I got an air fryer for Christmas. I’d heard about these oil-less deep fryers but couldn’t believe they worked. I’ve used mine several times now and am sold on it.

Before I got my air fryer I had a fry daddy kind of machine I used on those rare occasions when I deep fried things – once or twice a year when I made fried chicken mostly. The air fryer is about the same size as my fry daddy machine and it takes just as long to cook things in it, but there’s no greasy smell.

My first attempt was frozen French fries. The secret to cooking anything in the air fryer is to spray it well with cooking spray before you cook it. French fries take a while and you need to shake or stir them a few times to get all of them crisp. The result was better than baking them in the oven. They were crispy and soft inside and didn’t burn as many of them do when you bake them in the oven. I was impressed.

Next I made fried chicken. Fried chicken is a special ritual at our house and is an echo of the time we ate at the Lady and Sons in Savannah (say what you will about Paula Deen, but that woman makes amazing fried chicken and when it was served with lemonade and hoecakes it was heaven). I followed my usual recipe for fried chicken which requires marinating it in buttermilk and herbs in advance then double coating it in a flour mixture. Cooking four bone in chicken breasts took 2 hours and 15 minutes (since you can only fit one and a half in the fryer at a time). I was impressed with the results. The chicken was tender inside. The coating and skin was very crispy and crunchy. It wasn’t greasy at all like fried chicken is. The texture was almost the same as fried chicken but when you bit into it you didn’t that oily taste.

I will probably still fry chicken once a year as a special treat, but I think the air fryer is a great way to make crunchy, crispy food when you’re not looking to gain 15 pounds in a sitting.

I got an air fryer for Christmas. I’d heard about these oil-less deep fryers but couldn’t believe they worked. I’ve used mine several times now and am sold on it. Before I got my air fryer I had a fry daddy kind of machine I used on those rare occasions when I deep fried things – … Read more →

For many years I have struggled with a deep dark secret. The stuff in my fruit and veggie drawers in my fridge rot. No matter how hard I work to use it all up, stay on top of it and clean it out, I invariably end up with something rotten in one of those drawers. Strawberries are one of the worse. A container of strawberries seems to last maybe 4 days if I’m lucky. After that they get mushy spots and then mold starts to grow. I desperately need to have a variety of fresh fruit around to encourage healthy eating so I’m not going to stop buying strawberries.

I decided to try the OXO Good Grips Greensaver. This plastic container has a removable basket in it and a carbon filter that absorbs the ethylene gas that causes produce to rot so quickly. I was amazed to find I can keep strawberries twice as long in this container – at least a week. Because of that, I highly recommend it, with a few caveats.

First of all, I bought the small size and it doesn’t hold an entire container of berries. About 5-6 won’t fit in it. The lid is also deceptive since it is a thick lid and takes up space inside the container, so I always misjudge how much it will hold. The other downside is you have to replace the carbon filter every 90 days. OXO lets you sign up on their site for reminders about that if you wish.

Once my filter runs out, I am contemplating buying either a bigger size or switching to a different product that can just be placed in the drawer itself and will reduce the gas inside the entire drawer, such as these BluApple filters. But I’m completely sold on the carbon filter concept.

For many years I have struggled with a deep dark secret. The stuff in my fruit and veggie drawers in my fridge rot. No matter how hard I work to use it all up, stay on top of it and clean it out, I invariably end up with something rotten in one of those drawers. … Read more →

There has been a boom in fermented (hard) cider in the food world the past few years. A smaller trend, which I see as about to explode, is the emergence of apple cider varieties.

When I was a child, we used to drive north to Niagara County to buy cider at real cider mills one Saturday every fall. They always had free samples and you could watch the cider press running. It always smelled so wonderful there and the smell combined with the colorful leaves on the drive to create a full experience. It was always a happy day. One year my father made cider himself in the basement with an old manual cider press he got somewhere. What I remember the most about that was the apple mush that was the byproduct – like uncooked applesauce. I thought it was yummy.

Now we buy cider at the grocery store and although the first glass of it signals fall to me and a mug of mulled cider in December is a sign of the holidays, it is mostly unremarkable.

Last fall we took a trip to the Adirondacks and a restaurant we were at was serving a specific variety of apple cider, just as when you go to the store you buy a specific type of apple. It got me thinking about how the cider available at the store is just a blend of many kinds of apples, yet each apple does have a distinctive taste and how interesting it would be to sample different types. Last fall I looked all over locally to try to find anyone who was doing this and struck out. But this year in my own grocery store I happened upon two different varieties.

Fowler Farms is a local farm. They make a cider blend as well as the Sweet Tango and Honeycrisp varieties shown here. They also make a Fuji cider variety I have yet to find in my store. The ciders are as different as the apples they are made from and I am enjoying sampling and comparing them. It takes cider to an entirely new level to notice these flavor nuances. As the daughter of an oenophile I guess it is to be expected! Have you found any cider varieties in your area? I would be interested to know if this trend is expanding beyond New York state.

There has been a boom in fermented (hard) cider in the food world the past few years. A smaller trend, which I see as about to explode, is the emergence of apple cider varieties. When I was a child, we used to drive north to Niagara County to buy cider at real cider mills one … Read more →

I’ve never gotten excited about toothpaste before, but Livionex has me excited. This amazing toothpaste blasts off plaque – they say it is 2.5 times more effective than other toothpastes and I believe it. After you use it, you feel like you’ve just had your teeth cleaned at the dentist’s office. Your teeth are shiny, smooth, and have that squeaky clean feeling. It is incredible. I bought a tube for everyone in my family and we are all in love with this. I’m using it once a week and am finding a huge difference in how clean my teeth are. As someone who makes a lot of plaque (or so my dentist tells me), I’m thrilled to have a way to combat it. It’s also a very good thing for members of my family with gum disease. I stumbled upon this in a little sidebar in a magazine and am surprised it’s not getting more press because it is making a very big difference for all of us. [As always, I bought this product myself and am not being paid to write about – I just think it’s incredible and want to share].

I’ve never gotten excited about toothpaste before, but Livionex has me excited. This amazing toothpaste blasts off plaque – they say it is 2.5 times more effective than other toothpastes and I believe it. After you use it, you feel like you’ve just had your teeth cleaned at the dentist’s office. Your teeth are shiny, … Read more →

I recently tried Cup4Cup Gluten Free Pizza Dough Mix and am giving it 5 stars. Find out why: http://www.takingglutenoffthetable.com/?p=461

I recently tried Cup4Cup Gluten Free Pizza Dough Mix and am giving it 5 stars. Find out why: http://www.takingglutenoffthetable.com/?p=461

I remember first seeing thin velvet hangers (you know the hangers I’m talking about – they are super thin covered in velvet) during one of my surreptitious visits to the QVC channel. (Once in a while I just like to see what they are selling! I’ve gotten a few good gift ideas by doing this). I have to say the presentations about these hangers turned me off.  They would show a closet overflowing with clothes then compare it to a closet that clearly had less than half of the same items hanging on the new super thin hangers. I snorted in outrage and changed the channel. It was pretty obvious the hangers were not creating a lot of change.

One of the most crammed closets in our house is the coat closet in the front hall. In fact, when guests come, we just lay their coats on the hope chest in the hall instead of trying to make room in the closet. Moving coats in that closet is an athletic event. You have to lean in, insert half of your body between two coats, then lean with all of your strength to get them to scootch over. We often cannot find the coat we need simply because they’re all falling off the hangers and smushed in too tightly.

After my parents came for Thanksgiving and getting their coats hung up was an Olympic event, I decided something had to be done. I really looked hard at what was happening in that closet. With four people, four seasons, and a daughter with a wardrobe hoarding problem (said in my most loving tone), we have way too many coats. I was able to weed out a couple to donate, but there is really no real thinning out to be done. Then I noticed that almost all of the coats are on big wooden or plastic suit hangers. The fat ones – at least an inch wide and if you take into account that they are curved, they actually take up several inches each. I started wondering if replacing these hangers could make a difference. I’m not going back to wire hangers and while we have some white plastic tubular hangers around I decided to try the new thin velvet hangers.

The package of 50 arrived from Amazon and the box was pretty small for 50 hangers. I got to work swapping them out. I was impressed. They are super thin. The velvet means nothing slips off of them.

They did make a difference in our crazy closet. No, it did not make it appear as spacious and empty as the QVC presentations imply. They make it easier to move the coats across the rack and now we can definitely squeeze in a couple more for guests more easily. I felt more organized with these in place – everything is uniform and it is easier to move the coats around the closet. The bottom line is if you have too many clothes in too small a space this is not going to solve your problem. It will however make it a bit easier to move things around and will give you a little extra space, particularly if you are replacing big nasty hangers.

I did break one hanger as I tried to reach around to squeeze the last coat in the very back of the closet. It just was not willing to bend to get there.

I’m going to buy another box of them to use in my clothes closet mostly because I just like them and they will prevent things from slipping off the hangers. I don’t have a ton of big fat hangers there, but these are thinner than the ones I am using now so it will give me some space.

Have you tried these hangers? What did you think?

I remember first seeing thin velvet hangers (you know the hangers I’m talking about – they are super thin covered in velvet) during one of my surreptitious visits to the QVC channel. (Once in a while I just like to see what they are selling! I’ve gotten a few good gift ideas by doing this). … Read more →

Just when you got up to speed on quinoa, there’s another grain out there that is becoming popular. Kaniwa is a South American grain originally grown by the Aztec. It’s a member of the goosefoot family (which doesn’t sound too appetizing) but it is a super grain – high in protein and minerals and very healthy. We tried it recently. It is a very fine grain like quinoa and cooks quickly. It’s a dark brown color. The taste is nutty and reminded me a bit of the flavor of wild rice. I think I like it more than quinoa. I used it like rice, to serve a saucy chicken dish over and it was delicious.  I’ll definitely be making this again.

Just when you got up to speed on quinoa, there’s another grain out there that is becoming popular. Kaniwa is a South American grain originally grown by the Aztec. It’s a member of the goosefoot family (which doesn’t sound too appetizing) but it is a super grain – high in protein and minerals and very … Read more →

While visiting the exciting Whole Foods-like new grocery story in our area, I poked around a bit in the frozen meat section. Although the store had a really fabulous fresh meat section (we bought some bison that was fabulous), there were some choices in the frozen section worth considering. I briefly considered camel burgers, but just couldn’t bring myself to try them. There were some bison burgers, but since we had fresh bison in the cart, I passed that one up also. I didn’t even consider the python or rattlesnake. I debated about some elk, but we’ve tried that before (and it was good, so I encourage you to try it if you get a chance). What caught my eye were some Piedmontese beef burgers. I’d never heard of this before. The box claims it is leaner that chicken. I paid $9.49 for a one pound box of 4 patties.

When I got home, research indicated that Piedmont cattle are raised in northern Italy. They have a particular gene that makes their meat much leaner than regular beef. Because of this, it is also lower in calories and more tender than other types of beef. You can read more about this type of cattle here.

The package we bought contained 4 patties that looked like regular burgers. They cooked in roughly the same time frame as regular patties. They tasted really great. The meat does taste leaner, but that does not mean it has less flavor. Somehow, it seems to have more. The patties were tender. We really enjoyed this meat. I would buy it again.

While visiting the exciting Whole Foods-like new grocery story in our area, I poked around a bit in the frozen meat section. Although the store had a really fabulous fresh meat section (we bought some bison that was fabulous), there were some choices in the frozen section worth considering. I briefly considered camel burgers, but … Read more →

before

I’ve been using Magic Erasers for a couple of years and every time I use one I’m still amazed by them. They look like sponges, but they are superheroes at getting smudges, dirt, and stains off walls, floors, ceilings, and wood – without damaging them. Sometimes there are mysterious smudges or scrape marks on your walls and you rub and rub and can’t get them off. The Magic Eraser makes them go away. I have several spots in my house where I use

after

this over and over. The front door, the wall behind the bench where the kids fling their coats, and various spots on the walls where the dogs tend to hang out always end up completely filthy or with mysterious black smudges. In the kitchen there’s one spot where a chair always bumps the wall, leaving a mark, and in one of the bathrooms, the metal tissue holder leaves marks on the wall. They all disappear with the Magic Eraser. You get it wet and rub the spot. Once the eraser is looking dirty, you rinse it again. I go around about once every 6 months and do all these troublesome spots in my house and use up one entire eraser in the process. It even gets crazy things like pomegranate juice (don’t ask) off the walls, as well as ink or pencil. I love these so much I’m thinking of tossing a pack into a shower gift I am wrapping up this weekend.

before #2

after #2

I’ve been using Magic Erasers for a couple of years and every time I use one I’m still amazed by them. They look like sponges, but they are superheroes at getting smudges, dirt, and stains off walls, floors, ceilings, and wood – without damaging them. Sometimes there are mysterious smudges or scrape marks on your … Read more →

Before

Before

I have been fighting a losing battle with the linen closet for a while now. It was so full that it didn’t seem to matter how much straightening I did. Towels, sheets, blankets and tote bags were falling out all over. I spotted some Space Bags while at Marshall’s a few weeks ago and couldn’t get them out of my mind! Finally I went on Amazon and ordered a set. I got 5 jumbo, 4 large and 2 medium bags, as well as 3 of the roll up bags for $34.

Space bag pre-vacuum

Space Bags are heavy duty plastic storage bags you vacuum the air out of. They compress things down, making them easier to store. The roll up bags are meant for travel – you remove the air from them by rolling them.

The bags were easy to use. We filled them to the fill line, zipped them and then held the vacuum hose to the nozzle in the bag. It sucked the air out and quickly compressed the bags down. It was actually quite amazing how much space we saved – it reduced it by about 2/3, which is a significant difference when you’re tight on space!

We used 4 space bags and have tons left for future use. They were very easy to pack and shrink. They’re waterproof and reusable and also airtight. It’s a great solution if you need to store something in an attic or basement. I can also see using these to

Space bag after vacuum

store winter clothes if you are pressed for space.

The bags solved my closet problem. I had lots of blankets, comforters, mattress pads, pillows and sheets that we don’t use but I can’t bring myself to get rid of. No one likes flannel sheets, but I keep them thinking “What if we lost power for a week and were cold?” I also can’t help but think that my kids will soon be going out on their own and they will want to have extra blankets and pillows, so it seems like a waste to get rid of them!

As you can see, the space bags made my closet much easier to organize. The things we don’t use are now in the bags, compressed down and completely contained, leaving room to neatly stack sheets and towels we do use. Nothing is falling off the shelves and I can see everything now.

I did do a little purging. We donated some of the tote bags I always seem to have too many of, as well as two pillows. I had been hoarding those plastic zipper

After!

bags sheet sets come in, but I threw out a ton of those. Now that I have Space Bags, I don’t need them.

After!

I have been fighting a losing battle with the linen closet for a while now. It was so full that it didn’t seem to matter how much straightening I did. Towels, sheets, blankets and tote bags were falling out all over. I spotted some Space Bags while at Marshall’s a few weeks ago and couldn’t … Read more →