Help Around the Kitchen
Ideas for December
With the holidays in full swing we'll help you make your kitchen work as efficiently as possible.
Made-Over Boxed Brownies
Give a boxed brownie mix a holiday makeover: Sprinkle chocolate chips over the brownies straight from the oven. Let sit for a few minutes, then spread the melted chocolate. Sprinkle immediately with crushed peppermint candies, pressing in the candies to adhere. Let cool completely before cutting and serving.
Dozens of Brownie Recipes
Pre-Portion Cookie Dough
Drop-cookie dough is great for freezing (and thus, baking a cookie when a craving strikes!). Portion out the dough onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, freeze, then transfer to a covered container and refreeze. When you're ready, bake as usual, tacking on an extra minute or two as needed.
Cakey Chocolate Chip Cookies
Quick Tip: Separating Eggs
When separating eggs, do them individually before adding the separated white and yolk to the other ingredients. Consider this a quick and easy measure worth taking to avoid contamination of the bowls due to a yolk accident.
Chocolate Souffles
Celebrate With Giada
Celebrate the season by throwing together batches of cookie dough. ‘Tis the season for holiday cookies, as cookie dough refrigerates for up to 3 days and freezes for up to 3 months.
Giada's One Cookie Dough, Three Ways
Evenly Baked Cookies
Cool baking sheets in between baking batches of cookies by running cold water over the underside of each sheet — placing raw cookie dough on a hot baking sheet will lead to uneven baking.
Our Best Homemade Cookies
Baking Secrets
For recipes that call for melted butter, try browning the butter for a nuttier flavor: Melt the butter and cook until it turns a hazelnut brown, then pour into a heatproof bowl immediately to stop the cooking. Use while still in liquid form.
Anne Burrell's Tips for Baking Like a Pro
Keep Cheese Fresh
Store cheeses in the crisper drawer wrapped in parchment, where the high humidity will help keep them from drying out.
Serrano Ham and Manchego Cheese Plate
Crispy Latkes
Hanukkah begins at sundown. For extra-crisp latkes, wrap the shredded potatoes in a clean kitchen towel and wring out as much water as possible.
Potato Pancakes
Cookie Storage
Store soft and crisp cookies separately as softer cookies will leach moisture from crisp cookies, causing them to become soft, too. Store soft cookies with an orange peel or apple wedge to keep them soft. The apple will need to be changed daily.
Lemon-White Chocolate Cookies
Glossy Pastries
For a shiny, glossy crust, brush dough with an egg wash made from an egg beaten with water.
Brush Ina's Apple Turnovers With Egg Wash
New Use for Dried Pasta
In a pinch, instead of using a toothpick to test cakes and other baked goods for doneness, use a strand of uncooked spaghetti.
Chocolate Fudge Cake
Send Cookie Gifts
The secret to mailing cookies without breakage is to stack them in single layers separated by sheets of bubble wrap.
How to Ship Cookies
Happy Cocoa Day!
It’s National Cocoa Day! Add a spoonful of cocoa to your morning coffee for a fun, chocolatey fix.
Or Make Super-Thick Hot Chocolate
Beat Better Egg Whites
When beating egg whites for volume, make sure the beaters and bowl are free of any fat, which will interfere with the formation of foamy egg whites.
Little Cheese Souffles
Fruitcake Made Easy
Use scissors to snip dried fruit into small pieces — dried fruit can be difficult to chop because of its sticky texture.
Fruitcake Parfaits
Save Croissants
Stockpile your favorite croissants and freeze for the holidays. Wrap each croissant in aluminum foil before storing in a freezer bag. Remove from the foil and heat in a 325 degrees F oven until just heated through, about 5 minutes.
Use Croissants in Bread Pudding
Happy Maple Syrup Day
In honor of National Maple Syrup Day, treat the kids to old-fashioned maple syrup candy: Bring 1 cup maple syrup and ¼ cup butter to a boil, 5 to 6 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes, then pour over vanilla ice cream — or snow, if available — so the candy hardens. Indulge immediately.
Make Blueberry Maple Syrup at Home
Cookie Presents
After boxing cookies as presents, store the packages in sealed plastic bags until ready to be given to the recipient. The airtight seal will keep cookies fresh for longer.
The Evolution of a Food Network Magazine Christmas Cookie Story
Mulling Spices
Freshen up the house by simmering a holiday brew of cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon sticks and orange peels. For an added benefit, strain the liquid for use as a room freshener spray.
Or Imbibe With Nigella's Mulled Cider
Easy Scallion Garnish
For elegant scallion curls, thinly slice a scallion into long, thin strips and submerge in ice cold water. Use to garnish holiday roasts and soups.
Tangerine Beef With Scallions
Happy Hamburger Day!
What's for dinner tonight? Dress up a burger for National Hamburger Day by making an inside-out cheeseburger: Gently push a cube of cheese into the center of a patty, pinching together the meat to enclose. Cook as usual.
Indoor Beef Burgers With Bobby
Serving a Crowd
Keep cooked foods warm as they rest by tenting them with aluminum foil. The aluminum foil helps keep heat in but lets steam escape so you don't overcook your meat.
6 Tips to a Stress-Free Party
Carve Your Ham
When carving ham, cut the ham crosswise in 2 to 3 places before slicing lengthwise so it falls off in smaller pieces.
Glazed Ham With Roasted Apples
Indulge in Eggnog
What better reason than National Eggnog Day to treat your family to eggnog French toast? Just swap the eggnog in for the liquid and beat with a few eggs. Top with whipped cream spiked with vanilla and grated nutmeg.
Or Make Eggnog Yogurt
Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas! Unflavored dental floss easily steps in for kitchen twine when tying a holiday roast — just be careful to not tie it too tightly and cut into the meat, causing juices to run and dry out.
How to Roast Meats
Use Recycled Packaging for Better Storage
Save bubble wrap from packages to line stacks of cookware and serving platters when you store them.
7 More Smart Storage Tips
Baking Essentials
Hold onto a stick of butter in its wrapper when buttering a baking dish, then store the butter in its wrapper in a resealable plastic bag. Reuse the same stick for greasing other baking dishes.
Baking Essentials
Be Your Own Barista
Use a blender to make foamy milk. Warm the milk, then pour it into the blender and blend until foamy. For a wintery spin on steamed milk, warm the milk with sprigs of mint or spearmint, strain before blending and serve with a peppermint stick.
Tyler's French Press Cappuccino
In Season: Pomegranates
Release the seeds from a pomegranate half by thwacking at the peel side with the back of a wooden spoon, with the cut side facing a shallow bowl. Use force, so the seeds come flying out.
Guy's Pear and Pomegranate Salad
Freeze Citrus Peels
The grated peel of citrus fruit can be frozen: Drop by the teaspoon on a sheet of plastic wrap, then cover with another sheet and form a seal; roll up and freeze in a freezer bag. Use scissors to snip away mounds as needed.
How to Zest Citrus Fruit
Cook With Champagne
Ring in the new year with a champagne toast! Save leftover champagne for cooking dishes like steamed mussels or risotto. Freeze the champagne in amounts suitable for cooking using ice cube trays or muffin tins, then transfer to a freezer bag.
Sandra's Champagne Poached Chicken
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