Choosing Aprons

On September 25, 2023November 19, 2023 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Tools2 Comments

I’m an expert at making messes in the kitchen, but I rarely think to put on an apron unless I’m teaching a workshop or preparing food in someone else’s home. Many of the aprons I own were handmade and remain in nicer shape than the clothes I wear in the kitchen. That has been changing after I tested several functional yet stylish aprons this summer for The Spruce Eats.

In addition to writing about the Chef Works aprons I’ve been wearing and giving my students to wear during workshops for years, I tested aprons from companies that specialize in kitchen wear durable and comfortable enough to wear in a commercial or home kitchen, including Helt Studios and Hedley and Bennett. These are aprons have been protecting me in all of my kitchen projects, from kneading dough to grilling fish to canning endless batches of salsa.
Learn about choosing and using aprons

Pickling Salt and Other Canning Supplies

On July 31, 2023May 10, 2024 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Canning, TopicLeave a comment

Canning season is upon us, and I’ve been writing canning-related pieces for several websites. If you’re new to home canning or experienced but looking to learn more about key ingredients and tools, these articles and product reviews provide valuable insight and suggest supplies you may want to keep handy over the next few months.

You can also find plenty of info on the basics of home canning, how to get ready to can, and other canning topics here on the blog. Beyond the new pieces I share in this post, you’ll want to check out the roundup of my go-to canning cookbooks for The Spruce Eats.

Personally, I’ve started my canning season with tart cherry pie filling, which I canned up using recipes from Preserving With Pomona’s Pectin and The All New Ball Book of Canning and Preserving so that I can compare the two versions and decide which I prefer. I’ve also made a batch of Roasted Raspberry Syrup, a particular favorite in my sister’s house. Using other preserving techniques, I’ve been playing with rhubarb, currant, cherry, mixed berry, and other shrub variations and keeping my fermentation crock full with curtido, an El Salvadoran cabbage slaw preserved with pickling salt, based on recipes from my pickling cookbook.
Learn about choosing Pickling Salt and Other Canning Supplies

Kitchen Favorites: Oyster Knives and Other Fish Tools

On June 23, 2023November 19, 2023 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn ToolsLeave a comment

When it comes to tools for prying open oysters, filleting and grilling fish, and making stock from shrimp shells, I’ll take any excuse to pull out my favorites. I was able to pair my latest pieces for The Spruce Eats with a recent trip to the coast, so I took advantage of fresh oysters from Westcott Bay Shellfish Co. and black cod and other shellfish direct from fisherfolk at Bellingham Dockside to capture the photos I needed. I highly recommend checking out both if you’re ever on San Juan Island and in Bellingham, respectively.

My mini-reviews have landed in roundups of other oyster knives and tools, giving plenty of ideas for ways to prepare and cook seafood. My recent Health.com article on backyard and portable grills aligns nicely with these pieces, since grilling is my favorite way to cook fish.
Learn about choosing and using oyster knives and other fish tools

Beyond Tasty

On April 7, 2023May 10, 2024 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Topic, UsingLeave a comment

I’m excited to announce that my writing endeavors have been expanding to include several new-to-me publications—and going beyond featuring recipes, cooking techniques, and kitchen tools.

When I started this food blog in 2016, I was primarily working as a freelance editor with a few writing projects for some of my editing clients. After I published my cookbook The Complete Guide to Pickling in 2020, I began writing more pieces for other publications. With the launch of my Twice as Tasty column in the Flathead Beacon in 2021, I continued to spend less time editing and more time writing. In recent months, I’ve begun to work with an even wider range of publications.

You can now find my writing and photography on Kitchn, Taste of Home, and Health.com, even as I continue to write for The Spruce Eats and my weekly Flathead Beacon column.
Learn more about my latest projects

Kitchen Favorites: Cheese Plane

On March 6, 2023November 19, 2023 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Tools2 Comments

It’s been a busy few weeks of workshops and projects, so I’m finally getting a chance to share my latest piece for The Spruce Eats. This was such a fun story to write, because it combines my love of a tool that sees daily use in my kitchen with a bit of family history that let me reach back for memories from my childhood and beyond. It’s funny how sometimes the smallest things can stick with you the longest—like this cheese slicer that I’ve been using for more than 40 years.

I was able to work on this story while I was visiting my family, so I had a chance to shoot the generations of Norwegian cheese planes that remain favorite tools. In my mom’s kitchen, you’ll find my grandmother’s cheese slicer. The one I grew up with has moved to my kitchen, and a Norwegian cousin kept my sister in the loop by gifting her a lovely silver cheese plane for her wedding.
Learn about choosing and using a cheese plane

Toaster vs. Toaster Oven

On February 10, 2023November 19, 2023 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Tools1 Comment

I’ve been a toaster oven fan since my days of melting marshmallows and chocolate chips onto graham crackers in the little model on my grandmother’s counter for my after-school snack. But my parents always kept a pop-up toaster on their kitchen counter, preferring it to this day. My sister owns both, but there’s a clear preference: the pop-up toaster claims counter space, but the toaster oven lives in a cupboard until needed for a special meal, like mini English muffin pizzas.

I listened to all of their pros and cons, along with some deeper research, for my latest piece for The Spruce Eats. Although I wasn’t swayed to give up my toaster oven, I found several sound reasons for choosing a pop-up toaster instead.
Learn about choosing and using toasters and toaster ovens

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

Kitchen Favorites: Snack Bowls

On January 24, 2023November 19, 2023 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn ToolsLeave 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

Slow Cooker vs. Instant Pot

On January 23, 2023November 19, 2023 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Tools1 Comment

I’ve been focused on sourdough this month and my annual sourdough giveaway, but my recent piece for The Spruce Eats may offer you some ideas of things to eat with all of that bread you’re now baking—and the tools to prepare them in. If you’ve ever wondered whether you need a slow cooker or an Instant Pot, or which to use if both already live in your kitchen, this article aims to provide some answers.

In examining the best uses for these seemingly similar kitchen tools, I came up with ideas ranging from the typical, like braising meats and cooking dried beans, to the unexpected, like steaming custards and fermenting yogurt. I also found a few kitchen tasks that you might think would work in a slow cooker or an Instant Pot but that really should have you reaching for a different tool.
Learn about choosing and using slow cookers and Instant Pots

Best Gifts for Foodies

On December 21, 2022December 20, 2022 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Baking, Grilling, Topic, UsingLeave a comment

When I was asked to come up with some categories of gifts for foodies—and ideas to fill them—I didn’t hesitate in saying yes. My work for The Spruce Eats has given me many chances to suggest kitchen-focused gift ideas based on the tools I use every day in my own kitchen. This product roundup let me explore further ideas for specific types of foodies, from cocktail geeks to gardeners.

The piece has just gone live, in time for your last-minute holiday shopping or to keep in mind for upcoming birthdays and graduations. The ideas go beyond tools for the kitchen to include spice blends, infused syrups and oils, lunch kits, and food and beverage subscriptions and gift packs.
Learn choosing gifts for foodies