I mentioned a few weeks ago, in my Kitchen Confessions Vol. 2 post that I’m taking a break from my weekly food posts and will be posting any new recipes we are trying on Pinterest. Honestly, during the summer we tend to be more ad hoc in our meal planning, making salads for dinner or grabbing a meat or fish and veggies to go on the grill, as opposed to doing more involved dishes. We try to go to the farmers market more regularly, and I will often try to make up meals around what we are able to find. Today, I’m putting a little twist on life lessons and sharing some tips/tricks/did you know items about food:
- Eggs stay fresh after their expiration date or if you buy eggs from the farmers market and you don’t have an expiration date, here is an easy test to see if they are still good (this came from Work the Thing blog):
- Did you know that bell peppers are female or male based on the number of bumps on the bottom? Four bumps is female and is better for eating raw, where three bumps is male and better for cooking.
- Most imported olive oil is not pure olive oil but a mix of lesser grade olive oil or other oils. This article gives a fun infographic on how that happens. It is best to look for single origin olive oil or olive oil from the United States (here are some suggestions). We started buying single source olive oil from Costco, and you can really taste a difference. Here is a report from the USC Davis Olive Oil Center, probably giving you more information than you want to know about olive oil…but pretty interesting.
- Did you know you can make your own powdered sugar and brown sugar? I’ve tried the powdered sugar, and it turned out pretty well, except you need a clean towel or something to put over your food processor as it creates quite the sugar cloud. I have not tried making my own brown sugar yet but it looks pretty cool.
- Making iced coffee concentrate is really easy, and you should not be wasting money on buying it. P has been making our own for the last couple of weeks now, and has even gotten me drinking it (and I don’t really drink coffee). Alicia from JayBird shared her way to make iced coffee a few weeks back, you should it check out. P’s method involves ratios and the scale, remember the pour-over post.
Do you have any food tips or tricks to share? What life lessons did you learn this week?
i saw about the peppers on pinterest! i haven’t done a side by side comparison though.. i’m really curious about it. also i had no idea you could make powdered sugar from regular sugar. 🙂 makes sense.
Just try making a frappe — and yes, it is essential to use Nescafe Classico for the real thing! 😉 Take about 1 minute, if that!
http://www.nestle-family.com/nescafe/english/recipes/greek-frappe.aspx
Oopsy, meant takes about 1 minute! Enjoy!
Yes, that is very true about eggs, they can keep a long longer than store expiration dates but if it floats don’t eat it:)
i had no idea about the peppers, but i love the egg trick! use it all the time.
Oh man, all of these are amazing (and new to me)–especially the red pepper thing! Food is just plain amazing in every way 🙂
Whoa you schooled me with the bell peppers!! GOOD TO KNOW!
Who knew vegetables had genders?! I’m an utter failure when it comes to cooking, so my best food tip is probably to sniff the milk before you pour 🙂
We have our own chickens and love that egg test graphic. I can never seem to remember whether floating egg is good or bad and constantly have to google it! Maybe I should print that graphic out… 😛
Take your bananas apart when you get home from the store. They ripen faster when they are together.
Also, store cheese chunks in aluminum foil instead of plastic rap. They won’t mold as quickly.
I’m probably the worst at this, but I never check to see if my eggs are good by looking at the expiration date, and I usually don’t buy my eggs from a farmers market like I will do most of the time for my produce. Since we live in the most southern part of CA, we are very lucky to have local independent Mexican markets that get their produce straight from the farms, and I spend very little actually at these places rather than at an actual farmers market; although I still like to support these, so I’ll shop at them every so often. Anyhow, I will cook/eat eggs that have been sitting in my fridge for a month or more, but I think smell will also indicate if the eggs are bad too. Never had a problem so far. Knock on wood.
I also never knew that about olive oil.
Useful things to know! -Jess L
I love the fact about the bell peppers! I made my own powdered sugar once and it created the biggest kitchen mess of all time. In fact, it was requested of me that I just buy it… Ha! x
I don’t know, that pepper fact kind of grossed me out. So… thanks? I’ve also just made concentrated chai tea this week and was very pleased with it!
That egg tip thing will definitely be put to use in our kitchen from now on! And I had no idea about male/female bell peppers! Looking forward to more tips!!!
There are boy and girl bell peppers????? Mind blown. I had no idea!
I’m always nervous about expiration dates so will definitely use the egg trick! And only buying one source olive oil from now on.
So just so you know you’re friends with the total crazy lady. I am obsessed with expiration dates the thought that food iI’m eating might be bad. This test is amazing.
And Costco’s private label is pretty much the best of the best. I don’t hesitate choosing Kirkland over any other brand because I know how strict their guidelines are. Kirkland tuna is Bumble Bee’s prime fillet best cut. I love this post M. It’s perfect for those of us lacking in domestic skills. P.S pour over is amazing! Try iced coffee with a bit of cream, fresh mint and brown sugar, swoon!
I’ve heard that about peppers before… so weird!!!
One thing I do is if my favorite bread is on sale I buy two and freeze one! Also if you use a food processor to shred cheese you can use up every last bit of it easier!
My favorite food tip… roasted corn! I grew up on boiled ears of sweet corn, and my husband loves to throw them on the grill, but my favorite way to prepare ears of corn are to leave them in their husks and raost them in the oven. Just snip off any extra silk and husk at the tip, and roast the ears at 400 degrees for 30 minutes. Once out of the oven the silk and husk peel away almost effortlessly…though they are a smidge hot to handle, and I love the flavor.
A foodie friend once mentioned to my husband and I that the Olive Oil industry was corrupted by the Italian Mafia, and recommended to me that I seek out olive oils from Spain & the US. I chalked it up to one of those many mafia legends, but after a quick Google search, I discovered there’s legitimacy to his claim. I would love to try to the one from Georgia!
I had no idea about the peppers, M! Thanks so much for sharing.