13th Hour Websites» Cooking, Food & Wine

The Perfect 12 Inch Saute Pan

admin — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 21:39:08 +0000

This weekend, for the first time in along time, I attempted to make homemade tomato sauce from fresh tomatoes. While I love cooking, I usually just buy some of my favorite canned marinara sauce when I making a pasta dinner. The sauce is very tasty and has the natural ingredients my family prefers. But recently a friend of ours had more ripe tomatoes from her garden then she knew what to do with. So she gave me a big batch and I decided to try and make my own sauce with them. Unfortunately my skillet wasn’t as deep as I would have like and I had to make it in two batches so it didn’t spill over onto the stove. I really could have used a skillet like this Rachael Ray Porcelain Enamel 12 Inch Saute Pan.

This fabulous deep-sided covered saute pan has a durable nonstick interior, grippy silicone handles and an attractive glass lid. The enamel exterior is easy to clean and quite beautiful – available in a bright orange or bright blue finish.

The pan is even oven-safe to 400 degrees if you need to keep your food warm until you’re ready to eat. I think I’ll have to treat myself to this gorgeous, versatile pan so I can make my own sauce more often!

Individual Meals in a Small Clay Baker

admin — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 22:33:06 +0000

My sister loves her Romertopf clay bakers. She has a few of them actually. One is extra large, I think they call it the maxi baker and it’s big enough to hold a seventeen pound turkey at the holidays. She also has a large baker she uses quite frequently for roasts, stews, soups and other meals throughout the year. Plus she has some of their neat small bakers like the apple baker and the banana baker. I always enjoy her cooking and I guess I dropped enough hints about her cookware because she bought me my own Romertopf Small Clay Baker for my last birthday.

I love my Romertopf. The small baker is the perfect size for me. I can cook enough chicken on Sunday that I have leftovers for another night or two during the week. Plus I use it for slow cooking my favorite black bean chili too. Since it’s a great looking dish, I can even use it to serve food in when I have company or to keep my soup warm on the table. Of course now I’m hooked on cooking in clay like my sister, so it’s only a matter of time before I treat myself to another piece of this great cookware.

Crock Pot Cooking For The Beginner: Start With Chili

admin — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 21:14:48 +0000

If ever there was a dish perfectly suited for crock pot cooking, it’s chili. You can’t go wrong with a classic Crock Pot Chili recipe. Use basic ingredients and you’ll find that the results will be very favorable. Since my family already loves chili, I knew that if I stuck to a basic recipe, they would surely love the chili I made in the crock pot. After you make a basic chili, experiment a little with the spices, the meat, or the beans. I like to brown up a little spicy pork sausage to add to the ground beef or change from pinto beans to kidney beans.

Some crock pot recipes that call for a lot of ingredients may have you wondering where the time-saving is in cooking in a crock pot. Yes, you have to spend some prep time, chopping vegetables, etc., but once the pot is turned on, you can walk away to take care of other chores, or spend time with the family. Dinner will be ready for you when you are, without all the pot-watching and stirring that a stove top meal involves.

Kitchen Utensil Holder for Everyday Organization

admin — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 16:59:42 +0000

Kitchen organization requires a fine balance. I am the sort of cook who likes the utensils I use daily within easy reach. After all, I don’t want to be fumbling for a silicone spatula while my risotto burns! However, I’m also not a big fan of everything “out,” such as the current trend of having utensils hanging on a sort of curtain rod or up on pegboard in he kitchen. I think it looks great at first, but after about three meals it is a mess unless you can devote time to its constant upkeep. That’s why a kitchen utensil holder are a good compromise between accessibility and neatly “put away” organization.

I found a ceramic utensil holder that was perfect for my counter top. It comes in different color choices (white, blue, terracotta, yellow) as well as different texture choices so you can find a great match for your décor too. It also is from a line that makes canisters and cookie jars in the same patterns and colors so you can easily coordinate your kitchen. A great ceramic utensil holder does a nice job of keeping your favorite utensils within easy reach while keeping them together in an attractive container!