Sourdough Excuses

On By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Baking, Fermenting, Giveaway4 Comments

Whatever your excuse for not baking with sourdough, it likely doesn’t apply to the way I care for and use sourdough starter. Read more about why you can—and should—bake with sourdough.
After I started blogging about sourdough, people began telling me how they’ve always wanted to bake sourdough goodies—and why they can’t. The excuses started piling up in earnest when I launched the Sourdough Giveaway Experiment last month. Although I’ve been busy sharing my own starter for free, far more people have told me they won’t be joining the party.

Many excuses seem valid, but they don’t apply to the way I advocate caring for and using sourdough starter. So I’m kicking off this year’s Sourdough Month at Twice as Tasty by debunking a few of the most common myths about baking with sourdough. I’m also extending the offer of free sourdough starter through January. I’ll be sharing new sourdough recipes all month, so check out the current collection of sourdough recipes, drool over the latest treats, and get your free starter.
Read more about why you can—and should—bake with sourdough

Winding Down Year 2

On By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn OtherLeave a comment

As 2017 winds down, it’s time to look back at a second year of Twice as Tasty and share a few things to come. Read more about what to expect in 2018.
Like any toddler, it’s hard to believe how Twice as Tasty has grown in a year. As 2017 winds down, indulge me in looking back at a second year of Twice as Tasty—or skip down the page to read about the year to come.

Twice as Tasty grew with 55 posts this year. The blog now offers 135 recipes and 25 pages related to techniques for preparing, storing, and eating well year-round. The number of email subscribers and WordPress and Facebook followers more than tripled in the last year, and membership in the companion Facebook group almost doubled. All I can say is “wow and thank you” for being so supportive.

Offline, I taught the first Twice as Tasty workshop in March and have followed it with a steady flow of classes. One of the most popular topics was beautifully featured in the local newspaper. The current roster boasts 16 workshops, including several seasonal ones, and I’m preparing to launch more options next month. With your participation, I hope to teach even more workshops in 2018.
Read more about what to expect in 2018

Holiday Spice

On By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Topic, UsingLeave a comment

Sweets top the list of foods given at the holidays, so some of my favorite “small” homemade gifts are short on sugar yet big on taste. Learn to make Sweet Spice Mix and Sweet and Spicy Nuts.
I like giving homemade food gifts. They’re appreciated by everyone: the child with a sweet tooth, the apartment dweller without room to garden, the new mom too busy to can, the grandparent who simply doesn’t need more stuff. But food gifts are also perfect for people you want to thank with something thoughtful that won’t break your year-end budget: your hairdresser or favorite coworker, your child’s soccer coach or piano teacher, the neighbor who feeds your cat or helped jump your car. Chances are none of these people need more candles, bath soaps, fridge magnets, or Christmas ornaments. But they all need to eat.

The first food gifts that come to mind during the holidays are cookies, and it’s certainly easy to stretch a batch as you prepare treats for the family or an exchange. But if your giftee has dozens of clients or students, the sugar load can add up fast. Some of my favorite “small” gifts are short on sugar yet big on taste.
Learn to make Sweet Spice Mix and Sweet and Spicy Nuts

All-Occasion Cookies

On By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Baking, TopicLeave a comment

Holiday cookies can take work, and sometimes you want simple yet delicious sweets worthy of the tray. That’s where this week’s recipes come in. Learn to make Triple Gingersnaps and Snickerdoodles.
It’s hard to imagine the winter holidays without cookies. But what is a Christmas cookie? Ask three people to name one, and you’ll likely get three answers. Still, the answers likely have things in common. They probably require special tools or rich ingredients. They likely involve loads of time messing with cookie cutters, icings, and extra decorations. Most of all, they—and all the other cookies on the holiday tray—are likely only made once a year.

Despite the effort that goes into Christmas cookies, I’m often overwhelmed by layers and sugar and, after the third pass of the tray, want something just a little sweet and a little simple. That’s where this week’s cookies come in. They’re simple enough you can make them any time of the year. They’re also easy to make ahead, freeze, and pull out freshly baked just before serving. And they’re still so delicious they can hold their own among fancier creations.
Learn to make Triple Gingersnaps and Snickerdoodles

The Sourdough Giveaway Experiment

On By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Baking, Fermenting, Giveaway6 Comments

A sourdough starter wants to be loved—and has plenty of love to go around. That’s why I’m giving away sourdough starter this month. Read more about the Sourdough Giveaway Experiment.
Of all the topics on Twice as Tasty, it seems that people are most curious about sourdough. It was the focus of my first public workshop and will be the focus of blog posts every January and workshops every spring. It often comes up when I serve food at events locally, and it seems to be increasingly popular nationally.

All with good reason: A sourdough starter is an incredible creation. There are lots of reasons to love it, from health benefits to flavor. To me, one of the greatest things about a sourdough starter is that it wants to be loved—and has plenty of love to go around. That’s why I’m giving away sourdough starter this month and hope you’ll join me in this sourdough experiment.
Read more about the Sourdough Giveaway Experiment

Spinach

On By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Ingredient, Using2 Comments

Two traditions surround the American feast at the heart of Thanksgiving: an excessive amount of food and its subsequent leftovers. Some are easily consumed—who would turn down a slice of pie for breakfast? But others threaten to hang around in the fridge until even the dog turns up her nose.

Fortunately, many uses for holiday leftovers reach beyond microwaved reruns and turkey sandwiches. Leftover roasted vegetables are ideal for Roasted Squash Soup and cut your prep time to about 30 minutes. Extra pumpkin puree can be turned into quick bread. But some of my favorite post-holiday meals come from the most challenging leftovers: spinach and cranberries.
Learn to make Warm Spinach–Cranberry Salad and Potato–Mushroom–Spinach Curry

Winter Squash

On By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Baking, Ingredient, UsingLeave a comment

“What do you eat at Thanksgiving?” I get this question a lot, not from people seeking my favorite recipes but from those wondering how a pescatarian can fill her plate from a holiday table featuring a giant bird. It always makes me laugh: Thanksgiving is the one holiday at which I’m guaranteed to eat well, thanks to the tradition of cooking far more food that the intended guests can consume.

No matter your food preferences, the Thanksgiving spread is sure to include things you will and will not eat. These days, turkey tops my move-on-down-the-line list, along with accompaniments baked in or built from the star of the show. But as a kid, my least favorite Thanksgiving dish was pumpkin pie. I was in college before I learned to appreciate any variety of winter squash, and I didn’t discover a true liking for pumpkin pie until I deviated from the too common canned filling to home-roasted, lightly spiked sugar pumpkin.
Learn to make Deep-Dish Pumpkin–Rum Pie and Roasted Squash Puree Soup

Slow Cooker Fruit Butters

On By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Canning, Topic2 Comments

The garden I play in came with an established orchard—primarily apple trees. With little effort on our part, we always seem to end the growing season with far more boxes of apples than we need. After we’ve eaten our fill, I always store a box or two of whole, unblemished apples for eating out of hand. Then I make as much applesauce as my canning shelves can hold. By November, I’m salvaging the fruit in the remaining boxes to create apple butter.

Fruit butters capture all of the flavor of your chosen fruit. Often seen as finicky, they’re traditionally prone to burning and need endless stirring during their lengthy cooking time. I avoided them for years but then discovered a slow cooker variation. I fell for the hands-off, burnproof technique that let me dump a bunch of fruit into my Crock-Pot, leave it to cook for hours, and return to find a perfect blend ready for the canning kettle.
Learn to make Any-Fruit Butter and Slow Cooker Apple Butter

Preparing for Holidays

On By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Topic, Using, WorkshopsLeave a comment

All last month, I was undecided about which recipes and ideas to share in November. I was traveling in several regions and climates, wearing everything from four layers of long johns and raingear to tank tops and summer dresses. And meals featured the fresh strawberries I associate with spring, the Dungeness crab of fall and winter, and everything between.

Shortly after I returned home to Montana, Mother Nature decided the blog’s November theme for me. After just a couple of days in my own kitchen, snow began to fall and winter was suddenly upon us. Instead of digging the final carrots and potatoes and cleaning up garden beds, I was curled up by the woodstove, reading food books and thinking about the coming holiday season. For me, that means planning to gather with friends and family, making lists of gifts to create, and of course, deciding what we’ll eat.
Read more about preparing for holiday gatherings and meals

Favorite Books: The Science of Food

On By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Baking, Grilling, Refrigerating, Topic, Using, WorkshopsLeave a comment

If you looked at my book purchases over the last couple of years, you might think I started Twice as Tasty as an excuse to expand my food library. I’d be hard-pressed to dispute it. As my partner and I increasingly returned to basic ingredients and making what we eat from scratch, one of my greatest joys has been learning from people with far more experience, training, and knowledge about food. Although there is a wealth of helpful information online, many of my favorite sources sit on a shelf, ready to be pulled open when I’m looking for answers or ideas.

Earlier this year, I shared some of my go-to books on canning. They’re the inspiration for many recipes on this blog, and my favorites tell me not just how to best can something but also why the process works. When I want to write about other kitchen processes, I often have a different stack on my desk: books on the science of food.
Read more about my favorite resources on the science of food