Quesadillas are great, don't get me wrong. Cheese, tortillas, meat... what's not to like? But I'm going to take a stand: your regular old quesadilla is boring. It's time to step it up a notch and get out of your quesadilla comfort zone.
Ah, the sensation of that first bite of sorbet in the heat of summertime: icy, refreshing, decadent in flavor and texture. We love sorbet almost as much as we love ice cream, and making it at home is actually pretty simple. Most recipes call for just water, sugar, and a base fruit of some sort (like strawberries or watermelon).
There are two kinds of people standing in the international section of the grocery store: the kind who love Pocky and the kind who don't yet know that they love Pocky because they've never had it.
Caramel is delicious, but it can be a tricky flavor to incorporate into baking. Traditionally, caramel is a liquid, and that doesn't always suit dessert preparation since adding extra liquid to baked goods can ruin them. So how do you get that buttery, toffee-like flavor?
We can't resist a good peanut butter cup—especially when it's homemade. But it's not just the peanut butter or the chocolate that makes us pledge our undying love to these sweet treats over and over again. Nope. What really drives us wild about them is their shape. Yup: we love candy cups.
No summer season would be complete without potato salad, an essential side dish. The flavors and textures of a simple potato salad can be totally satisfying as is, but add in a few items and you can have a dish that is absolutely extraordinary.
Cheesecake is a nearly flawless dessert. It's rich but light, has a toothsome crust but a creamy body, and tastes good served room temperature or frozen. What's not to like?
During our high school years, one of us (hint: her name starts with a B) worked at Cold Stone Creamery. She loved working there, and from this love emerged a fascination with adding creative ingredients to plain ol' vanilla ice cream.
Cool, refreshing fruit, ice-cold margaritas (or beergaritas), and popsicles... this combination of food and drink just screams summer. Turn up the chill jams on the stereo, fire up the grill, and throw on your shades—you're just one pool away from the best summer party ever.
Garlic is a key ingredient in many delicious meals, and if you've been a fan of our site for even a short while, it's no secret that we love to share tricks and tips to make cooking with garlic even easier than you first assumed.
Many "quick and easy" donut recipes involve a donut pan and an oven, but those are basically just mini cakes shaped like donuts. Chances are, if you're in the mood for a donut, you aren't looking for a cake "donut" recipe—you want the real thing—a donut shop donut, fresh out of the fryer and topped with sugar or glazed to perfection.
While a hot dog with all the typical American condiments (ketchup, mustard, relish) is heavenly for kids, as an adult, I realize there is nothing wrong with switching things up a bit and getting creative. In fact, a plain hot dog can be a fantastic blank canvas for chefs to work with—a great, edible example of going from drab to fab.
Soda bottle jello went viral when the popular YouTube channel AwesomeDisneyToys posted video directions for this revolutionary gelatin confection. I just had to try it out to see what the hype is all about.
One of the common complaints about dry pasta is that it lacks depth of flavor. This is why, once cooked, it often pairs best with bold and complexly flavored sauces.
Cocktail rims are an easy way to add extra fun and pizzazz to your favorite drink; Most cocktail rims only take a few minutes to put together, and are a great way to add a burst of flavor to compliment what you're drinking.
Gravy is a relatively simple dish, yet it's remarkably easy to mess up. We've all experienced the disappointment of excitedly pouring gravy onto our mashed potatoes, only to realize it's too runny, too lumpy, or too bland. And because gravy is so simple, even if you don't mess it up, it's still challenging to make it memorable and delicious.
We like picnicking of all sorts, from picnics in bright, sunny weather to grey or rain-drizzled picnics. So it's not a stretch to say that we've become quite good at packing sandwiches to enjoy later. But we're always looking for a better way to do things, and that includes our sandwich making—and we think we've found the best way to make a sandwich ever.
After a few years, your cinnamon, paprika, and saffron begin to lose their vibrant hues, and the aromas that once filled your kitchen are barely distinguishable when you open their jars. These are telltale signs that your spices need to be replaced sooner rather than later.
Pickling isn't rocket science. In fact, anyone can make their own speciality pickles using just about any fruit or vegetable. For example, I've pickled everything from lemons, watermelon rinds, and apples to red onions, carrots, radishes, and cucumbers.
If you love quenching your thirst with an ice-cold glass of lemonade but aren't a fan of artificial powder mixes, then this hack is for you. When your next lemonade craving strikes, instead of reaching for a glorified Kool-Aid packet, get an instant sip of summer by using pre-made, frozen lemon cubes to create your favorite drink. And this recipe isn't just easy to make, it's perfect for any number of servings, from single to several, or even a pitcher, if necessary.
When it comes to proper tomato storage, conventional kitchen wisdom (and Alton Brown) state that tomatoes are best stored at room temperature—not in the refrigerator. Supposedly, refrigerated tomatoes develop a mealy texture and lose their flavor if they are exposed to cooler temperatures over time.
Even if you haven't heard of ube (pronounced "OO-beh"), you've probably seen pictures of desserts made with this brilliant purple yam.
One of the best qualities about fresh bread (such as sourdough) is a thick, crispy crust—which is easy to create in a commercial oven, but can be tricky for home cooks to replicate. Luckily, the the trick to baking a professional-style crust is a simple one—just bake your loaf with steam using one of these three methods to achieve the perfect, crispy crust.
Dried fruit makes a great snack or salad topping, but after a while, they tend to become fossilized, rock-hard versions of their former selves. At this point, most folks probably just toss them out, as they're unpleasant to chew on when eaten raw and even more unpleasant to eat in bread or cooked with other ingredients.
It seems like everything old is new again these days where food is concerned, and that includes the recent renaissance of babka. The name of this rich, rolled yeast bread, with roots in both the Jewish and non-Semitic Eastern European communities, means "little grandmother" in Ukrainian, Russian, and Yiddish.
En papillote may sound like a difficult French cooking method you'd never use at home, but don't be fooled by its fancy name—it's actually a really easy way to cook food that is moist and flavorful, and all you need is some parchment paper and your oven.
If you've ever found yourself staring at intricately woven pastries at your local bakery and wondered how they do it, you'd be surprised to know it's not all that difficult. Those pastries with differing shapes and lovely lattice work may scream endless preparation and meticulous attention to detail, but they're actually quite easy to make at home.
Many of us are guilty of sacrificing a delicious breakfast for a few extra minutes of sleep in the morning during the busy work week. Grab-and-go breakfasts are definitely timesavers, but granola bars and other packaged items often lack the fresh breakfast feel that makes the first meal of the day so great.
The internet was blowing up recently over this mind-blowing, mouth-watering video of a woman making a cake decoration out of… wait for it… chocolate bubble wrap. Yes, that's right: she turned the ubiquitous packing material into the mold for an absolutely gorgeous cake embellishment that, deservedly, went viral. You can watch the video below.
Everyone has their own reality, and in that same vein, everyone has their own guidelines for what makes the "perfect fried chicken." Now, I'm not saying that my version is the ultimate for everyone, but it's definitely a crowd pleaser in my experience.
Girl Scout cookies are arguably some of humankind's greatest creations. Not only are they tasty, but they also support an excellent, female-empowering cause. While many folks (cough—yours truly—cough) have been known to plow through an entire sleeve of cookies at a time, there are ways to use Girl Scout cookies beyond shoving as many as you can into your mouth at once.
Most home bakers rely on vanilla extract as a flavor component to their cakes and cookies, but little do they know what they are missing until they trade in their extract for whole vanilla beans. The rich complexity and different notes of flavor of a true vanilla bean are often washed out and distilled into a one-note sweetness, especially if the extract is cheap or imitation. If you want to get more serious about baking, you need to get serious about using vanilla beans.
Frozen fruit is always in season at your local grocery store, so you don't have to wait until the farmers market starts again to enjoy delicious baked fruit desserts. Peach pie, blueberry muffins, raspberry scones... all of these delicious baked goods can be just as delectable when using frozen fruit, too.
Valentine's Day is upon us, and it's the perfect time to show those you love (or like) how you feel about them by making them a homemade sweet treat.
This is the easiest cookie batch you'll ever bake, I promise. And no, take-and-bake cookie dough doesn't count. With this recipe, it'll take you less than 20 minutes to go from your sad, cookie-less life to cookies in your absolute favorite flavor... of cake.
There are a million (okay, slight exaggeration) ways to peel an egg, and countless numbers of tips, tricks, and hacks that are supposed to make that deviled egg appetizer you agreed to make for the party an absolute snap. More often than not, though, experiences vary... and pock-marked, greyish-yolked boiled eggs find their way into your collection whether you like it or not.
I hate wasting money. To be fair: I doubt there are many people out there who relish the idea, but I especially hate it. And I also dislike spending in excess of what I need. This happens all too often, I feel, when it comes to recipes that involve using sausage.
I was fortunate enough to be visiting one of my college classmates in Columbus, GA last spring and saw two large bags of onions in his kitchen... but not like the ones you get at the grocery store. Two standing 50 lb. bags!
Whether your holidays are cause for celebration or exhaustion from over-celebrating, alcohol is more often than not involved in the merrymaking. We at Food Hacks are very fond of enjoying this particular indulgence in lots of different ways.
My father never cooked a meat without some kind of marinade. He always used a slew of ingredients: salt, pepper, Season-All, Cajun seasoning, vinegar, olive oil, liquid smoke, Worcestershire, hot sauce, onions, lemons... I'm pretty sure this isn't a complete list, but I've honestly forgotten the rest! It always tasted amazing, but the long list of ingredients was definitely a detriment whenever replicating the marinade.
