Beyond Tasty

On April 7, 2023April 6, 2023 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, 2023March 6, 2023 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Topic, Using2 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, 2023February 8, 2023 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Topic, Using1 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