A Cooks Best Friend

Here’s a delicious recipe for lemon cookies sure to please all your friends and family.  In addition to the ingredients, you will need a mixer, wax paper, cookie sheets, and a wire cooling rack.

Ingredients:

3 cups flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup butter (melted)
1 large egg
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 tbsp. lemon zest
1/2 tsp. baking soda
Dash of salt

Directions:

In a mixing bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, and salt.  In another bowl, beat the sugar with the butter until it’s light and fluffy, then beat in the egg, lemon juice, and zest.  Combine the two mixtures, then once the dough has formed roll the dough into two long rolls and refrigerate for at least an hour.  Once the dough is done chilling, preheat your oven to 375 F.  Unwrap the dough and cut it into slices about 1/4 inch thick.  Bake until golden brown around the edges, about 12 minutes, then let cool on your wire cooling rack.  Store the cookies in an airtight container; makes about 5 dozen. 

For a scintillating holiday taste explosion, consider these awesome gingerbread cookies!  In addition to the ingredients, you will need a couple cookie sheets, cookie cutters, and a rolling pin.

Ingredients:

1 cup white sugar
2 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
½ tsp. salt
1 ½ tsp. baking soda
1 cup melted butter
½ cup evaporated milk
1 cup molasses
¾ tsp. vanilla extract
4 cups flour

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F, and grease your cookie sheets.  In a sizable bowl stir together all the dry ingredients, then combine the butter, milk, molasses, vanilla and lemon and mix them into the dry ingredients gradually.  The dough should be stiff but not stick to your fingers; add a little flour if necessary.  When the dough is smooth, use your rolling pin to roll out the dough about ¼ inch thick on a floured surface.  Cut out the cookies with your favorite cookie cutter, and place on your greased cookie sheets.  Bake for about 10-12 minutes, and let cool on a wire rack.  Great for holiday gatherings or gifts! 

There’s nothing good about taking a bite of pot roast and nearly breaking a tooth, or having to spit meat out into your napkin because it’s too tough to chew. But meat doesn’t have to be tough. Using just a little meat tenderizer can make a gristly steak a great steak.

Meat tenderizer works by breaking up the strong fibers that make meat hard to eat. The connective tissue that holds muscles together is quickly dissolved allowing for more pleasurable consumption. A steak treated with meat tenderizer can be cooked more quickly and won’t shrink.

Popcorn is an easy and healthy snack. Popcorn is also a good source of fiber and aids the digestion process. Popcorn is low calories, and only contains about 100 calories per two cups. The puffed corn is also low in saturated and trans fats.

But don’t think that just because popcorn itself is healthy that you can prepare it however you like. Putting gobs of salt and butter on the popped treat pretty much diminishes its nutritional value. And, that fluorescent yellow variety you can find at the movie theater is not on any dieter’s meal plan. For the healthiest results try popping your corn using one of your common kitchen accessories — a hot air popcorn maker.

You might think every rolling pin is created equal, but this is actually not the case. There is a staggering variety of rolling pins in the cookware market, and each one is tailored to a slightly different task.One such variation on the standard rolling pin is the French rolling pin. The major difference between the French and standard version is that the French pin does not actually have handles. It merely tapers at both ends.

Frequent bakers often cite a preference for the French rolling pin, because it allows for more personal control. Bakers feel like they can manipulate the dough’s thickness better with this type of pin.

Generally speaking, avoid crushing excessively hard items (such as nuts) with your French pin. You could damage the integrity of the surface, and this in turn can affect the ease of rolling out dough.

Caring for a French pin is the same as caring for any rolling pin. Merely wipe it down after each use, and don’t apply excessive water or soap. If it’s made of wood, never put the cooking tool in the dishwasher.

I think you will agree with me when I say that there is nothing like a generous helping of French fries with a burger! But how does one get that restaurant style cut? Well, you can try by hand, but they just don’t look the same as the ones you get in the restaurants. Fear not, for now there is a restaurant quality French fry cutter available that will make French fries restaurant style. Not only can you make restaurant style French fries, but you can make them in three sizes; 3/8-Inch, 1/4-Inch and 1/2-Inch.

You can make up to 50 lbs of French fries in an hour with your French fry cutter. It also features pre-drilled mounting holes for a wall or counter mount. The French fry cutter is constructed of a heavy duty cast iron body with stainless steel components and disassembles for easy cleaning. This quality product will give you many years of use.

Your kitchen falls into four groups for which kitchen accessories are a necessity. They are as follows:

Cooking Gadgets
Preparation
Range-Top Cookware
Bakeware

The kitchen is the engine of most homes and like any engine, we want it to run smoothly. How do we accomplish this? Be sure you have at least the basics in kitchen accessories to help you accomplish your tasks with the minimum of stress.

Cooking Gadgets: These kitchen accessories consist of jar openers, can openers, graters or shredders, dish racks and kitchen utensils, only to name a few.

Preparation: These kitchen accessories comprise of a variety of small counter top appliances, like food processors, toasters, blenders and so on.

Range-Top Cookware: These kitchen accessories include spatulas (plastic spatulas, metal spatulas), wooden spoons, ladle, spaghetti spoon, tongs and so on.

Bakeware: These kitchen accessories include rolling pins, icing spatulas, rubber spatulas, cooling racks and more.

As you increase your home cooking, you will, over time accumulate the necessary accessories needed for your style of cooking.

Be careful when choosing your kitchen accessories. Some of the same tools are needed, for example, cookware and bakeware. If you have a spatula that you use for cooking, it’s not recommended that it be used for baking. Cross contamination is a real possibility in the kitchen, so be sure that you are diligent when using your kitchen accessories.