• Market tote with flowers
    Living

    Kitchen Organization: How to Stock the Pantry

    Cooking with fresh ingredients including seasonal vegetables and fruit can be simpler when your pantry is filled with essentials such as your favorite olive oil, seasonings, and whole grains.  Whether you are stocking the kitchen in your first home or organizing the cooking staples you already have, consult this list of items that I find most useful for the home cook. Since they are not as perishable as the eggs, milk, and others stored in the refrigerator, you can use these pantry essentials over time, keeping track of expiration dates and storing them in that order. Allow your personal list to grow over time based on your preferred cuisines and…

  • Pineapple Cocktail
    Living

    5 Favorite Specialty Kitchen Tools

    With specialty tools available for almost any cooking need, it can be tempting to pick up new gadgets. Many of these wind up being used once and then relegated to the back of the drawer. Avocado slicer, anyone? When the urge to make a purchase strikes, or you’re seeking a gift for the cook in your life, consider one of these five tools. Though their purposes are specialized, they help you to accomplish kitchen tasks that would otherwise be time-consuming, messy, or downright difficult enough to interfere with the enjoyment of cooking. Cherry Pitter Farmers’ market season is right around the corner, and with it comes hauls of fresh sweet…