NimaCooks

I've actually gotten around bay leaves by buying a laurel tree. I actually started it as a 3 inch sapling a couple years ago and now its about 4 ft high and filling out nicely. I keep it in a pot outside in the summer and bring it into the kitchen in the winter. It comes in really handy and I've stopped buying bay leaves, I just grab a couple when I need them. It's super easy and adds another multitasker to the kitchen, which is always a plus. You may want to consider just buying a couple trees if you really fly through the leaves.

whole cumin seeds, ground dried chipotle pepper, & garlic salt (during grilling season).

With sauces, stocks, and other liquids, like others, I have always used the cover as a method of moderating evaporation. Pasta gets cooked lidless to avoid messy foam-overs and tomato sauce gets simmered with the lid partially on to encourage reduction and flavor concentration while limiting splatter on the cooktop.

Ooooh Dates! A PB & dates sandwich with honey sounds like something else worth trying. In a slightly off, but related topic, I haven't tried some of the other "nut butters"(i.e. almond or cashew butter) on sandwiches before. Does anyone have experience here?

I recently bought my first set of high end cookware and I was also really surprised to find that saucepans with pouring spouts were so hard to come by. My personal pet peeve is toasters that don't lift the bread or bagel high enough out of the slot so you have to dig in with a fork and hope not to electrocute yourself. Is it really that complicated of a design to avoid something to obvious?

my aunt has one of these one handed peppermills. she likes it, but never having used it myself, I'm not really able to comment on force required. It does seem to be adjustable for different grinds. http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.as...m=-1&SKU=100184 While it may not be glam enough to keep out all the time, the one handed functionality may make it worthwhile to just have for meats. I usually just pre-grind pepper into a mini prep dish or saucer before I get the meat out so I don't have to worry about contaminating.

Thanks for the recommendation ronnie. I have been desperately seeking a good butcher on the north shore so I don't have to make trips down to the city to get quality meats every couple weeks. I will most definitely check Zier's out.

As much as I like PB&J, I've always preferred preserves to jelly since the texture stands up a little better to the thick peanut butter (and was also less likely to end up on the front of my shirt as a kid). Since then I've become a big fan of PB & Bananas w/ or w/o honey. But my new favorite is PB with banana slices and fresh blackberries with a touch of honey. All on wheat, btw. I'm definitely going to try the PB and nutella though. That sounds AMAZING.

We always called the end piece (white side/brown side) the heel. Growing up, money was too tight to waste it, so it was eaten with much complaint. My husband refuses to eat it and I would rather not. I save them for bread crumbs. ← Being the "crust-ophile" that I am, I usually make a mini PB&J sandwich for myself with the end pieces. PB on one half, raspberry on the other and fold. It makes a great snack. Otherwise I'll just spin it in the processor for breadcrumbs.

You mean there are people who just eat them the way they come? ← haha, that's great. In addition to being a "sandwich rearranger", I am also a fan of the diagonal sandwich cut whether eating sliced loaf bread or a hoagie roll. Since I tend to overfill my sandwiches, I have better luck keeping the food between slices and am able to eat more neatly with the diagonal cut. Plus, I just feel like it looks more appealing than a straight across cut.

I have been using a Microsoft OneNote to keep track of my recipes. It's one of these virtual notebook applications and is pretty easy to use and manage, but I recently tried mastercook 9 to test the added functionality. I am looking for a better way to track recipes in my cookbook library. The scaling and shopping list features are helpful, but I definitely feel that this software is strongly directed towards the professional kitchen. To answer some of your questions PG, MasterCook can automatically calculate nutritional value based on ingredients, but I have no idea how accurate it is. MC simply assesses the nutritional value of the ingredients, combines them, and divides by number of servings. It seems to be a decent estimation. Also, if you input the cost of ingredients, you are able to calculate the cost per serving for recipes. I am wondering how does everyone else keep track of recipes in their libraries?

half them and toss them in fresh chunky guacamole (I believe avocados are also in season.) or toss them in with pasta as previously mentioned...

I like proscuitto and cheese or spinach, sun-dried tomato, & gruyere or another swiss.

I would say a good chef's knife and small sharpening stone would be worth their weight. Just be sure to have them in a checked bag for the flight to avoid any friendly discussions with TSA personell at airport security. Also, some kind of outdoorsy-type or minimalist kitchen cookbook might come in handy. Good Luck

Egg whites are just a personal preference for me. I feel like the overall taste is cleaner and the veggies have more pronounced flavor without the yolks- but thats just me... If you want to use yolks, I'd say scale back to one or two whole eggs.

Besides Joy and the Alton Brown books, here are some suggestions... While it isn't really the greatest cookbook overall, one of my first books was "Young & Hungry" by Dave Lieberman. It's mostly recipes that are very easy to prepare, and the target audience is early 20s crowd who haven't spent much time in the kitchen. But it has good instruction on a few techniques and the results are usually pretty tasty. I also really enjoyed Giada's first book "Everyday Italian". It's a simple introduction to Italian cooking that isn't too indepth or overwhelming. I would say recommend to start cooking food that you really enjoy and are pretty experienced eating so you know what to expect and can get encouraged as you progress. Happy Cooking.

- bruschetta on sliced ciabatta - what about mini sandwiches on good dinner rolls? you could dress them up with some premium ingredients(cheeses, sun dried tomatoes, avocados) but the sandwiches themselves would be fairly inexpensive. I like the idea of the tomato/basil/mozzarella on toothpicks edited for typos

Most of these have been said already, but I thought I'd add my two cents anyway.... 1. Tabasco - Chipotle 2. Cholula 3. Sriracha 4. Mango Habenero Sauce from Buffalo Wild Wings (Great Blend of sweet & heat. 5. Frank's Red Hot

Hey Chris, Those glazed ribs look delicious. I don't know if you have any more, but whenever I get lamb, I think honey and rosemary. The flavors really lend themselves well and you can either go more mediterranean by pairing with couscous and tabbouleh or american with some mashed spuds and maybe a grilled salad. Happy Cooking!

My favorite is breakfast sandwiches. They're quick, easy, portable and delicious. I usually beat 2 or 3 egg whites with some chopped spinach and seasonings, then nuke it for a couple minutes. Top with a slice of cheese and serve on a wheat english muffin. DELICIOUS!

Hey Everyone, First of all, thanks for all the feedback and great advice. I took a couple more cracks at the soup this weekend. I tried once with potatoes and a little bit of carrot, and while the soup was delicious, I agree with saltedgreens- red pepper soup should taste primarily of red peppers. This one had a "red pepper meets cream of potato" taste to it. The carrots were a nice touch though. The next time I tried more peppers, 6 to be exact. This worked out much better. The soup was thicker and heartier, but it tasted much better the next day after it had a chance to come together. Let me quickly address a few things: - I did peel and seed the red peppers after roasting. I figured it would just be understood that roasted bell peppers would be peeled before being used. - While I like the idea of adding chicken stock to a vegetable soup to give it heartier flavor, that would no longer make it a vegetarian soup. So it doesn't really achieve the primary objective. Vegetable stock would be a possibility, but I haven't found one that has much flavor. Maybe a bay leaf would help next time. Thanks again and happy cooking...

yum! Double YUM! My favorite is toasting them and drizzling balsamic syrup on top before serving on top of watercress or a spring green salad. Goat cheese also works well here.

I'm an amateur trying to strengthen my culinary repertoire in the realm of meals that are not built on a foundation of protein or pasta/rice and still hearty and satisfying. I recently tried my hand at a fire roasted red pepper soup recipe I found and have mixed feelings about the results. This recipe, in a nutshell, calls for a onion and garlic base seasoned with ground fennel, cumin, red pepper and sweet paprika. After the garlic is buttery soft, 3 fire roasted red peppers are added with a quart of water and after simmering for 10-15 min, the whole batch is pureed and a little lemon juice is added. It is served topped with goat cheese. What I got was a lot thinner than what I would have liked. Also the pepper flavor was too sharp on my palate so I decided to give it a day and see if it would come together. After simmering the next day to thicken it slightly, there was improvement in the flavor and consistency, but I'm considering amending the recipe. At this point, my number one option is to add some chopped mushrooms while the onions and garlic are cooking to give it more of an earthy baseline. Any ideas on what kind to use? I'm leaning towards cremini or plain button. I was also thinking about roasting some tomatoes in the oven with thyme and tossing those in with the peppers, but I want to have soup, not thin pasta sauce when I'm done. Any thoughts/suggestions?

Dear Maggie, In addition to the emotional exhaustion of losing a loved one, I imagine you're dealing with some mental fatigue of cooking. It seems that the additional pressure of the volume, frequency and variety of those 3 months has in some ways taken away the joy of cooking(please pardon the pun) for you. From that perspective, I think the break isn't such a bad thing. My advice would be to take the time to recuperate and recharge. When my father lost his mother after a long illness, it took him about a year to get back to form. You shouldn't feel the need to rush it. When you feel ready, the first step would be to try to find a new spin on cooking. I understand this may seem difficult at first as you have explored many avenues and seem to be rather accomplished in the kitchen, but the goal is to try to break the association of cooking with such a sad memory and revisit what made you have such a deep love for it. I like the idea of taking a culinary vacation and taking classes in south france, italy, india, thailand, or anywhere you find interesting, exotic and new. Exploring new markets and kitchens with fresh colors, aromas and flavors might help break the funk and reawaken the desire within. Another option might be to teach someone how to cook. Witnessing the joy on someone's face after getting a recipe right might remind you of your own experiences learning to cook. I'm sorry to hear about your mother's passing. This has undoubtedly been a trying time for you and I wish you all the best.

Bagel slicer is a really good one. But I feel like my garlic press is pretty useless. In the time it takes me to get it from the drawer, use it, clean it and put it back, I can always mince as many cloves as I need, put my knife blade on there sideways and give it a couple whacks. It's easier and much more fun this way. Also, my mom has these "tongs" that supposedly multitask as tongs, a whisk, and a strainer, but doesn't do any of them particularly well.