Most people tend to think of kitchen staples as pretty interchangeable. Does it really matter what kind of salt, flour, rice, etc. that you choose for a dish? Experienced cooks know that the answer to that is a resounding “Yes!”

Flour is the most basic baking ingredient and has a major impact on the taste and quality of baked goods. It has the power to make or break a recipe.

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Who would have ever thought that non-stick cookware would become controversial? It was approved for use in cookware in 1960, and gave cooks the option to cook with less fat. Even more exciting, the non-stick surface made cleanup a snap. And yet, for almost 20 years, there has been vigorous debate about its safety.

The culprit is a substance called perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), which is used in making Teflon. Manufacturers say it’s safe to use in cookware – as long as the cookware is used properly. When it’s not, the fumes from overheated non-stick skillets can kill birds and sicken humans with a malady called “polymer fume fever.”
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An Old Favorite Regains Popularity

After experimenting with Teflon, anodized aluminum, and stainless steel, many cooks are tossing the expensive, high-tech stuff in favor of an old standby: cast iron.

The cast iron skillet
is relatively inexpensive, healthy, and almost indestructible. Even better, well-seasoned cast iron has a slick, almost Teflon-like coating – but without the health concerns now swirling around Teflon.

If you’re wondering how to season cast iron, cook in it, or how to care for the skillets you inherited, read on. Cooking with and caring for cast iron is easier than you think.
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What are the key relevance factors for grading honey?

Honey is nature’s perfect food: it is the only food that humans eat that harms neither plant nor animal in its production and consumption.

Honey is derived from plant nectar, with each individual honeybee contributing perhaps only 1/12 of a teaspoon to the hive’s honey production during her entire lifetime. Because there are so many different nectar sources being visited by a single hive of bees, even a single pound of produced honey will contain nectar from thousands and thousands of different flowers. In order to standardize the sale of honey, the USDA developed a set of standards for grading honey. As of 1985, these Standards are now in their fifth issue. According to the National Honey Board, honey is graded, on a voluntary basis, using these USDA standards.

There are 6 relevant factors in evaluating the honey’s grade (5 quality factors and color):
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Low fat, inexpensive, and delicious!

It’s October, and we’re starting to feel the crisp bite of fall. Unfortunately, many of us are also feeling a painful bite in our wallets as prices rise. The US Department of Agriculture reported in August that food prices this year will show the biggest annual increase since 1990. And there’s no end in sight.

Struggling to get your food budget under control? Remember the humble pot of soup. It’s a wonderful cold weather meal that’s easy to make, and relatively inexpensive if you start with basic raw ingredients like dried beans.

Here’s one of my favorites: Pinto Bean and Barley Soup. It’s a chewy blend of common kitchen staples that freezes well. Add a salad and warm bread and you have a delicious – yet inexpensive - meal.
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or…. what happens when you pick a pound of basil leaves and dry them?

Home-dried herbs are less expensive than the commercial variety and taste better too. Fresh-dried herbs have a more intense flavor, brighter color, and are less likely to have been irradiated.

Most herbs are extremely easy to grow and hard to kill – kind of like weeds. They grow well in the garden or in a group of pots arranged on a sunny windowsill. Delicious fresh, herbs are also easy to dry and store. Homegrown and dried herbs also make great gifts.

Learn the basics of sun-drying or air-drying as we follow an entire pound of fresh basil leaves through the picking, washing, and drying process.

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