As the holiday baking gets underway, many recipes will call for evaporated or sweetened condensed milk. You won’t find this milk in the refrigerated section, but rather this shelf-stable milk is typically in the baking aisle. Have you ever thought about how these two milks are made? Both...

Farmers markets are a great place to purchase locally grown food, but what happens when the summer ends and the market packs up for the season? Those living in and near Bloomington are fortunate to have an indoor farmers market in the Grossinger Motors Arena starting November 18 and running once...

As the weather turns cooler, you may find yourself reaching for a warm mug of hot cocoa. While it’s convenient to grab a packet out of the box, making your own only takes three simple ingredients: sugar, cocoa powder and milk. This is a far cry from the hot cocoa mix you buy at the store, which...

A recent camping trip allowed me to explore a new way of outdoor cooking: Dutch oven cooking. Different than a home Dutch oven, which has a flat bottom and is sealed in enamel, a camping Dutch oven is a pot with three legs on the bottom and a concave lid so that you can spread coals underneath and...

I tend not to eat too many bagels, and when I do, I always opt for sweet instead of savory. Therefore, when I heard people talking about their love for everything bagel seasoning, I had no idea what I was missing. The seasoning on the everything bagel is now available at most grocery stores and...

It’s the season of everything pumpkin. While this winter squash can be roasted in an oven and blended into a puree, it is much more convenient to simply purchase canned pumpkin. It can be kept on the shelf ready for it to make its star appearance in everything from pumpkin pie to pumpkin chili....

Grocery shopping may not be your favorite household task. It’s often a mundane chore, yet necessary if you want to have food in the house to eat. Here’s a few tips to save you time and money without sacrificing good nutrition. Get organized and plan ahead. Use a free grocery...

Some may say that raw cookie dough is better than the baked cookie itself. However, raw cookie dough eaters are taking a risk with foodborne illness. Most know that eating cookie dough with raw eggs runs the risk of contracting Salmonella. But this isn’t the only ingredient that deems it...

Call me a nut, but I’m always interested in how my food is grown. Did you know that cashews are grown on a tree? Ok, maybe you did, but did you know that the tree produces fruit, known as a cashew apple, and below the apple hangs a drupe, which is a hard shell that surrounds the cashew? I didn’t!...

With its surge in popularity, it’s likely that you have come across arugula, whether in the supermarket, at the local farmers market, or in a trendy restaurant. Arugula, also known as rocket, is a leafy green with a peppery taste. It appears most often in salads, usually in a mixture with other...