Everything And The Kitchen Sink

 Kitchen sinks are often not thought of as being a vital part of a kitchen, yet they are. They're part of the prepping process along with being the key to clean up. They should not only be in sync with the surrounding decor but in good working order too.

Sinks have been around since our Neanderthal days. These early ones were simply a rock with a concave middle i n which rain water collected. Hopefully our ancestors knew to wash greens and veggies  plucked form the dirt or washing excess blood from animals before roasting them. Throughout history castles had some kind of sink and drainage in the kitchen.It wasn't until the 1800's that a proper kitchen sink was invented. They were first made of metal and were basically a sink within a sink. These metal troughs were built into cabinets and home chefs then used them for the same purposes we do now, washing and cleaning food, utensils and dishes along with pots and pans. Wealthy homes had copper or nickel silver ones. The last is an alloy made from a combination of zinc copper and nickel. Poorer homes probably had ones made from tin. Rich homeowners had what's known as a butler's sink, one that's inserted into a counter  where food prep happened. Other homes had what's known as farmer's sinks which has a sink on the edge of a counter ,making ti easier to do washing. By the 1920's homes had indoor plumbing and that meant sturdier sinks. They were usually made from manganese silicon and carbon. Porcelain was standard after the Second world War.

Now sinks can be any style and made from any material, There are a lot of choices to choose from if you are looking to replace. your old one Many homeowners have fallen in love with stainless steel sinks. These are low maintenance and require very little upkeep (unlike porcelain ones that have to be constantly scrubbed and bleached). However they do show water spots and scratches They have different thicknesses called gauges, yet it doesn;t really matter about the thickness.Granite sinks are also at the top of the popularity list. They are not only pretty but sturdy. Old school copper is another fine choice and thanks to its' consistency copper sinks are always hand wrought. it will come with a patina, or shiny finish which will brown over the years. This is normal due to being exposed to air and water. You can also choose another sturdy material - namely  stainless steel. These retain their beauty for decades if they have an enamel coating .Otherwise they will rust.Other materials used are fire clay, a type of ceramic fired to dry at high temps. You can also go for stone or enamel acrylic or solid surface sinks are less expensive than all of these however they have to be treated with kid gloves. They can easily scratch if scoured with steel wool pads.

Sinks are one of the most vital parts of a kitchen. They help in prep and washing up. Choose one that fits your needs.

Microwave Magic

 Another key appliance in any kitchen is the microwave. Yes it can help in reheating but it's also a great addition for cooking sides and melting ingredients. it's amazing what this kitchen must have can do.

Most people think that the microwave was in vented in the Seventies however it's been around for a century.It was in 1920 that substances including food could be heated by vacuum tube radio transmitters.At the 1933 Chicago's World's Fair food was being heated between two metal plates attached to a ten Kilowatt sixty mega hertz shortwave transmitter, Another attempt came during the Second World War when the cavity megatron was invented. This produced electromagnetic waves for radar installations.It was in 1945 when Percy Spencer accidentally discovered the power of the modern microwave. He was employed by Raytheon, the multinational aerospace and defense conglomerate who created the radar used in the war. Mr. Spencer had a chocolate bar in his pocket  melted from the microwaves from an active radio set. His second food cooked? Popcorn , of course, then he tried eggs. Raytheon built the first microwave in 1952 but it cost $5000, the price of a luxury home at the time. The seventies and eighties saw the birth of the microwave in the home as Old Tappan and GE made them more affordable to home owners. Soon every house had one as they could cook and reheat in a matter of minutes.

What's the best microwave for your kitchen? The first thing to do is consider the amount of counter space that it will take up and the depth of its cooking space. Keep in mind the smaller the machine the smaller the amount of food you'll be cooking. Of course a family of four or five will want a larger one where as one or two people will just need a smaller microwave. Price is also a factor. For one just for reheating ,then think the lower price range of between fifty and sixty dollars. However it you plan on making it part of your daily cooking spend a little more. A good long wearing one would be anywhere from $150 to $200. A mid range one that you can both cook and reheat in will cost you $100 . Which brands are the best? Magic Chef who used to produce ovens offers a small one that is sturdy and will last years.Panasonic and GE are also very good and reputable brands, The first has cyclonic heat that allows for fast all over cooking sort of like an air fryer, The second cooks with halogenic heat  which cooks food up to sixty percent faster than a regular microwave.

Microwaves have become a vital kitchen must have.  Pick one that suits your needs. It will be perfect for whatever you have in mind- whether cooking fresh or reheating.

Game Night Nibbles

 Game nights are big events these days.It's a fun way for families and small pods of friends to connect  over Twister or Scrabble. All that physical and mental work is demanding, Sustenance is needed in the forms of fun  snacks and sweets

Pizza is always a game night must. It is fun to order out however you can easily make  variations of it. Of course there are Totino's Pizza rolls which can be jazzed up with a dusting of oregano and garlic powder before being air fried. Pizza bagels are a fun and also filling snack along with English muffin pizzas. You can vary the toppings from pepperoni to olives. You could also make a four cheese white pizza or one that's all veggies. A different kind of cheesy treat are petite croque monsiuers. These delightful little bites are ham and cheese on French bread rounds. The bread is either buttered or have mayo spread on them and then browned in the oven for three minutes. Afterwards Dijon mustard is spread on the slices and then a square of good ham like Black Forest is put on them. A Mornay  sauce of Gruyere , butter , milk and flour is made and then spooned on the sandwiches. More cheese is sprinkled on the sandwiches and they're returned to the oven for a minute of broiling. Of course veggies and dip is always welcomed too. You can set up different bowls of dips. Try a simple vinaigrette or a homemade French  dressing made with mayo and ketchup. Add plain Greek yogurt to thicken the dips.

Of course there should be some kind of sweet bites too. You can set out the bowls of   sweet kettle corn and M & M's.Brownie and cookie cups are great nibbles. These are placing the dough in mini muffin tins and baking them. Filling them is exciting. You can go with a base of any kind of pudding and topped with fruit and Cool Whip. These also call out for ice cream and toppings. Have a small fixings  bars that has two or three kinds of ice cream, and mini scoopers or melon ballers that deliver the right amount of ice cream. Have bowls of different toppings form chocolate syrup to salted caramel to the various fruit ones like cherry and pineapple.  Make sure there's a  can of Reddi Whip for topping (or just as a filling itself) along with sprinkles and chopped nuts.Cake and coffee are always a good ending to games night. You can try the fancy Breton treat kouign amamn. a buttery bready kind of sticky bun. You could also go with a traditional coffee cake, Make sure you give the topping some large cinnamon laced crumbs which are good on their own. A variety of homemade cookies are also a great choice, perfect for munching between rounds.

Game night is all about fun. Make sure there are equally fun savory and sweet nibble for everyone to enjoy. They make the time together pop with flavor.

What To Do During A Blizzard

 Tomorrow the East Coast will be wallowed by a mega blizzard with some areas in New England getting  slammed with three feet of snow. That means we're stuck inside. What to do? Turn to the kitchen for the answer.

A day in could be time spent rearranging your spice cabinet.It's time to throw away certain ones . Cinnamon is only good for six months. Chili powder has a two to three year shelf life. The same is true for powdered ginger and garlic powder. Most herbs like rosemary, sage and oregano last only three years at best. Nutmeg is one of those spices that lasts three to four years. Another good item to organize is your utensil drawers. Sort out the knives, forks and spoons along with steak knives and measuring spoons. Clean out the kitchen junk drawer. You may find some unexpected treasures there like the odd holiday cookie cutter or corn holders. Sort and pile what you find . Those twist ties you saved will come in handy as will those rubber bands, Clean out under the sink if you have the energy. Arrange those plastic grocery bags into ones you can reuse for shopping or for plastic . See if your cleansers are up to date or if you need any. Check to see if you have enough dish soap or dishwashing detergent. It may be days before you hit the supermarket again.

Two days in is also a good time to try all those recipes you've want to try  but didn't have the time. Just make sure you have the ingredients . Use those gadgets you received for the holidays and have yet to use them. It'll be a good weekend to do a dress rehearsal for those Super Bowl snacks too. Make that new wing recipe. Try your hand at the spinach artichoke dip. Have the family test out those French bread pizzas. You can also have a game night and make snacks and nibbles in advance. attempt making Tater Tots using instant mashed potatoes,eggs flour and bread crumbs. Pigs in blankets are always a fun dinner/snack, perfect for those breaks along with stuffed potato skins and sliders. Homemade cookies won;t go amiss. There's nothing like fresh chocolate chips or oatmeal raisin with a hot cup of tea as you watch the snow fall. You could also get ambitious and bake a batch of homemade cinnamon rolls, complete with cream cheese icing. Homemade candy is also a fun project. Freshly made fudge or peanut brittle is always a treat.

This is a definite weekend in. Turn to the kitchen for something to do. It can be reorganizing or cooking. It could be making treats or cookies and candies. Anything can be your inspiration for activity.

Warmth On A Winter's Night

 January is cold.We need fortifying dishes and drinks to see ou through the chills and blizzards , the snow and frost. There's nothing like a good chill chaser to make us feel warm - and happy.

Yewande Komolafe, a regular contributor for the New York Times Food section wrote gave us some good warming recipes in yesterday's issue. They are not heavy rib sticking casseroles or chilis but soups. Soups are great because they flood you with heat while not overwhelming. Ms. Komolafe keeps a good stock of infusions , broths and tinctures. Her mother was an excellent influence this way being a food scientist and nutritionist who always was able to hunt out nutrition rich elements. She passed this down to her daughter who suffers from chronic ailments. Ms. Komolafe has to be careful when ti comes to cold and flus. Her pantry has spices roots and herbs. She puts lemongrass stalks in a tea made with lemons , oranges and ginger. It is Vitamin C rich  Her broths are fortifying as she drinks it on long and short walks  her recipes are rich with turmeric and garlic , She recommends a container that will not retain their flavors.

You can start with her tonic.It's a citrus and herb one, rich with a variety of citrus such as lemons limes and oranges. Lemongrass stalks and turmeric. There's also ginger and oregano - another great antibacterial herb and also rich in Vitamin K added after the others are brewed in eight cups of water. Serve hot as a tea, You can also store it and reheat.It will last for a couple of weeks in the fridge. (You could probably have it chilled in the summer as well.) The soups are a bone broth enhanced with ginger and turmeric too along with iron rich greens such as spinach, kale and mustard greens. Dandelion or beet greens can also be added. It's cooked with either bone or chicken stock with garlic added.A squeeze of lemon tops it off. Think of it as a light lunch or light snack. A heartier recipe is her  brothy Thai curry with silken tofu and herbs. This is a stew of tomatoes, curry paste,silken tofu and vegetable stock. A Dutch oven is used to cook the shallots in oil, then then curry paste ginger and garlic are added. It's then the tomatoes , followed by coconut milk and vegetable broth  The tofu, which is cut into three slices. is added to a bowl and seasoned with soy and cracked pepper. The broth is then ladled on top.

This is the time to fortify yourself and your body. Eat healthy .Eat right with these tasty  dishes and tonic , rich with ginger and turmeric. They'll make you feel better.

Air Fryer Nation

 Air fryers have taken the culinary world by storm. It;s a must have for any home chef and makes cooking  and now baking easy. it's rising in popularity because of this.

Christina Morales , a regular contributor to the Wednesday New York Times Food section wrote about this fantastic machine in today's section.Most home chefs like myself use them more than we do our ovens (I only use my oven now for baking Christmas cookies and holiday roasts).  Everything can be made in them as more and more functions are being added. Hard to believe that the air fryer is not that old.It was invented by inventor Fred van der Weij in the Netherlands in 2005. He was looking for a way to make fries t home.A convection oven dried them out. It took hum three years to develop a prototype  for his egg shaped fryer, Philips produced it and it made its' debut at the Internationale Funkausstelung, a major consumer electronics fair in Berlin. Soon major appliance companies like Cuisiinart, Ninja, Cosori and Instant Brands quickly introduced models.The air fryer is so popular now  that they're are even vlogs and cookbooks dedicated to it. America went wild for them  thanks to being gadget crazy.

Ms. Morales includes two recipes.One is for an easy chicken parm along with another for a cheesecake! Yes, many home chefs are baking in air fryers. It's the usual recipe for the parm which involves dipping the chicken breasts  first into eggs then in the batter of bread crumbs, Parmesan and seasonings. It's a quick fry, but you will have to fry them in batches. Then it's spreading the marinara and sprinkling the breasts with shredded mozzarella cheese. It's cooked again until the crust is a deep brown. Ms. Morales recommends serving it with more sauce and any kind of pasta but you can also put in on Italian bread as a sandwich.  The cheese cake which turns out without cracks or flaws is the classic recipe  The graham cracker crust is made first and pressed into a spring form pan  then in the air fryer basket. The cheesecake batter is poured over that, almost hitting the rim of the pan. it's baked at 300 degrees Farenheit for twenty-five to thirty minutes. Cherry pie filling can be poured over it but you can also use pineapple or chocolate syrup too,

The air fryer is here to stay. There's so many dishes we can make in it from savory to sweet. Get one today and discover how great it is.

Oh Fridge

 After the oven the refrigerator is the second most important appliance in the house. It keeps our food cool and safe. It allows us to store extra food and leftovers. It's a vital part of home cooking along with adding style to our kitchens.

Not surprising refrigerators have been around since ancient times. It was the Persians or ancient Iranians who created the first one. This was a hole in the ground capped with a large domed structure and catchers. it had subterranean storage spaces for storing dairy and meat. Other areas of the world relied on mountain ice or cold fresh water from lakes and streams. it was Scottish professor William Cullen who designed a small refrigerating machine in 1755. This could only cool a small amount.Many other inventors, from the Americans Oliver Evans , expatriate Jacob Perkins and Alexander Twinings to the brilliant British scientist Michael Faraday tried their hands at creating a working one. American doctor John Gorrie came close as did Australian James Harrison. yet it was the French Ferdinand Carre and Carl von Linde of Germany who perfected the method of liquifying gases to act as coolant. American homes first got fridges as late as 1914. These early ones were elaborate contraptions that required installation that spanned the kitchen and basement,The non  toxic Freon was added to these coolers in the 1930's and it was a game changer for home chefs. Now everything from milk to ice cream could be stored. It even spawned the creation of ice box cakes, an instant hit with families.

Now fridges are not only functional but also an integral part of a kitchen's overall design.  Many millennials are looking to their grandparents and even great- grandparents tastes. Retro is big in fridges right now. They may be smaller than the usual ones but they still have the same amenities like an ice maker. The color range is super cute with colors like candy apple red and robin's egg blue. Makers like Galantz have matching stoves and microwaves too.  Double door fridges are perfect for those big kitchens. They can store everything from wine to veggies. They can also provide you with up to forty glasses of ice a day along with giving you fresh filtered water. These newer models also keep veggies and fruit crisper and fresher than older models, perfect with the scarcity and high prices of produce these days. Smaller kitchens of course will do well with a smaller version yet one deep enough to provide adequate room for both fresh and frozen foods. Stainless steel is the way to go but if you want the traditional white then opt for it.

REfrigerators are a vital part of our kitchen . They aid us in storing and preserving foods. Getting the right one is crucial in having fresh food and ingredients.