6th Annual Sourdough Giveaway

On January 5, 2023December 27, 2023 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Column, Giveaway, sourdough2 Comments

Welcome to the 6th Annual Sourdough Giveaway! I’ve been sharing my starter every January since I started this blog, but last year’s giveaway broke all of my records, with 154 sourdough packets leaving my kitchen and heading out into the world.

Many of those packets went to readers of my Twice as Tasty column in the Flathead Beacon, so thank you for supporting local journalism, as well as reading my column and blog. Twice as Tasty starter has now traveled to Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, Slovenia, and throughout the United States, and I hope to share it with even more new sourdough bakers this year. Request your starter by the end of January to get in on the sourdough adventures.
Read more about starting with sourdough

Norwegian-Style Gløgg

On December 29, 2022December 28, 2023 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn beverages, Column1 Comment

As many friends and family approach the end of the year with subzero nights and canceled flights, a stay-at-home New Year’s Eve sounds welcoming. Whether you’re keeping it intimate or filling the house with friends, the hot spiced wine recipe in my latest Twice as Tasty column can be casual enough for a cozy fireside chat or tasty enough for a countdown party.

Various cultures have twists on the basic idea of hot red wine in a mug. Some are simply warmed with spices, others are sweetened or boosted with stronger alcohol, and some have it all. My favorite version, the Norwegian-Style Gløgg I share in this week’s Flathead Beacon, falls into the third category, with the bonus of vodka-spiked raisins and crunchy almonds in the bottom of each cup. Fortifying the wine with spice-infused vodka and adding a bit of sugar makes it adaptable to all sorts of reds, including cheaper bottles or ones opened but then forgotten.
Learn to make Norwegian-Style Gløgg

Cranberry-Orange Quick Bread

On December 22, 2022November 18, 2023 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Column, quick breads1 Comment

After endless hours in coffeeshops, I have a soft spot for muffins and scones, but Montana life has taught me to favor quick breads. It’s their mobility I admire. Where muffins can get squished if they aren’t well packaged and scones can crumble after the first day, quick breads can be sliced once cool and slid into a gallon zip-close bag, where they hold their shape well. Better yet, presliced loaves can be frozen so that I can pull out a couple of slices, warm them in the toaster oven, and devour them as I’m driving up the ski hill.

In my Twice as Tasty column this week for the Flathead Beacon, I share a wintertime quick bread that packs a flavor punch from cranberries and orange. I usually buy at least two bags of cranberries as soon as I see them in stores and immediately freeze one with the berries whole and unwashed, since water causes the skins to blister. I can then make this bread on a whim, chopping still-frozen cranberries in a food processor.
Learn to make Cranberry-Orange Quick Bread

Gourmet Granola with Nuts and Fruit

On December 15, 2022November 18, 2023 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Column, dehydrated1 Comment

My food dehydrator sees regular, year-round use: drying homegrown herbs and vegetables during the growing season, making fruit leather to give my nephew and niece for birthdays and Christmas, and dehydrating sourdough starter for my annual January giveaway. Still, I fill it most often with a blend of grains, spices, and sweeteners that become granola.

In my latest Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon, I share one of my favorite granola recipes and explain why I make it in a food dehydrator. If you don’t own one, don’t worry—I give instructions for baking it in the oven too.
Learn to make Gourmet Granola with Nuts and Fruit

Mason Jar Gifts: Mixed-Bean Soup

On December 8, 2022November 18, 2023 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Column, dry stored2 Comments

Every December, I share ideas and recipes that make delicious food gifts. These ideas have ranged from tags and bags to suggestions for food gifts that include homemade treats, kitchen tools, and of course my books.

This year, I’ve added to the food gift ideas with a meal-in-a-jar recipe in my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon. It was surprisingly straightforward to adapt one of my favorite fresh soup recipes so that it could be gifted in a jar, ready to by pulled from the cupboard and made on a chilly night with minimal added ingredients. It still packs all of the flavor of the fresh recipe without relying on salt-heavy bouillon cubes or store-bought seasoning blends. It’s also easy to scale up or down for larger or smaller households and to make multiple jars to cover everyone on your gifting list.
Learn to make Mixed-Bean Soup as a mason jar gift

Vanilla Bean Cookies

On December 1, 2022November 18, 2023 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Column, cookiesLeave a comment

To kick off the December holiday season, I shared a favorite family cookie recipe this week in my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon. Vanilla Bean Cookies are an appropriate way to start a month that emphasizes baking not only for their flavor but also because of how you create them: by making the cookies and letting them sit for several weeks. They’re the first cookies I make each holiday season, quickly followed by Chocolate Rum Balls, and they’re some of the first to be devoured when I crack open the cookie tins.

These cookies are special to me because of their history in my family and because friends continue to adopt them and include them in their own holiday traditions. My grandmother’s original recipe seemed untouchable, but I recently improved on it by switching to organic ingredients, especially a tapioca-based powdered sugar instead of one laced with cornstarch to prevent caking. After years of making this recipe, the flavor and texture were better than ever, making the extra cost well worth it.
Learn to make Vanilla Bean Cookies

Creamy Roasted Pumpkin Pie

On November 24, 2022November 18, 2023 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Column, Ingredient, piesLeave a comment

This week, I share my favorite pumpkin pie recipe in my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon. It seems fitting not just for the season but also because the introduction to my first column a year ago began with Mike Kordenbrock’s story and Hunter D’Antuono’s photos of another family favorite: Crumble-Top Deep-Dish Apple Pie.

I almost always make one or both of these pies for Thanksgiving gatherings, and they’re delicious for other winter holiday feasts, birthday parties, family meals, and more. If you’re just now stumbling on this recipe, don’t worry: read it completely, decide how many of the components you want to make from scratch, and then remember it for a future holiday.
Learn to make Creamy Roasted Pumpkin Pie

Cinnamon-and-Sugar Pie Crust

On November 17, 2022November 18, 2023 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Column, pies3 Comments

My family has a long history of homemade pie fillings and crusts, as I’ve shared in the past and this week in my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon. I can’t remember when I ate or even exactly when I helped to make my first pie, but in my mother’s and grandmother’s kitchen, the crust was always mixed from scratch and the extra dough was always rerolled, sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar, and baked as a treasured snack.

These homemade pie crusts tended to consist of the same simple ingredients—the ideal setup for mastering the technique of making them. Once you find a pie dough recipe you like, whether it’s the one I share in my column this week or from another source, I recommend sticking with it and using it for everything from fruit and cream pies to quiche. When it becomes your go-to recipe, you’ll never worry about making a mistake, and you’ll never need to buy a premade shell.
Learn to make Cinnamon-and-Sugar Pie Crust

Roasted Winter Squash Puree

On November 10, 2022November 18, 2023 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Column, frozenLeave a comment

When I planned my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon this month, I knew I wanted to share my favorite recipe for pumpkin pie. But I quickly realized I didn’t have enough space to print the full scratch-made version. Instead, I’m breaking down the pie recipe by its homemade components: spice mix, pumpkin puree, pie crust, and the final filling and baking.

There are several advantages to this—beyond staying within my word-count limit. Each component is presented as a standalone recipe, showing you how it can be made in advance and put to other uses. You can also choose how homemade you really want your finished pie to be. You could make your own spice mix but buy canned puree. Or you could mix and roll your own crust but use a store-bought spice blend that’s already in your cupboard.

If you do decide to go entirely homemade, spreading out these recipes over a few weeks will hopefully make the project seem less daunting. You’ll also get to enjoy bonus goodies, like roasted pumpkin seeds, pumpkin cookies, and pie crust snacks, along the way.
Learn to make Roasted Winter Squash Puree

Spiced and Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

On November 3, 2022November 19, 2023 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Column, dehydrated1 Comment

Roasted pumpkin seeds feature among my favorite homegrown, homemade snacks, not just because they’re delicious but also because they’re easy. You can spice them with so many seasonings and can even roast the seeds of other winter squash in the same way, as I explain this week in my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon.

The hardest part of roasting pumpkin and other winter squash seeds is getting the stringy mess out of the squash—which you need to do anyway when you want to use the flesh. As you scrape out the seeds and soft center of the squash, pull off any large pieces of membrane, dump everything else in a bowl of warm water, and let it sit for a couple of minutes. I’ve found it easiest to clean the seeds by plunging my hands into the bowl, rubbing the seeds free of the warmed stringy bits, and then plopping the seeds into a large-holed colander to drain.
Learn to make Spiced and Roasted Pumpkin Seeds