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AndiatBettyCrocker 9/30/2008 10:16:00 PM
I’ve been working on developing an easy focaccia recipe. My experimentation began when I saw a recipe in a popular food magazine this past summer for a focaccia that was topped with tomatoes, garlic, rosemary and basil. That sounded delicious to me but because it was summer, I didn’t want to take the time to make the dough, do the kneading and wait for a couple of risings and so I decided to start by using frozen bread dough to save time and work.
I have now made it four times or so, making changes to the recipe eve...
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focaccia, frozen bread dough
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AndiatBettyCrocker 9/25/2008 11:23:00 AM
What cook doesn’t like to use fresh herbs in salad dressings, as a rub for meats or to flavor a cheese spread? I love being able to go out to my garden to pick fresh chives, tarragon, parsley and mint—these are the ones that I can count on because they are perennials in Minnesota. In the spring, I often plant additional culinary herbs such as: basil, rosemary, thyme, sage and dill.
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countertop garden, growing herbs, herb garden, kitchen garden
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AndiatBettyCrocker 9/23/2008 3:00:00 PM
I’m occasionally asked to develop a menu for dinners at our church. Last weekend, we had a dinner with an Italian theme. For one of the desserts on the menu, I developed a recipe to use the delicious Colorado peaches that are so good right now.
A crostata is an Italian baked dessert tart, and a form of pie. It is traditionally prepared by folding the edges of the dough up slightly over the fruit filling, creating a more “rough” look, rather than a uniform, circular shape.
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crostata, Italian dessert, peach tart, pie crust
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AndiatBettyCrocker 9/18/2008 9:48:00 PM
While cleaning out old magazines, I found a 1993 ad with the recipe for One Bowl Brownies. The photo of the brownies in the photo looked moist, very chocolaty and chocked full of chopped walnuts (see below). I found this recipe just in time to add them to an assortment of bars that I was baking for my friend, Kathy— to help out with the food that she w...
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bars, brownies, one bowl brownies
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AndiatBettyCrocker 9/17/2008 5:30:00 AM
It’s near the end of grilling season in Minnesota and since I’d never grilled a butterflied whole chicken, I decided to make one for dinner.
Armed with my newest cookbook, The Cook’s Illustrated Guide to Grilling and Barbecue, from the editors of Cook’s illustrated magazine, I began by butterflying a 3 1/2 –lb chicken. This is really easy to do with a kitchen she...
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chicken diavola, Cook's Illustrated, grilled Butterflied chicken
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AndiatBettyCrocker 9/11/2008 2:51:00 PM
Cases of juicy, fresh peaches have arrived from Colorado to our test kitchens because of a fund-raising event. Sally (V.P. of our division) has a daughter who graduated from a high school that sold fresh peaches to raise money for their band. Even though Sally’s daughter is no longer at that school, we are still buying peaches to raise money for the band—and for our families to eat. These peaches are large, perfectly ripe and so juicy that you need a couple of paper napkins to pat your chin after every bite.
I always freez...
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Fresh peaches, peach cobbler
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AndiatBettyCrocker 9/8/2008 7:25:00 PM
As the days grow shorter and our nights become cooler, many of us start to think about baking again. In fact, we sometimes refer to this as The Baking Season.
Not too long ago, I found Karen (our Test Kitchen Expert on flour) down in our kitchens baking up some great tasting recipes using whole wheat flour.
She put 12 newly developed recipes into a virtual cookbook for you online. To get the recipes for her Country Apple Streusel Cake, Whole Wheat Buttermilk Pancakes or Best Whole Wheat Oatmeal Rais...
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fall baking, whole wheat flour, whole wheat recipes
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AndiatBettyCrocker 9/5/2008 1:57:00 AM
In one of my first blog posts, last November, I asked about finding software for creating a cookbook and some of you responded with suggestions for web sites to visit. I wanted this information for Jennifer, the daughter of a friend of mine, who was planning her wedding and hoping to find a way to give each of her bridesmaids a cookbook of her favorite recipes.
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create your own cookbook software, tastebook.com
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AndiatBettyCrocker 9/2/2008 9:20:00 PM
I wish someone would have told me that if I wanted to grow fresh mint, I should plant it in a container and not right in my garden. (If you have planted it in your garden, you probably know what my next sentence will be.) We have been trying to get rid of it for many years and nothing has worked. I finally decided that I’ve lost the battle and I might as well quit fighting it.
We used to have a stone edging between our lawn and the garden but now it is overgrown with mint.
I planted Apple Mint which, at least, is good fo...
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Ice Cream Sundaes, Mint leaves