A friend of mine just made a small batch of salsa and put in 5 habanero peppers. She wanted it to be smoking hot but to her dismay it came out mild. It did get a tiny bit hotter after a couple weeks but still is mild. Any idea why it didn't turn out hotter? - Ruth I can think of a number of reasons why your friend's salsa ended up not... Read more →

If a diet calls for 9 ounces of protein daily, how many grams would that be? - Kitty Nine ounces equals 255 grams, but if a diet calls for nine ounces of protein, the first thing I would recommend is checking out just exactly what the author meant by the word 'protein'. Technically, proteins are organic molecules made up of amino acids... Read more →

My oldest daughter is a vegetarian, so visits home can be a challenge and a learning opportunity for the 'head cook'. On her last visit, I wanted to try something new. I had read that dried mushrooms ground into a fine powder was one way to add flavor depth to food. Some refer to this meatiness as Umami. To test the idea, I made the... Read more →

In our local newspaper recently was an article titled Italian twist lightens up classic French onion soup1. The author is a well known and respected chef, author and TV personality. The lead in says, "In my quest to slim down this French classic, I turned to Italy. I swapped out Gruyere in favour of Parmigiano-Reggiano and moved the... Read more →

This is someplace where I might be accused of being a bit of a broken record. I find myself constantly amazed by the amount we are charged in the supermarket for labor we could just as well do at home. On previous occasions, I've written about $100 Onions, and Saving Money on Groceries. This time, it's the difference in cost between split... Read more →

Whereas other people might bring back wine, or clothes, or salt and pepper shakers when they travel, chance are good if you look in my suitcase what you will find is olive oil. I love the stuff! A quick count of the number of different olive oils I have right now in my pantry comes in at six. Some are mild, the kind I might use for a... Read more →

I've heard it said that what we buy as buttermilk on the supermarkets now isn't the same as what buttermilk used to be. Can you explain the difference to me? --Strong Back in the day, as my kids would say, buttermilk was the liquid that was left behind when butter was made. The milk would be left stand for the cream to rise, and... Read more →

When a recipe calls for scalded milk, can you use skim milk or do you need to use whole milk? The kind of milk depends on the recipe more than on whether or not you are scalding it. In most cases, if not all, you should be able to substitute skim milk for whole, although it may give a slightly different mouthfeel to the finished dish... Read more →

I have used self rising flour instead of all purpose flour for a pizzelle recipe that uses rum, orange extract, grated orange peel, unsalted butter, eggs, vanilla extract, sugar, flour and baking powder. Not knowing I was using self rising flour, I added 2 tablespoons of baking powder to 3 1/2 cups of flour as per recipe. The batter... Read more →

I am reading your article about the baking powder. Mine contains monocalcium phosphate, sodium bicarbonate and cornstarch. Since the monocalcium phosphate is listed in your article as available for both the fast and slow acting components, is this particular brand I am using (Rumford, aluminum-free) considered 'Double'? It bubbled up... Read more →