,dried, but not fermented. Green—mature leaves, steamed, not fermented, dried. Black teas, are called black because the leaves … Continue reading
Where does the fork go?
Have trouble remembering where the fork goes when you set the table? The easiest way to remember is that knife and spoon are spelled with five letters, so is “right“. Place them to the right of the plate. Fork is spelled with four letters, as is “left“. Put it on the left side of the … Continue reading
Is it a fruit or vegetable?
Why somethings are considered “fruits” when they are so obviously belong with the vegetables,? like tomatoes, avocados, both technically fruits. There are many scientific/biological requirements that make a fruit not a vegetable, but the easiest way is to ask yourself, “Do I eat the whole plant (lettuce) or just what it produces (tomato)?” Lettuce (vegetable), … Continue reading
You’ve heard of Turducken,? what do you serve for dessert?
Turducken is a dish consisting of a de-boned chicken stuffed into a de-boned duck, which itself is stuffed into a de-boned turkey.–From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia How do you top that? Well you serve Pummple Cake, which combines two kinds of fruit pies (apple and pumpkin) with two kinds of cake (vanilla and chocolate) into … Continue reading
Hey, how old are these eggs?
How to tell if eggs are good or bad. Place raw eggs in a pot of water. If they sink they’re okay, if they float they’re past their time, toss them. Anything in between–when in doubt throw it out.