Let kitchen tools do the heavy lifting
Some cooking tools can do the heavy lifting in the kitchen, if you don’t bury them in a cabinet. I always try to remember, like a gym membership that you’ve already paid for, if you’re not going to use it, pass it on to someone who will appreciate and benefit. So it goes for the […]
Packin’ up the chuck box
Welcome to The Cookery, a space to digest life, explore food and keep it real, to read, and to write. I’m writing from another new kitchen, and our family has made the way from Texas to New York. After packing up May 31, we bounced around the country and lived out of suitcases for four […]
Put kitchen tools to the test
Kitchen tools can be a little like gym memberships. They’re well worth the investment – if you use them. I’ve been stashing a few kitchen tools that rarely come close to food. In my ongoing commitment to prepare for our upcoming relocation, I’ve cleaned out every drawer and cabinet, and moved rarely used tools back into rotation or into the donation box. […]
Grate stuff
Essential kitchen gadgets get the job done while others take up precious space. Graters come in all sizes, and some demand a good amount of storage, but anyone can make room for a miniature grater. I’ve used this three-inch grater for five or six years, and though it’s showing some age, it still handles the small grating […]
Minimize waste with a lunchbox spork
Reusable food containers and tools help cut the waste. The spork, that practical spoon-fork-knife combo, isn’t just for kids – but it works well for the lunchbox-toting school crowd. We use sporks for campouts, school lunches and day trips, and the reusable utensils always make the return trip back to a sudsy sink. If you’re packing a lunch, planning a picnic or just […]
UT students collaborate in The Cookery to create meatless meal
The Cookery serves as a subliminal classroom for our family, but last weekend, we opened it up to a mixed group of graduate and undergrad UT students who rinsed, chopped, blended and tasted a sampling of Middle Eastern dishes to create a meatless meal. The menu: saffron rice, hummus, bread, and cucumber yogurt sauce (jajik in my recipe binder). This fabulous meal […]
Kitchen kit – Jane’s top six kitchen essentials
If you were cast on a desert island, what six pieces of music would you choose, and which book, beside the Bible and Shakespeare? This question has been posed weekly on a BBC radio program since 1942. Well-known personalities come up with assorted answers like Beethoven and the Beatles, George Strait and Georges Bizet, Louis […]
Hook ’em with this Bevo basket
As transplants, how can we maintain our football loyalties and still cheer for the hometown team? We’re giving it the big Texas try. With a UT student living among us, we’re thinking about our Longhorns. And if you’re any kind of fan, you’ll be joining friends and family throughout the season. If you’re already planning to make […]
Drop this in your shopping cart
Need a gift idea? Recycle this one from one of Austin’s earth-friendly peacemakers. This colorful bag cheers Central Texas with its bright floral design. I don’t know if these bags are still on the market, but H-E-B used to stock this recycled product. We like this concept for gift giving — the bag and the attached refreshments!
Pen and ink in The Cookery
Do your favorite pens and pencils ever go missing? It seems to happen around The Cookery often. A basket of 10 sharpened pencils turns up empty two days later. And the pencils never surface anywhere. This happens with pens, too. I like to keep pens and pencils at the ready for the usual–jotting down story […]