'Tis the holiday season. I really enjoy gingerbread cookies, but every time I make them, my gingerbread turns out hard and flat. I was wondering what makes a cookie chewy, but not necessarily soft? --Lindsay The first thing you need to check is whether the gingerbread recipe you are using is one intended to be used for making... Read more →

What does it mean to devein a shrimp? How is this done? --Zack Along the back of a shrimp, on the outside curve, there is a black line running from head to tail. To some people the term deveining may be confusing, as this line is actually the intestinal tract of the shrimp and not a vein at all. On larger shrimp (or prawns) this... Read more →

We roasted a fresh turkey un-stuffed on Thanksgiving and the left-over pieces have been stored in the refrigerator in it's own container. How long is too long to safely consume the left-over turkey? Thank you. --Betty In our house, most of the leftover turkey is consumed for late night snacks or lunch the next day as Turkey Buns. In... Read more →

What is the best way to separate eggs into the whites and yolks?--Janet There are three ways to separate whites from yolks. The first way is using a commercially available egg separator. These devices have a cup supported by rigid spokes in the middle of a ring. You crack the egg and let the contents drop into the center of the separator... Read more →

I notice my baking powder had 2/04 dated on bottom of the can. I assume this is the expiration date. I'm in the middle of mixing ingredients for cake. How could I substitute with baking soda or is it safe to still use it? Thanks in advance.--Dianne The expiry date on baking powder is there because it loses some of its strength over time... Read more →

I was planning to make a Pumpkin Mousse for Thanksgiving. My recipe says to fold the whipped cream into the pumpkin mixture. What does it mean to 'fold' something, and when do you use this technique?--Laurel In cooking, folding is a mixing technique that is used to gently combine ingredients where a more aggressive method would cause one... Read more →

I have what I believe to be a copper pot. At least it has copper on the outside. I've cooked pasta in it many times and it works great. However, once I kept the leftover pasta in the pot and put it in the fridge. A day or two later when I took the pasta and pot out of the fridge, the pasta was discolored…I think it was green. But... Read more →

When our children came along, my Mom decided that she wanted them to call her Nana, so that became her name in later life. This soup was a family favorite. It is a hearty soup, perfect for cold days. If you want, replace the beef with lamb or mutton to make Scotch Broth. Makes about 16 servings. Bean and Barley Soup Nana Amt... Read more →

Have you ever had a time when the cooking muse left you? For the past several weeks, I have been in a slump, lacking inspiration to make interesting meals. Food has been more what can I put on the table than what can I create. Well, this past week, Pat and I had a short vacation to Montreal, Quebec City, and Vermont. In each place, we... Read more →

Can you settle a question for us? I say that allspice is a blend of cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg. My wife says that it is an actual spice. Which is it?--Bert Allspice is the dried fruit of the evergreen myrtle plant Pimenta Dioica. It gets its name from the fact that it tastes, as you noticed, like cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg. The... Read more →