The Damsel in Dis Dress
Posted in cooking on Feb 13th, 2010
Everyone knows bacon makes things all better again. There are tee shirts to prove this, including one featuring a piece of bacon with the words “I love you too much to let you live.” Or “Bacon = Meat Candy.” There are ties, shoes, postage stamps, and even skateboards featuring bacon.
There is also the Damsel’s Bacon [...]
It’s frustrating when you want to make cookies and your brown sugar is hard as rock. It’s enough to kill the whole cookie-making mood.
Don’t worry. All is not lost. It’s not necessary to pack up the kids and head for the nearest market for a fresh bag. (If the Damsel had to do that, she’d [...]
Posted in Uncategorized, cooking, thrifty on Jan 5th, 2010
Oh, beans! Such an old school food. Funny, though, when you look at dry beans, they don’t even look like food. (See this) They’re hard, they don’t really smell good, (or bad) and well, let’s face it. People fear them, even though they are cheap and nutritious. They fear that cooking beans is too tricky [...]
Posted in cooking on Dec 30th, 2009
Ever forget to take a roast out of the freezer soon enough? The Damsel has committed this crime many times.
Here are a couple of tricks that will help thaw that slab.
1. Put the roast, still in its packaging, in a sink of warm water. Turn it now and then so that both sides get the [...]
Posted in cooking on Dec 23rd, 2009
Nuts at Christmastime is old school as can be. The Damsel guesses one reason might be that in the old days, when food preservation was trickier, nuts were a natural winter food. They sort of preserve themselves.
There are lots of recipes for doing stuff to nuts–you can make them spicy or sweet in a hundred [...]
Posted in cooking on Dec 21st, 2009
Separating eggs is simple, with just a little practice. You don’t need any special equipment, and after an egg or two, you’ll have the hang of it.
Crack an egg carefully in the middle. The Damsel likes a nice firm strike on the side of the bowl the egg is destined for. A big crack is [...]
Posted in Uncategorized, cooking, thrifty on Nov 28th, 2009
One of the most old-school things you can do after Thanksgiving is make soup out of the turkey carcass.
Please forgive the lack of photos to begin with. The Damsel hates, hates, HATES what she must do to start this, and she couldn’t bring herself to photograph it, either. She sternly reminded herself how delicious the [...]
Posted in cooking on Nov 20th, 2009
The Damsel loves hearing how excited folks are about the doughnut dealio.
A nice reader sent the Damsel the following, and she thought in the interest of protecting folks, she’d pass it on to you.
“I owned a donut shop for 10 years. The process I used is essentially the same as depicted by your contributor. Cooking [...]
Posted in cooking on Nov 13th, 2009
There are a lot of granola recipes out there. Maybe you’ve even tried one or two. The Damsel doesn’t usually get this worked up about a recipe, but she LOVES this one, adapted from the recipe in one of her favorite cookbooks, Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. She loves it so much that [...]
Posted in cooking on Oct 5th, 2009
Cast iron pans are definitely old school. But in spite of all the “improvements” in cookware like Teflon, etc. there’s really nothing quite as good. Cast iron heats evenly, acquires its own nonstickiness over time, and is practically indestructable. Plus it even adds iron to your food.
They’re reasonable in price, too, compared to nice cookware, [...]
