Basic Cooking: How to Test a Cake for Doneness with a Toothpick

Years ago now, I used to hang around a little cafe that a friend of mine owned. One day, she charged me with keeping an eye on a couple of cakes that were in the...

How to Make Homemade Marshmallows (And Chocolate Covered Marshmallows)

Hello, Willy Wonka! Making candy is just delightful. There's no two ways about it. And making marshmallows? From scratch? That's downright magical. I mean, take a handful of regular old ingredients through a few very simple...

Rib of the Week: Guinness-Braised Short Ribs (Plus a Quick Primer on Braising)

We woke up to more snow this weekend. It put me in serious cooking mode, so The Angry Chef dug out the car and intrepidly made his way to McKinnon's, our local butcher shop. He came...

Basic Cooking: How to Make Simple Syrup

We're kicking off our Basic Cooking series with a toast! (The makings of a toast, to be more precise.) Simple syrup is gloriously useful stuff. It's one of the building blocks of many cocktails—from classic...

3 of My Favorite Ginger Treats (Hello, Ginger-tinis!)

I think ginger has to be one of my all-time favorite flavors—from ginger ale to the ginger in my Chinese food, and everything in between. While my favorite way to enjoy ginger is undoubtedly in...

How to Make Buttermilk Biscuits

These are super easy to make. If you have a food processor or mixer, you can throw them together in less than 10 minutes. If you don't, it will take just a wee bit longer...

How to Make Your Own Hot Chocolate Mix

Did you know you can make your own hot chocolate mix? As in, grind cacao nibs to a fine powder, then mix them with milk and sugar for an out-of-this-world hot chocolate-y experience? You can. And...

How to Make Buttermilk Pancakes

I've had a surprising number of people tell me they have a really hard time making pancakes at home. Here's how I make my buttermilk pancakes, which I whipped up for The Angry Chef just...

Homemade Meatballs: A Step-by-Step Tutorial

Let me preface this by saying: I am not Italian. The Angry Chef is, however—and very much so—and these meatballs were more than acceptable to him. Regardless, I understand that I'm treading on hallowed...

Hey, You: Save the Mint! And Make It Schnappy!

This week, I started to think about one of my dreaded end-of-summer chores: cleaning up the garden. Aside from all the weeding, pruning, and plucking, I needed to figure out what I'm doing with all...