Wednesday Links
Cooking Tips , Favorite Things , Recipes / June 27, 2018

The Fourth of July is just a week away! Here are some links and articles to help you get ready. The best way to cook hot dogs and make them perfect every time: I think you will be surprised by the answer. Seven tools to pack when you cook in someone else’s kitchen: Those vacation rental kitchens are always under stocked. For some reason it never occurred to me to just bring my own tools from home. The 23 essential barbecue dishes in America: In case you are travelling over the 4th, here are some restaurant ideas. These lists are always kind of ridiculous, but since mutton from Owensboro, KY (where I lived for a few years) is on the list, I think it has some validity. I don’t even like mutton, but this dish is a local favorite. Everything you need to throw the best 4th of July party: I’m pretty sure you don’t really need anything on this list to throw a great party, but this inflatable indoor/outdoor buffet cooler is pretty festive. Recipe: Best easy Italian pasta salad: Here’s a super quick and tasty dish to take to a 4th of July get together. I hope everyone has a great holiday!  …

Tips for Baking Yummy Cookies
Cooking Tips / May 31, 2018

Here are some baking tips from Dorie’s Cookie’s along with a few of my own thoughts. Give your oven plenty of time to preheat. Dorie suggests that you check the temperature with an oven thermometer (one that you buy, not the one already on your oven), and that you let it continue to heat for another 10 to 15 minutes. I have a pretty new oven, so I haven’t taken the extra step of buying a thermometer. But it’s probably a good idea. Use inexpensive rimmed baking sheets, also known as half sheet or jelly roll pans. I definitely agree with this. Because they are inexpensive, you can have plenty on hand when you want to do holiday baking, and they can be used for so many things besides baking cookies. Line those baking sheets with parchment or silicone baking mats. I have a couple of the silicone mats, which I love, but be careful because I have torn my when I was cutting bar cookies still in the pan. Also, my husband started buying pre-cut parchment sheets, instead of rolls of parchment paper. So convenient! She suggests you have three sizes of cookie (or ice cream) scoops on hand:…

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