Food Lush

Reader Help: Surviving a Kitchen Remodel

Editor's note: For our last week at Food Lush, I've asked the writers to share both a favorite post by another writer, from over the last three years, and a favorite post of their own. You'll see these posts linked to at the top of their new post for the week. Enjoy a stroll down Lush memory lane!

by Elissa

Boy is it hard to pick a favorite Food Lush post--there has been so much amazing stuff written here. But the recipe I have probably made the most since learning about it here is Jonna's enchilada casserole--it's delicious, flexible, and easy! My favorite post of my own (perhaps for nostalgic reasons, as my baby is now 18 months old) is this one about eating while pregnant.

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In a couple of weeks we are embarking on a renovation of our kitchen. We're not moving any walls, but the current space will be totally gutted and everything is going to be replaced.

As eager as I am to say goodbye to the hideous faux-brick floor, the stained butcher block counter, and the cabinets that give off splinters, I am dreading living without a kitchen for a month. Who better to give me some tips to keep us fed than all of you?

We will have a refrigerator, microwave, and toaster oven set up in our dining room during the remodel. I know we will eat out more than usual and do plenty of take out, and I am also planning to stock up on frozen meals that I can stash in our chest freezer. For those of you who have been through this, what did you end up eating the most? Should I invest in a slow-cooker (I had been toying with the idea of getting one anyway)? And what frozen meals do you like the best (there's only so much mac n' cheese one family can eat)?

Finally, I want to thank all of you for reading, commenting, and making Food Lush such a great online community. I have loved being a part of this. The end of Food Lush has motivated me to find a new place to write online, and my sisters and I have started a food blog called Harts in the Kitchen. I hope you'll check it out and visit me there--we'll be writing about all kinds of food-related things, and I'll be sure to post the "after" pictures of our kitchen once it's finished.

Best of the Archives: Blueberry Buckle

Originally posted August 2011

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By Caitlin

Some of my fondest and earliest childhood memories are of being in the kitchen. Dad's homemade mac-and-cheese in the fall, or maybe Pot roast on a cold, dark Sunday in the winter, the whole family assigned to their tasks with music playing in the background. To this day I can't hear Eric Clapton, Fleetwood Mac, Paul Simon, or the Moody Blues without thinking of my parents' kitchen.  

I remember being 8, and Mom letting me make bacon and eggs on my own. (It's how I learned that eggs will stick to the pan unless you use something to keep them from doing so.) I remember my first cookbook: Put out by the library, it was a collection of recipes from people in the town, and many of them used the microwave. I was in love.  

My parents were pretty liberal when it came to use of their kitchen and ingredients, and for that I will be forever grateful. My brother and I loved making "potions" out of whatever we could find in the cabinets. It was a total waste of ingredients, but priceless fertile ground for our imaginations. Oh, how the concoctions would fizz when you dumped in baking soda.

My grandmother has always been a good cook, with a particular penchant for baking. I loved going over to her little yellow house, coming in through the breezeway, and making a direct right into the tiny galley kitchen. There was an orange ceramic cookie jar on her counter, and I can probably count on one hand the number of times that I lifted that little round lid -- oh delicious anticipation! -- to find it empty. Chinese chews, lemon squares, chocolate chip cookies, snickerdoodles, the beloved molasses crinkles. 

 

Oh those molasses crinkles. 

 

When I was first living on my own after college Gram and I used to exchange letters. I would ask her for certain recipes (blueberry buckle, her famous apple pie, lemon lush, cereal mix), and she'd write back about her recent activities, painstakingly handwritten recipe cards enclosed, just as I'd requested. I've saved them all, in a tin box she once gave me that she used to use for recipes. What a fantastic rainy day activity that is, pawing through cards and letters with Gram's handwriting on them. The truth is I've only used the recipes a handful of times, but I can't bear the thought of her someday not being here and no one knowing the recipe for her apple pie. 

 

She used to always tell me, back when she still lived in a place with a kitchen, that she was saving her cookbooks for me. That she'd even written my name in them, because when the time came, they were mine. Gram's a strong, feisty, independent lady and I guess I never imagined she'd ever not have a kitchen, ever not cook. But today she lives in an assisted living home, no longer has a kitchen, and somewhere along the way she passed on several of her cookbooks to me.  

 

(Fret not, she's doing pretty okay: She even has a boyfriend. He lives across the hall and they have their nightly cocktail together before heading down to the dining hall. She's robbing the cradle though. He's only in his 80s!)  

 

Flipping through those cookbooks, seeing the splashes and dabs on the pages, her notes in the margins, the well-worn spines: It's a piece of living history, a time-machine to my childhood and part of her life. I picture her in that little kitchen, bent over the cookbook, making notes as a cobbler sits cooling on the stove, the counter covered in mixing bowls. My favorite has to be the book put together by people in her hometown church. She told me it was her favorite cookbook, and she wrote my name right on the front. Taped inside the front cover is a piece of yellow paper that says "Anything made by Anita Buddington is good."  

Well-noted, Gram. 

Thanks, Anita. 

image from closetcooking.com

Anita Buddington's Blueberry Buckle

(Gram made this often when I was growing up, usually in the summer during prime blueberry season. We often ate it as dessert, but it's great for breakfast too.) 

 

Cake

1/4 cup butter

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

1 cup flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/3 cup milk

1 pt. blueberries

 

Topping
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 cup butter    

Cream butter, add sugar and mix well, add egg. In a separate bowl sift flour, baking powder, and salt and alternately with milk to first mixture. Fold in blueberries and pour into an 8 inch greased square pan. Mix first three ingredients of topping, then rub in butter. Sprinkle over blueberry mixture and bake at 375 for 45 minutes. Also good with chopped nuts added to topping.

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Caitlin's posts are always awesome. Check them all out here!

Best of the Archives: Top Potato Chip Picks

Originally posted March 2011

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by Jen L.

I grew up in Louisiana where Zapp's Potato Chips ruled the roost. I now live in Golden Flake country. When I lived in New York, however, it was Utz all the way. Each of these chips has their own unique contribution to the potato chip world and each has a special place in my heart and my snack bowl.  Here are my top five picks for the perfect potato chip.

5.  Golden Flake Dill Pickle Flavor.

 
Sounds nasty, right? These are ridiculously good. They're tangy, extra-crispy and perfect with an ice cold Coca Cola. My only complaint is that they're a little overly salty, but then I'm not the greatest judge of that since I rarely add salt to my food. These are not a chip I'd want every day, but whenever I see them at a picnic or potluck, I get very excited.

4.  Terra Chips

 
Oh, Terra Chips.How I love thee. After BlogHer last year, I received two bags of original flavor Terra Chips in the mail and proceeded to eat both bags in about 2 hours. They're good for you, people ... they're VEGETABLES.  I love the original flavor, the sweet potato chips and even their exotic flavors. They're a bit on the pricey side, so I generally only buy these when I have a coupon, but they're always worth the money. The only unfortunate thing about them is that they don't last long in my house.

3.  Utz Carolina BBQ

 
These chips are what would happen if BBQ and Salt & Vinegar chips had a baby. They're tangy, a little spicy on the back end and just downright delicious. They are phenomenal with hot dogs and hamburgers or all by themselves. I craved these like crazy when I was pregnant with my son. These babies will take your tastebuds to a whole new level of happiness.

2.  Zapp's Hotter 'n' Hot Jalepeno

 
I grew up eating these crunchy kettle-style chips. The proper way to eat Zapp's is to flip the bag upside down, shake it so that the powdery spices coat all the lucious chips, then open the bottom of the bag and devour them.  Zapp's has some great flavors, like Cajun Crawtator and VooDoo Gumbo, but my heart will forever belong to the Jalapeno flavor. They are savory at first, spicy on the back end. I love them with a good shrimp po' boy.

1.  Original Ruffles

 
Despite all the flashy flavors on my list, my favorite chip will forever be original Ruffles. They are the perfect chip to dip, they go with anything and their classic taste reminds me of childhood when my mom gave them to me as a snack with onion dip and sometimes packed them in my lunchbox in a zippy bag. As I grew older, I began to appreciate them dipped in queso or (wait for it) chocolate frosting. Those famous ridges are hard to beat, so whenever I get a major craving for chips, Ruffles are the first bag I turn to for satisfaction.

What's your favorite chip?

Photo credits:  Goldenflake.com, taquitos.net, utzsnacks.com, cajunsupermarket.com, fritolay.com

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Great picks, Jen! You can check out the rest of Jen's posts here. 

Best of the Archives: What to Get at Trader Joe's

Originally posted July 2011

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By Jonniker

Reader Dawn wrote us with the following question:

Hello to some of my favorite food writers! I've thoroughly enjoyed your site for some time now. The blueberry-oatmeal pancakes from Jen's repertoire are beyond awesome (what I had for breakfast in fact!). We always make a double batch, and freeze them for yummy weekday breakfasts.

I write today with a question of the utmost importance. Trader Joe's is slated to open a location a mere hour from my house on July 15th! I'm planning on 'visiting relatives' that weekend or the next, and would like recommendations for products we MUST buy. OK, who am I kidding -- the trip is solely a pilgrimage to TJs, with some fun relatives thrown in on the side. I'm looking for somewhat healthy items, with a few indulgence items thrown in for good measure (chocolate and carb calories are therapeutic in my house). I hope the entire crew (and the ever fabulous readership) will be able to help me craft a 'Best of TJ' list so I know what is worth elbowing through the massive crowds.

 

Thanks in advance for the assistance!

 

(Pizza salad featuring TJ's frying cheese. YUM.)

Oh, Dawn. We put this to the group at large, and it is without hesitation that I tell you that the best answer seems to be to just buy everything. Buy out the store! Take out a personal loan for thousands of dollars and BUY IT ALL. 

Is that ... impractical, you say? Well, then, be prepared to be simultaneously overwhelmed and excited by our staff picks for favorite Trader Joe's products:

Let's start with Laurie, who had the simplest, yet most specific, advice:

"Please include the vegetable samosas, because there are days I have to go buy them or I start twitching. I eat them with curry powder mixed in apple cider vinegar. It's the most disgusting and delicious food thing I do these days."

Jennie's a fan of the "cheap sparkling wine" (all of them, I suppose), but her husband, Mike, declared the orange juice the best he's ever had.  

Nic is a girl after my own heart, and has a list for you to peruse. A list, by the way, that I wholeheartedly cosign:

100 Calorie Chocolate Bars

Mediterranean Hummus (the one with the oil and pine nuts on top)

GUACAMOLE (ALL CAPS!!!1!!!)

Pineapple Salsa

Frozen pizza and flat bread

Mini chocolate peanut butter cups

Blueberry or cranberry goat cheese

Pastry Bites with Caramelized Onion and Feta

Turkey meatballs AND meatless meatballs

Caitlin, too, has her favorites and must-trys, and adds a few secrets: 

Chocolate covered caramels, and little peppermint pattie/Junior Mint knockoff things.  Frozen veggies

Pot stickers

Coffee ("Cheapish and good!")

Frozen orange chicken ("Tastes like Chinese takeout!")

Elissa brought her own list to the table:

Dark chocolate, sea salt and turbinado sugar-covered almonds ("I think they may include crack")
Gold label balsamic vinegar
Frozen chocolate croissants

Sarah had some enthusiastic product-recommendations, too:

Chocolate-covered cashews (mix of dark and milk chocolate)
Three-layer torte thing in the fancy cheese section ("It's got sun-dried tomato spread, pesto spread, and some kind of white cheese spread and it. is. awesome.")
Pizza dough! The garlic pizza dough!

Katie, a girl after my own heart, had a bunch MORE to say:

Chicken stock concentrate: It comes in a small box, and each box has 12 little pouches of goo. Each pouch is equivalent to one cup of stock (though I sometimes stretch them further with more water). So good, so much better than canned, so much more space-efficient than boxed. Great for those recipes that call for just a tiny bit of chicken stock, too.

Pretzel slims (regular and dark chocolate covered)

Chocolate cat cookies (also acceptable: ginger)
Dark chocolate mini peanut butter cups
Fruit leathers (so cheap!)

Personally, I am having a hard time deciding what to tell people to buy, because I love so many things. If I had to choose three FINE FOUR, however?

Belgian Butter Thins: ultra-light, thin, buttery cookies covered in dark, milk and white chocolate

Candied (or spicy) pecans: Crunchy, delicious and perfect for topping salads 

Masala simmer sauce: Throw it in a slow cooker with some boneless chicken thighs, a little bit of chicken broth and some yogurt or light cream and you have delicious, delicious chicken tikka masala for half the cost of takeout. 

Canned corn. I know, canned corn, you're thinking? CANNED CORN? But theirs is the sweetest, crispest corn I've ever found outside of a fresh cob. It has ruined me for all corns, frozen or otherwise.

Katie also brings up an excellent point that was met with a hearty, "Hear! Hear!" from the FL staff: 

"TJs is also my go-to place for certain high quality ingredients that can be stupid expensive elsewhere: capers, kalamata olives, parrano cheese, vanilla extract, pine nuts (any kind of nut, really), high-quality honey, applewood smoked bacon, and decent olive oil."

To illustrate her point, you can get a jar -- a BIG jar -- of capers for $2.99 there. The same price will get you a thimbleful elsewhere. 

And finally ... 

Booze

Not all Trader Joe's have liquor licenses (in our state, there are ten or more TJ's, but only two have liquor licenses), but if you're lucky enough to live near one, you'd be a fool not to pick up some cheap wine & beer. At rock-bottom prices, you can afford to take some risks, but here are some staff picks:

Zarafa Sauvignon Blanc  ($3.99!)

Espiral vinho verde (crisp, clean and light, it's effervescence in a bottle!)

Charles Shaw, AKA Three-buck Chuck (any varietal, but I'm telling you, their white zinfandel is something to behold. I find most white zins to be disgusting, cheap-tasting and super-sweet. I am not a drinker of white zin, I promise. Theirs, however, is fresh, crisp, fruity and bright without being syrupy or off-putting. Try it. For $3, why not? Even if you dump it down the drain, that one taste is cheaper than a bottle anywhere else. 

Epicuro Salice Salentino (a gorgeously smooth, drinkable red that is just the right balance of dry without a trace of bitterness)

Does this ... help? So sorry, Dawn. I TOLD you. JUST BUY THE WHOLE STORE. 

{Photo credit: Trader Joe's dot com}

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Anything to add to the best-of Trader Joe's list? Jonna -- co-founder and co-editor of Food Lush -- is always bringing the awesome with her posts, so check out her archives here. (My favorite post of Jonna's was actually her very first post on effortless Dulce de Leche!) 

Best of the Archives: My Momma's Pound Cake Recipe

Originally posted May 2011

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By Dani

Last week I told you all about the Bundt Pan That Changed My Life, and now I'm going to tell you about the best possible pound cake to make in said pan. Seriously. This cake is awesome in the summer with some fresh strawberries and whipped cream, or equally wonderful in the winter with a hot mug of coffee and a drizzle of chocolate sauce.

My mom makes it. 'Nuff said.

Start with:

• 1 cup butter, softened.
• 3 cups sugar
• 6 eggs

Cream together.

Then add:

• 3 cups flour
• 1 cup sour cream (go for the full-fat stuff ... you're making POUND cake, for crying out loud)
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 tsp. almond extract

Combine until well-mixed.

Pour into a bundt pan and bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour and 20 minutes or so. (I usually leave it in a couple extra minutes, just in case. This is thick batter.)

Eat it. Eat it all. You will love it.

Also, tell me what other creative toppings you have! Any spectacular ideas from your neck of the woods?

{Photo credit: Poundcake.net. I kid you not.}

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While Food Lush is taking a well-deserved break, you can check out the rest of Dani's awesome posts. She's got some good taste!