Apple-Sweetened Yellow Onions

On February 23, 2023February 23, 2023 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Column, Cookbook, Ingredient, RefrigeratingLeave a comment

I have to admit: Before I wrote The Complete Guide to Pickling, I rarely thought about pickling onions. Onions land in just about every jar of pickles I make, from Spring Asparagus Pickles and Salt-and-Vinegar Winter Squash, to canned Honeyed Bread-and-Butter Chips, to Southern-Style Pickled Shrimp. If I wanted slices of pickled onions for a sandwich, I just fished them out of one of those jars.

But part of the fun of pickling onions is that red onions are just as readily available as yellow ones, making it easy to create colorful combinations. Lime-Pickled Onions, with thinly slices of red onion immersed in lime juice, become a shocking pink. Red Onions in Wine Vinegar turn a deeper reddish hue. For Fermented Red Onions, weighing down the onion rings with a red beet doubles down on the brightness. I even use red onions, and sometimes just their skins, in other recipes for an extra shot of color.

The pickled onions I share this week in my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon keep their pale, nearly translucent color, but apple cider vinegar and a little bonus sugar make them a bit sweeter than these more colorful versions.
Learn to make Apple-Sweetened Yellow Onions

Frozen Strawberry Syrup

On February 2, 2023February 2, 2023 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Column, Freezing, Ingredient, Refrigerating2 Comments

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

Storing Avocados

On August 29, 2022August 28, 2022 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Refrigerating, TopicLeave a comment

Did you know I regularly write about food and kitchen tools and share recipes and techniques on other websites, besides my weekly column for the Flathead Beacon? These pieces aren’t published on a regular schedule, and I try to share them on Facebook and Instagram as the go live. For those who don’t follow Twice as Tasty through social media, I’m making a push to share them here on the blog too.

In my latest piece for The Spruce Eats, I tested seven avocado storage solutions, which meant a daily dose of avocados that George was happy to eat on everything from fish tacos to potato bowls. I found some storage tricks and avocado keepers that I continue to use in my kitchen.
Learn about storing avocados

Cucumber-Dill Refrigerator Pickles

On August 19, 2022August 18, 2022 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Column, Ingredient, Refrigerating1 Comment

If there was any doubt that I love pickles, it was dispelled when my first cookbook focused entirely on pickling. Even I explored some new-to-me flavors and foods for that book, some of which has since become personal favorites: Lime-Pickled Onions, Cultured Curtido (Cabbage Slaw), Zucchini Escabeche (Grilled and Pickled Zucchini), Fresh Pears with Lemon, Tepache (Fermented Pineapple Beverage), Sweet Vinegar-Pickled Eggs, Scratch-Made Sriracha, and more. But I always leave space in the fridge for simple, classic, cucumber-and-dill pickles.

In my Twice as Tasty column this week for the Flathead Beacon, I share one of my simplest and most straightforward pickling cucumber recipes that can be eaten in about a day (if you just can’t wait) but will keep for weeks in the refrigerator. It’s a great way to use less than a pound of pickling cucumbers, whose importance I also explain in the column, or make a couple of jars with a larger crop but without the hassle of canning.
Learn to make Cucumber-Dill Refrigerator Pickles