Category: A BostonZest Shop

A Stir Fry with an Eastern European Twist: Kielbasa, Cabbage, and Apple

Once you master the technique of making a stir fry, you can take that cooking method out of Asian cuisine and apply it to another culture.

Kielbasa, cabbage, and apple stir-fry.

One of my favorite cool weather stir fries is this one with cabbage, kielbasa, apple, and onion. A bit of apple cider creates a broth. Some garlic, juniper, and mustard seeds add some spice.

Where will you take your stir fry skills? Do you toss together a dish that is basically a stir fry but is inspired by a culture other than Asian? Please, share your ideas with us.

The pan in this photo has become the work horse of my kitchen during the past year. It just fits our cooking-for-two lifestyle. It's the All-Clad Stainless Steel 4 Quart Essential Pan with Lid. It works for stir fries, soups, and stews.

What's on your Food Lover's Shopping List? Shop Amazon for all your kitchen & dining needs and support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny Cherubino
Photos: ©2013 Penny Cherubino

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

October 7, 2013
Finally Found a Great Honey Dispenser!

Each morning, I line up my breakfast components – oatmeal, chopped nuts, raisins, and honey. I buy my honey from Keown Orchards in pound jars. Spooning honey from these can be messy and leaves the jar in need of regular cleaning to remove the residue.

Over the years, I’ve tried about every honey and syrup dispenser on the market. They all seem to have their drawbacks. I was about to use one of the sqeeze bottles I keep for various other kitchen uses and did one last search for “squeeze bottle” instead of honey dispenser.

I found the Japanese Squeeze Bottle you see in the photo. Its attached cap attracted me to it over the alternatives. It comes with different colored caps and has passed my daily use test with flying colors. Plus, it gives me much better control of the amount of honey I’m using.

My tip for filling it is to use the body of a cake decorating syringe. The end that would take a tip goes into the squeeze jar and the honey is poured into the wide end that would have the plunger. I let it sit for a little while after filling and most of the honey drips down into the dispenser.

Of course, it’s not perfect, an occasional wipe is needed. I seal the top and run warm water over most of the bottle and then wipe it dry and give the tip a wipe with a clean hot dishcloth. But, it doesn’t turn into a big mess the way other honeypots did.

Don’t you love a simple and inexpensive solution to a daily annoyance? This would make a great gift for a honey lover!

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny Cherubino
Photography: © 2012 Penny Cherubino

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers’ comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

Related articles

Hanukkah Cocktail: The Bees Knees

Is Honey Better Than Sugar?

Bring a Big Wedge of a Great Cheese to the Party

Check Out Our Wine List for Thanksgiving & Holiday Gatherings!

American Chop Suey, a New England Tradition

December 27, 2012
Finally Found a Great Honey Dispenser!

Each morning, I line up my breakfast components – oatmeal, chopped nuts, raisins, and honey. I buy my honey from Keown Orchards in pound jars. Spooning honey from these can be messy and leaves the jar in need of regular cleaning to remove the residue.

Over the years, I’ve tried about every honey and syrup dispenser on the market. They all seem to have their drawbacks. I was about to use one of the sqeeze bottles I keep for various other kitchen uses and did one last search for “squeeze bottle” instead of honey dispenser.

I found the Japanese Squeeze Bottle you see in the photo. Its attached cap attracted me to it over the alternatives. It comes with different colored caps and has passed my daily use test with flying colors. Plus, it gives me much better control of the amount of honey I’m using.

My tip for filling it is to use the body of a cake decorating syringe. The end that would take a tip goes into the squeeze jar and the honey is poured into the wide end that would have the plunger. I let it sit for a little while after filling and most of the honey drips down into the dispenser.

Of course, it’s not perfect, an occasional wipe is needed. I seal the top and run warm water over most of the bottle and then wipe it dry and give the tip a wipe with a clean hot dishcloth. But, it doesn’t turn into a big mess the way other honeypots did.

Don’t you love a simple and inexpensive solution to a daily annoyance? This would make a great gift for a honey lover!

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny Cherubino
Photography: © 2012 Penny Cherubino

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers’ comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

Related articles

Hanukkah Cocktail: The Bees Knees

Is Honey Better Than Sugar?

Bring a Big Wedge of a Great Cheese to the Party

Check Out Our Wine List for Thanksgiving & Holiday Gatherings!

American Chop Suey, a New England Tradition

December 27, 2012
Finally Found a Great Honey Dispenser!

Each morning, I line up my breakfast components – oatmeal, chopped nuts, raisins, and honey. I buy my honey from Keown Orchards in pound jars. Spooning honey from these can be messy and leaves the jar in need of regular cleaning to remove the residue.

Over the years, I’ve tried about every honey and syrup dispenser on the market. They all seem to have their drawbacks. I was about to use one of the sqeeze bottles I keep for various other kitchen uses and did one last search for “squeeze bottle” instead of honey dispenser.

I found the Japanese Squeeze Bottle you see in the photo. Its attached cap attracted me to it over the alternatives. It comes with different colored caps and has passed my daily use test with flying colors. Plus, it gives me much better control of the amount of honey I’m using.

My tip for filling it is to use the body of a cake decorating syringe. The end that would take a tip goes into the squeeze jar and the honey is poured into the wide end that would have the plunger. I let it sit for a little while after filling and most of the honey drips down into the dispenser.

Of course, it’s not perfect, an occasional wipe is needed. I seal the top and run warm water over most of the bottle and then wipe it dry and give the tip a wipe with a clean hot dishcloth. But, it doesn’t turn into a big mess the way other honeypots did.

Don’t you love a simple and inexpensive solution to a daily annoyance? This would make a great gift for a honey lover!

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny Cherubino
Photography: © 2012 Penny Cherubino

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers’ comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

Related articles

Hanukkah Cocktail: The Bees Knees

Is Honey Better Than Sugar?

Bring a Big Wedge of a Great Cheese to the Party

Check Out Our Wine List for Thanksgiving & Holiday Gatherings!

American Chop Suey, a New England Tradition

December 27, 2012
Gift Ideas: 5 Little Kitchen Luxuries We’re Glad We Bought

Think of the things you use all the time in your kitchen but had to think about before buying, because they were little luxuries. We bet there are a few that fall into "things you don't know how you did without."

These items can give you ideas for great gifts for those close to you or something to splurge on with a gift certificate. Please tell us what falls into that group for you in the comments section or on twitter.

For us, here are 5 things that we love and don't regret spending the money on for a single moment. In fact, some of these have saved us money in the long run.

1. Home Espresso Machine

Ours is a Breville Cafe Roma Stainless Espresso Maker
that we've had since 2008. Since buying this, we've had our coffee drinks at home most of the time and that's saved us hundreds of dollars we would have spent at coffee shops. We actually bought a reconditioned unit so it cost us much less than a new one. You can look for bargains like this at the Amazon Warehouse Sale.

2. Burr Coffee Grinder

If you are chopping coffee beans with a blade coffee mill, think about saving that for spices and trading up to a burr grinder. We decided on the Capresso 565 Infinity Conical Burr Grinder. You can pay more for a more serious grinder or you can use more human power and buy a hand cranked item. Those are also great to use on the road. One example is the Hario Mini Mill Slim Coffee Grinder.



3. Good Quality Heavy Pots and Pans

Over the years, we've replaced the thin-walled pans we thought were a great buy when we set up housekeeping, with heavy, substantial pans from Le Creuset and All-Clad. No more burnt, scorched food or pans, and more home cooking which does save cash.



4. Great Wine & Barware Glasses

This is one area where we've gone a bit overboard and have too many great wine glasses for people who live in a small space. We have Riedel wine glasses, Schott Zwiesel Tritan Crystal glasses and Reed & Barton barware. We both use crystal double old fashioned glasses as our daily water glass and it really gives drinking your water a lift. Anyone want to buy some glassware? One 2013 resolution is to thin our collection.



5. Wedgwood Nantucket Basket Bone China for our everyday dinnerware. You've seen it all over these pages in our food photos. We were tired of replacing our everyday dinnerware every few years because of chips, crazing, and broken dishes. But, since Penny had once sold china for a living, she knew that bone china is vitrified like steel and is highly resistant to these problems.

We invested in a service for 8 about 16 years ago and have only had two or three pieces replaced since then. Since it's all white with no gold, silver, or pattern to damage, it is totally dishwasher safe. And, it looks great on our table. A little luxury with a long life span.

Remember, we'd love to hear what's on your list of the top 5 kitchen luxuries that you don't regret buying. Send us a tweet or post a comment.

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

Related articles

The Secrets To Making a Spectacular Cup of Coffee: The Best Barista Reveals All! – Food News

10 Gifts for Coffee Lovers – Holiday Gift Guide from The Kitchn

Would you spend $40 a pound for a killer cup of Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee?

Surryano Ham from Virginia is Peanut-Fed Berkshire Pork

Formaggio Kitchen's "Staff Picks" 2012 – Friday Link

December 18, 2012
Gift Ideas: 5 Little Kitchen Luxuries We’re Glad We Bought

Think of the things you use all the time in your kitchen but had to think about before buying, because they were little luxuries. We bet there are a few that fall into "things you don't know how you did without."

These items can give you ideas for great gifts for those close to you or something to splurge on with a gift certificate. Please tell us what falls into that group for you in the comments section or on twitter.

For us, here are 5 things that we love and don't regret spending the money on for a single moment. In fact, some of these have saved us money in the long run.

1. Home Espresso Machine

Ours is a Breville Cafe Roma Stainless Espresso Maker
that we've had since 2008. Since buying this, we've had our coffee drinks at home most of the time and that's saved us hundreds of dollars we would have spent at coffee shops. We actually bought a reconditioned unit so it cost us much less than a new one. You can look for bargains like this at the Amazon Warehouse Sale.

2. Burr Coffee Grinder

If you are chopping coffee beans with a blade coffee mill, think about saving that for spices and trading up to a burr grinder. We decided on the Capresso 565 Infinity Conical Burr Grinder. You can pay more for a more serious grinder or you can use more human power and buy a hand cranked item. Those are also great to use on the road. One example is the Hario Mini Mill Slim Coffee Grinder.



3. Good Quality Heavy Pots and Pans

Over the years, we've replaced the thin-walled pans we thought were a great buy when we set up housekeeping, with heavy, substantial pans from Le Creuset and All-Clad. No more burnt, scorched food or pans, and more home cooking which does save cash.



4. Great Wine & Barware Glasses

This is one area where we've gone a bit overboard and have too many great wine glasses for people who live in a small space. We have Riedel wine glasses, Schott Zwiesel Tritan Crystal glasses and Reed & Barton barware. We both use crystal double old fashioned glasses as our daily water glass and it really gives drinking your water a lift. Anyone want to buy some glassware? One 2013 resolution is to thin our collection.



5. Wedgwood Nantucket Basket Bone China for our everyday dinnerware. You've seen it all over these pages in our food photos. We were tired of replacing our everyday dinnerware every few years because of chips, crazing, and broken dishes. But, since Penny had once sold china for a living, she knew that bone china is vitrified like steel and is highly resistant to these problems.

We invested in a service for 8 about 16 years ago and have only had two or three pieces replaced since then. Since it's all white with no gold, silver, or pattern to damage, it is totally dishwasher safe. And, it looks great on our table. A little luxury with a long life span.

Remember, we'd love to hear what's on your list of the top 5 kitchen luxuries that you don't regret buying. Send us a tweet or post a comment.

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

Related articles

The Secrets To Making a Spectacular Cup of Coffee: The Best Barista Reveals All! – Food News

10 Gifts for Coffee Lovers – Holiday Gift Guide from The Kitchn

Would you spend $40 a pound for a killer cup of Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee?

Surryano Ham from Virginia is Peanut-Fed Berkshire Pork

Formaggio Kitchen's "Staff Picks" 2012 – Friday Link

December 18, 2012
Gift Ideas: 5 Little Kitchen Luxuries We’re Glad We Bought

Think of the things you use all the time in your kitchen but had to think about before buying, because they were little luxuries. We bet there are a few that fall into "things you don't know how you did without."

These items can give you ideas for great gifts for those close to you or something to splurge on with a gift certificate. Please tell us what falls into that group for you in the comments section or on twitter.

For us, here are 5 things that we love and don't regret spending the money on for a single moment. In fact, some of these have saved us money in the long run.

1. Home Espresso Machine

Ours is a Breville Cafe Roma Stainless Espresso Maker
that we've had since 2008. Since buying this, we've had our coffee drinks at home most of the time and that's saved us hundreds of dollars we would have spent at coffee shops. We actually bought a reconditioned unit so it cost us much less than a new one. You can look for bargains like this at the Amazon Warehouse Sale.

2. Burr Coffee Grinder

If you are chopping coffee beans with a blade coffee mill, think about saving that for spices and trading up to a burr grinder. We decided on the Capresso 565 Infinity Conical Burr Grinder. You can pay more for a more serious grinder or you can use more human power and buy a hand cranked item. Those are also great to use on the road. One example is the Hario Mini Mill Slim Coffee Grinder.



3. Good Quality Heavy Pots and Pans

Over the years, we've replaced the thin-walled pans we thought were a great buy when we set up housekeeping, with heavy, substantial pans from Le Creuset and All-Clad. No more burnt, scorched food or pans, and more home cooking which does save cash.



4. Great Wine & Barware Glasses

This is one area where we've gone a bit overboard and have too many great wine glasses for people who live in a small space. We have Riedel wine glasses, Schott Zwiesel Tritan Crystal glasses and Reed & Barton barware. We both use crystal double old fashioned glasses as our daily water glass and it really gives drinking your water a lift. Anyone want to buy some glassware? One 2013 resolution is to thin our collection.



5. Wedgwood Nantucket Basket Bone China for our everyday dinnerware. You've seen it all over these pages in our food photos. We were tired of replacing our everyday dinnerware every few years because of chips, crazing, and broken dishes. But, since Penny had once sold china for a living, she knew that bone china is vitrified like steel and is highly resistant to these problems.

We invested in a service for 8 about 16 years ago and have only had two or three pieces replaced since then. Since it's all white with no gold, silver, or pattern to damage, it is totally dishwasher safe. And, it looks great on our table. A little luxury with a long life span.

Remember, we'd love to hear what's on your list of the top 5 kitchen luxuries that you don't regret buying. Send us a tweet or post a comment.

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

Related articles

The Secrets To Making a Spectacular Cup of Coffee: The Best Barista Reveals All! – Food News

10 Gifts for Coffee Lovers – Holiday Gift Guide from The Kitchn

Would you spend $40 a pound for a killer cup of Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee?

Surryano Ham from Virginia is Peanut-Fed Berkshire Pork

Formaggio Kitchen's "Staff Picks" 2012 – Friday Link

December 18, 2012
My Silly, Little 4th Burner Multi – Pot Scores Again!

A while back, I bought a Kuhn Rikon 4th Burner Multi – Pot thinking I would use it when a big meal was crowding my small cooktop. It quickly found a place in this cook’s heart and I wrote about, Loving this Odd Little Cooking Pot. Since then I keep finding more instances when it scores as the perfect answer to a kitchen chore.

For Thanksgiving, it worked well at its trick of fitting on a crowded stovetop. It’s seen here ready to cook rutabagas. Even with my giant roasting pan on the stovetop, it stood its ground. I often fit a 12-inch skillet in front of it.

But, before it reached that point in its turkey day to-do list, it had already joined up with a China Cap Chinoise Strainer to strain turkey broth. And, post rutabagas this combo was used to strain the gravy.

I’m nominating this as the perfect holiday gift for someone who cooks for one or two people, someone who has a tiny kitchen like mine, or anyone who will make good use of this true multi-tasker.

Related Post:

Another Trick from My Favorite, Little Cooking Pot

The Kuhn Rikon 4th Burner Multi – Pot now comes in colors too! Personally, I love the look of the stainless. What else is on your Food Lover’s Shopping List? Shop Amazon for all your kitchen & dining needs. and support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: ©2012 Penny & Ed Cherubino

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers’ comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

Related articles

A Watched Pot

3 On Your Side: Kitchen Fire Safety

November 26, 2012
My Silly, Little 4th Burner Multi – Pot Scores Again!

A while back, I bought a Kuhn Rikon 4th Burner Multi – Pot thinking I would use it when a big meal was crowding my small cooktop. It quickly found a place in this cook’s heart and I wrote about, Loving this Odd Little Cooking Pot. Since then I keep finding more instances when it scores as the perfect answer to a kitchen chore.

For Thanksgiving, it worked well at its trick of fitting on a crowded stovetop. It’s seen here ready to cook rutabagas. Even with my giant roasting pan on the stovetop, it stood its ground. I often fit a 12-inch skillet in front of it.

But, before it reached that point in its turkey day to-do list, it had already joined up with a China Cap Chinoise Strainer to strain turkey broth. And, post rutabagas this combo was used to strain the gravy.

I’m nominating this as the perfect holiday gift for someone who cooks for one or two people, someone who has a tiny kitchen like mine, or anyone who will make good use of this true multi-tasker.

Related Post:

Another Trick from My Favorite, Little Cooking Pot

The Kuhn Rikon 4th Burner Multi – Pot now comes in colors too! Personally, I love the look of the stainless. What else is on your Food Lover’s Shopping List? Shop Amazon for all your kitchen & dining needs. and support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: ©2012 Penny & Ed Cherubino

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers’ comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

Related articles

A Watched Pot

3 On Your Side: Kitchen Fire Safety

November 26, 2012
My Silly, Little 4th Burner Multi – Pot Scores Again!

A while back, I bought a Kuhn Rikon 4th Burner Multi – Pot thinking I would use it when a big meal was crowding my small cooktop. It quickly found a place in this cook’s heart and I wrote about, Loving this Odd Little Cooking Pot. Since then I keep finding more instances when it scores as the perfect answer to a kitchen chore.

For Thanksgiving, it worked well at its trick of fitting on a crowded stovetop. It’s seen here ready to cook rutabagas. Even with my giant roasting pan on the stovetop, it stood its ground. I often fit a 12-inch skillet in front of it.

But, before it reached that point in its turkey day to-do list, it had already joined up with a China Cap Chinoise Strainer to strain turkey broth. And, post rutabagas this combo was used to strain the gravy.

I’m nominating this as the perfect holiday gift for someone who cooks for one or two people, someone who has a tiny kitchen like mine, or anyone who will make good use of this true multi-tasker.

Related Post:

Another Trick from My Favorite, Little Cooking Pot

The Kuhn Rikon 4th Burner Multi – Pot now comes in colors too! Personally, I love the look of the stainless. What else is on your Food Lover’s Shopping List? Shop Amazon for all your kitchen & dining needs. and support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: ©2012 Penny & Ed Cherubino

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers’ comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

Related articles

A Watched Pot

3 On Your Side: Kitchen Fire Safety

November 26, 2012