Cooking

Bridging The Gap From Dining Out To Eating In

Feeling guilty about not having bridged the gap from dining out to cooking in? Don't. Follow my lead and I show you how to take baby steps from full-service to self-service.

Cooking Without Crepe Pans and Other Expensive Kitchen Tools

I like kitchen gadgets as much as the next girl, but I just can’t justify splurging on a crepe pan (or other tool) that I’ll use maybe once a month, at the most. So which kitchen u

Finding New Recipes, Without Paying for New Cookbooks

I have a hard time resisting the urge of buying every cookbook that comes along — I thoroughly enjoy trying out new recipes, especially cookies. I came to the conclusion, though, i

Waste Not! Revisiting the 5-Second Rule and other Kitchen Classics

Working as a line cook for almost four years exposed me to the dirtier side of the food service business. Generally, I was less-than-impressed

The new face of poverty is fat

Twenty years ago, I parked at a supermarket, near where a poor family had just parked. I knew they were poor, because they looked like poor folks are supposed to look: Their clot

Egg-cellent Ideas for Money Saving and Menu Planning

As usual, Philip has done a great job of analyzing both mar

The many reasons--besides frugality--to do for yourself

Doing for yourself--cooking your own meals, making your own clothes, growing your own vegetables, playing your own music, baking your own bread--is sometimes justified on the groun

Powdered Milk Solutions for Dairy Lovers

For many people, powdered milk is a dirty turn of phrase. Even if you can’t bring yourself to

Truffles on the Cheap

A restaurant dish featuring these delectable num-nums can sink you over a hundred bucks a person in a high end restaurant. Fresh truffles themselves can soar up in the neighborhood

Seven Things to Do With Boxed Wine

Inexpensive boxed wines are a great value. Even if you prefer not to drink them straight up, there are numerous other ways you can use them that have tons of pizzazz. Here are seve

Save time, money, energy, and eat great

Depending on how old you are, your mother or grandmother probably had one of these: a pressure cooker. (She probably also had a story of one exploding, which may be why they're n

DIY Raspberry Vinaigrette

Need to pull off a high-end dinner party on the fly? Looking for that little extra something that’ll put the experience over the top? Here’s a great menu item that’ll make your gue

Dump Cake and Other Sweet, Easy Treats

Yellow cake mix goes on sale all the time where I live. For under $10, you can usually score 15 or more boxes! This is great if you’re making cakes, but what if you just don’t have

Chance to Win a Culinary Trip to Umbria, Italy - Contest Over Oct. 15th, 2007

Have a passion for truffles? Love to create original recipes? Your talents could get you an all expense paid trip to

Ten Things to Do With Bargain Beef

Don't forget, steaks and roasts can often go on sale for less than the cost of lean hamburger. Have the meat department grind, slice or chop it for you for free. They've always bee

What's Cooking? This Monday's Work at Home Meal Menu

Well, it's Monday and everything that brings along with it. So, we'll be digging out my favorite time saver again, the crockpot. This time, dinner's more Italian in nature. Haven't

Edible Flowers Make Cheap Food Beautiful Again

Those of you with gardens are probably entering a new season of produce. Squash plants are getting icky, but they are still producing more zucchini and summer varieties than you ca

DIY Prime Rib

Prime Rib may sound intimidating to try at home. After all, restaurants can charge an upwards of $35 (think Lawry's) per cut. But it is one of those dishes where once you get the timing right, it's really easy, and a huge deal. [more]

Perfect Peanut Sauce

Shake up your usual vegan fare with these kick-ass peanut sauces!

The Way to Your Honey's Heart Is Through the Kitchen

They say a way to a man's heart is through the stomach, but on Valentine's Day, our men take no pains to take that very route to their ladies' hearts as well: call every restaurant in town for a last minute reservation. [more]