Category Archives for "Tips"

Your Ovens Best Friend and How to Keep it Warm

By Sharon | Tips , Tools

I get a lot of questions about how to set the temperature and how to work ovens. Every oven is different. I’ve lived in many places in the US and used a variety of ovens. I’ve even used them in other countries while on vacation.

First, if you have a manual for your oven take a look at it. Some of them even come with recipes, see what they say to do for a recipe. If you don’t have the manual do a search online for a manual or specific instructions on your model. These days with the internet you can find instructions for almost anything.Continue reading

Pie for Breakfast?

By Sharon | Tips

Let’s face it, eating a home made toaster pastry, aka Pop-Tarts®, is like eating a little piece of pie for breakfast.  We say to ourselves, this is like eating toast with jam.  Only Better! Pie is probably my favorite sweet item to eat.

Pop-Tarts® were always one of those things that I would impulsively buy at the grocery store so I could have them for breakfast.  I have a few of those junk food items I bought like that.  Then they came out with the Pillsbury® Toaster Strudel® in the frozen section and I liked those even better.  I used to buy quite a few of these.

My daughter liked them just as much as I did and they were easy to make for breakfast. Now my grandchildren come and stay with me and they love the home made fruit filled pastries hot out of the oven in the morning.

Continue reading

Ovens – Temperature and Rack Placement for Perfect Baking

By Sharon | Tips

Learning how to use your oven correctly is more than half the battle in making perfect baked items.  There are a lot of different ovens on the market. And temperature settings vary based on what system of oven heating your oven has.

I have a common electric oven.  Even when I’ve had a gas cook top my oven was separate and electric.  But gas ovens are still pretty common, my daughter has gas for her oven.  Here are some tips for ensuring your oven is set and heated properly.Continue reading

Preparing Fairytale Pumpkin to Cook With

By Sharon | Tips

This year I read all the descriptions of the variety of pumpkins at Whole Foods and selected a Fairytale Pumpkin for my baking needs.  From research on the internet a Cinderella Pumpkin looks the same but has an orange skin. The Fairytale Pumpkin has more of a tan skin. They are both good for baking.

I know this looks like a large pumpkin and a lot of pumpkin when you’re finished but there is a lot of water that will be removed in the end. You can freeze your cooked pumpkin for later use. Just think of the endless recipes you can make with fresh pumpkin; Mini Pumpkin Pies, Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies, Pumpkin Hazelnut Muffins, Pumpkin and Sun-Dried Tomato Ravioli, and any number of pies, cakes, breads, and soups.Continue reading

Blackberry, Ginger and Mint Drink

By Sharon | Recipes , Tips

The combination of blackberry, ginger and mint are cool and refreshing on a hot summer day.

This is more of a suggestion of how to combine the components to make this into a drink to your favorite taste of the different elements.  I’m sure mine comes out different every time.

I used the freeze-dried blackberry powder from Nutri Fruit.  It’s all the best flavor of the blackberry broken down for you.  It contains all the nutrition of a full serving of fresh blackberries and easy to keep in the house.

Continue reading