There are many choices when it comes to bringing an onion flavor to your dish: red, white and yellow onions, scallions, shallots, chives and leeks all bring a different intensity of flavor. Leeks have a milder taste and resemble an oversized scallion. Their stalk is a bundle of leaf sheaths, which...

Maple syrup is the true essence of eating from nature. It's made with just one simple ingredient: the sap from a maple tree. Maple trees are tapped by drilling a hole and inserting a tube to collect the sap as it slowly drips out onto a bucket or storage tank. The clearer the sap, the richer in...

A gooey cheese sauce is a comfort food classic that makes nachos unstoppable, mac and cheese a must-have, and (to some) vegetables edible. But it takes a bit of know-how to make the perfect cheese sauce. The type of cheese used is an important factor to making a sauce. Some cheese melts well,...

Visiting an apple orchard on a beautiful fall day is a lasting memory for many people, including myself. Besides a peck or two of apples, I always remember bringing home a half-gallon or more of apple cider. And it's about this time of year when I get the question: what's the difference between...

Rutabagas can be an intimidating root vegetable due to its ugly looks and unfamiliarity. However, it should sit proudly in your kitchen's root cellar right next to the more popular roots, like sweet potatoes and carrots. And here's why. Rutabagas are a cross between the turnip and the cabbage....

Butternut squash is one of the most popular winter squash varieties. It has a pale peach color on the outside but yields a yellow-orange flesh on the inside. It's flavor is reminiscent of a buttered sweet potato, and it's a versatile ingredient in many fall dishes. Butternut squash ranks high on...

Your eyes may have skimmed past it. The canned beans and canned vegetable aisle in the supermarket usually houses the small, medium and very large cans of hominy. With the look of wet mini marshmallows, you may wonder what exactly this stuff is. Hominy is a product of field corn, called maize....

Soba noodles are a Japanese noodle made from buckwheat flour. They're found in many Asian dishes served either hot or cold. If you've ever passed up a recipe because you didn't know what soba noodles were or didn't know where to find them, you must try it again! Soba noodles are...

Butter versus Margarine: it's a hot topic debate that has been battled over the decades. Health professionals tout that margarine is a heart healthy alternative to butter, while others claim that margarine is not "natural" and therefore, should not be eaten. You know, the whole "margarine is one...

Everyone has their favorite mug, and on days that the mug is actually clean, it gets filled to the rim with coffee or tea. However, this favorite mug wants to be used for more than just a warm jolt in the morning. Microwave mug meals are the latest craze to hit the kitchen. Microwave mug meals are...