Category Archives: family cooking

Uber Basic Homemade Granola

Considering how much granola costs, it is well worth the time to make it yourself. The main ingredient is good ole fashioned rolled oats – super cheap! It is also super easy to make and the most time consuming part is the baking time. I make a large batch of basic granola from which I […]

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Tempering Chocolate Shortcut Using Cocoa Butter

Did you know that the high quality chocolate blocks you buy at the grocery store are already tempered? The only reason we home cooks temper at home is because when we need to melt the chocolates to remold and work with them, we melt them at a high enough temperature to bring the chocolates out […]

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Happy Chinese New Year!

The 2011 Chinese New Year begins with blistery cold weather ( at least to us here in the south) and hopefully snow, an unusual treat for us Austinites. Here’s a fun indoor craft to do with your kids – mini lighted paper lantern: Make an origami cube or ball out of a square piece of […]

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My Favorite Pie Crust

Is a butter crust. I’ve tried them all – oil, shortening, butter, combo – for the fat portion of the crust and I simply prefer the taste and texture of an all-butter crust. At first, it seemed harder to work with but I’ve finally found my tried-and-true method. Of course, it involves my trusty KitchenAid […]

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Lunchbox Pizza Rolls

My son started kindergarten this Fall. I can see he’s already getting bored with the sandwiches I pack, no matter how much I vary the fillings. It’s hard for cold sandwiches to measure up to hot cafeteria food! I stumbled on one that he really likes – pizza rolls! Or calzones as some call them, […]

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All-Purpose Pizza Dough

Here’s my basic dough recipe for making pizzas, calzone, or any stuffed rolls. On some weekends, we would have pizza night where I’d go to the trouble of making homemade pizza (totally worth it). And while I have the whole mess out, I usually make calzones or pizza rolls which make great lunch packs for […]

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Not So Messy Ice Cream Push-up Pops

Just about every frozen treats on sticks, homemade or bought, drip everywhere. Unlike us grown-ups who race to finish our treats before even wasting a drop, our kids dawdle, savor every lick leaving a big sticky mess all-over. Keeping them from enjoying these delightful popsicles is simply not an option! Finally, I found a work-around […]

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My Favorite Frosting – Whipped Cream Cheese

In preparation for the 4th of July, I thought I’d share my go-to frosting for almost all my cakes and cupcakes – whipped cream cheese frosting. I’ve been looking for a lighter, fluffier, and less sweet frosting than the typical buttercream and have finally found it. The original recipe came from allrecipes.com’s Whipped Cream Cream […]

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Rock Candy, Patience, and Chemistry

Making rock candy is a fun and easy experiment to do with your kids while teaching them a little bit about chemistry and a lot about patience. Plus, there’s a sweet reward at the end. Candy making usually involves thermometers and lots of corn syrup. Not so with rock candy! You just need sugar and […]

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Homemade Jiao-zi, Gyoza, or Dumpling Skins Using a Stand Mixer

If you’ve scoured the internet and various cooking books, you’ll notice that recipes for homemade dumpling skins all have the basic two ingredients, flour and water, but the proportions and technique vary greatly. They all work – dumpling skin dough is very forgiving. Using the right proportion and method, however, can make the process a […]

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