Why grandmothers always get a recipe right, and fresh homemade cheese.

2/18/2013

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In my humble opinion, the greatest compliment one can pay to a person who likes to cook is when they say "Wow, you make [fill in the blank] just like my grandma". Or "just like my mother" (but bear in mind that grandmother is the superlative form of mother). 
It could be regarding a kitchen technique or a food that is being served.
I think that's because grandmas in general have had at least half a lifetime to learn and test what works best.
Then, even when a recipe goes wrong, quickly they think of a way to fix it that turns it into something delicious.
The other day I got to rescue a recipe that went wrong, and oh did I feel like a ninja! I was preparing yogurt, but the weather was incredibly warm and it stayed out of fridge too long.
It curdled and I thought "all right, what do I do now?".

Fruit fly trap. True story.

1/25/2013

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The kitchn's got some great tips. This one, for example:
Honestly, can someone not be annoyed by them in summertime?
With this little simple trick problem is solved. Or at least diminishes a lot:
You pour some apple vinegar in a cup, add one or two drops liquid detergent, and place it next to the fruit bowl. Done.
(I have also tested white vinegar and rice vinegar; apple works a zillion times better)
Vinegar attracts them, detergent kills them. That's it.
The picture below is disgusting, but I'm publishing it so you can see it really works.


Depending on the quantity of flies that usually appear in your kitchen, it's nice to change the vinegar mixture once a day or once a week. 
Also, I'd recommend choosing a ceramic cup or any other non-transparent material, to avoid making your kitchen look bad.

PS: I have tested using a piece of neutral soap, because that's what I have at home and use to wash my dishes, but it didn't do well like the detergent did.

Soup made with tomatoes from the garden.

1/10/2013

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Tomatoes are love shaped as vegetables, of that I am sure.
They might be a pretty fresh food, when used in raw salads, as well as they might be comfort food, when grilled, baked, marinated, cooked, transformed in sauce...
And when they in the garden by the bunch? When, in warm weather, we can pick a bowl full of tomatoes every day?
Then it is too much love for one person only. I took advantage of this one afternoon when the rain managed to lower the temperature a bit and made a soup out of them to share with my family.