Frozen Strawberry Syrup

On February 2, 2023February 2, 2023 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Refrigerating, Freezing, Ingredient, ColumnLeave a comment

The first year I canned fruit syrups, I gifted my sister a couple of jars. The next year, she asked for a full box of jars filled with the jewel-toned syrups. In her house, they get used more often than jams: drizzled on pancakes or waffles, stirred into yogurt, blended into smoothies, and more.

I like making summertime fruit syrups because I can pair fruit and herbs in the same way I do for shrubs, ending up with a sweet concoction rather than a sweet-and-tangy vinegar-spiked one. The downside, as with jelly, is that it takes a lot of fruit to fill a canner-load of jars. So I created a recipe for my Twice as Tasty column this week for the Flathead Beacon that takes just one bag of fruit from the freezer and turns it into a jar of syrup you can keep in the fridge.
Learn to make Frozen Strawberry Syrup

Kitchen Favorites: Canning Cookbooks

On January 27, 2023January 24, 2023 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Canning, Topic1 Comment

It might not feel like canning season with garden beds buried in snow. Still, seed catalogs keep arriving. To my mind, the smart way to grow and preserve your own food is to follow the progression from buying seeds to planting to harvesting to canning. That means that now, as I choose varieties from seed catalogs, I’m noting the recipes that I hope to can in summer or fall.

If you think the same way, you’ll want to be leafing through some of the canning cookbooks in my recent piece for The Spruce Eats. I originally wrote this roundup in 2021 and shared more about sourcing safe canning recipes in a related blog post. I’ve updated the list with new editions of some of my favorite canning books plus a couple of newer releases worth adding to your canning shelves.
Learn about choosing and using canning cookbooks

Stovetop Sourdough English Muffins

On January 26, 2023January 26, 2023 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Column, Fermenting, Ingredient2 Comments

I baked up a batch of sourdough English muffins a few weeks ago and rediscovered just how easy they are to make. That’s not how I had remembered them, and looking back over my notes, I realized it was because it took several tries to create a recipe that had almost no kneading, allowed a long ferment time, and could be cooked entirely on the stovetop.

That latter quality was the reason I pulled out the recipe after ignoring it for so long: we’re in the middle of a house remodel, so I’ve been a bit transient for the last few months, most recently staying in a family guesthouse with a functioning stovetop but a nonworking oven. I’m now baking a new batch of sourdough English muffins every time we polish off the last one. It seemed well worth sharing as the final Sourdough Month recipe in my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon.

The 6th Annual Sourdough Giveaway has been a huge success; so far, I’ve sent out more than 250 packets of sourdough starter! It is winding down, so sign up by January 31 if you want me to send you a free packet of my own sourdough starter.
Learn to make Stovetop Sourdough English Muffins

Kitchen Favorites: Snack Bowls

On January 24, 2023January 22, 2023 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Topic, UsingLeave a comment

Testing kitchen products for The Spruce Eats puts pieces in my hands that I never would have sought out, like the four Corelle Classic Winter Frost White Bowls I feature in my latest article for the website. These 12-ounce bowls were chosen by another writer as part of a cereal bowl roundup, but after they arrived at my house for testing, it was clear I wanted to bump up a size. Instead of immediately returning the bowls, I held onto them to judge their overall usefulness—and decided they were worth the shelf space to keep permanently.

I rarely eat cereal from these bowls, reserving that for a larger-capacity set that I tested and kept for sailing, picnicking, road tripping, and more. But Corelle’s smaller bowls travel just as well. I use them often at home, too, for snacks, small portions, meal prep, and serving.
Learn about choosing and using snack bowls