Working from home can be dangerous to your waistline, unless you're careful about snacks. At about three every afternoon, we both need a little pick-me-up.
Our snack of choice is fruit. Some days it's just an apple. But, when our fruit basket is full of delicious ripe berries and peaches, they will make an appearance.
Occasionally, when the cheese drawer has a perfect match like this cheddar, a bit of cheese will join the party.
We have added fruit to our cheese trays over the years and now have quite a few favorite combinations like these bits of brie with figs.
When the stone fruit season is at its height, it can be fun to taste the contrasts. On this plate we had a sweet, luscious Saturn peach, a tart apricot, and a plum that was right in the middle of the other two on the sweet/tart scale.
The blueberries were on the plate to add color. We eat with our eyes and the contrast makes the plate of healthy fruit as attractive as a fancy and high-calorie fruit tart.
Some simple cheddar and farm fresh tomatoes became something special when I melted them into a couple of slices of “Red Pepper Hummus with Sesame Seeds & Garlic bread.”
Here are our bread tools of choice. We bought this bread knife two decades ago and still use it daily. Friends who use it are quick to see the difference in this and lesser-quality bread knives.
The bread cutting board with crumb box lives on our kitchen counter where it saves us from constantly cleaning up crumbs from the crusty breads we love.
The oversized flour sack towels are perfect for wrapping breads to keep them fresh and still crusty.
Some simple cheddar and farm fresh tomatoes became something special when I melted them into a couple of slices of “Red Pepper Hummus with Sesame Seeds & Garlic bread.”
Here are our bread tools of choice. We bought this bread knife two decades ago and still use it daily. Friends who use it are quick to see the difference in this and lesser-quality bread knives.
The bread cutting board with crumb box lives on our kitchen counter where it saves us from constantly cleaning up crumbs from the crusty breads we love.
The oversized flour sack towels are perfect for wrapping breads to keep them fresh and still crusty.
Some simple cheddar and farm fresh tomatoes became something special when I melted them into a couple of slices of “Red Pepper Hummus with Sesame Seeds & Garlic bread.”
Here are our bread tools of choice. We bought this bread knife two decades ago and still use it daily. Friends who use it are quick to see the difference in this and lesser-quality bread knives.
The bread cutting board with crumb box lives on our kitchen counter where it saves us from constantly cleaning up crumbs from the crusty breads we love.
The oversized flour sack towels are perfect for wrapping breads to keep them fresh and still crusty.
If you’re still tossing your sweet corn into a pot of boiling water, you may want to consider the alternatives.
For years, I’ve been steaming our corn. I want all that flavor on our plates not tossed away in the cooking water! But recently, I saw an America’s Test Kitchen video on how to microwave corn “in the husk” that results in perfectly silk-free ears on the plate
When I told friends, they laughed because most of them had been microwaving corn for years. (As you can see, I don’t think microwave when it comes to cooking.) But most of them had also been husking the corn before they cooked it, so they did find the video helpful.
Grilled Corn & Elote
If the resident grill master is making supper, you can toss the corn (husk and all) right on the grill and get some of that lovely pop-corney caramelization going. We don’t have a safe grill space so I used a combo method to make the elote in the photo.
Elote is a favorite Mexican street food that has been showing up in Boston restaurants. A very popular version is served at Toro in the South End. There, it’s called “Maiz Asado con Alioli y queso Cotija.”
To make my version, I microwaved the corn for 2 minutes an ear (following the method in the video) and then popped the cleaned ears into a cast iron skillet to give them some color. I cut the ears in half for easier eating and stuck each half with a wooden chopstick.
Then come the toppings. Around here, most places seem to slather the corn in mayonnaise and then season. But in different Mexican cultural regions you might use butter, sour cream, crema, or citrus juice to moisten the ear.
Once you have a wet surface, you can add a Mexican cheese like crumbly Cotija Anejo, or substitute your favorite grated cheddar, Parmigiano-Reggiano, or a nice salty feta. Seasoning is the final step and that can include anything from salt to chili powder. I love a bit of smoky ancho chili powder on mine! Lime wedges, served on the side, are traditional.
If you’re having a party, you might set up all the toppings, salad-bar style, pass the cooked corn to your guests, and let them create their own version of elote.
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.
If you’re still tossing your sweet corn into a pot of boiling water, you may want to consider the alternatives.
For years, I’ve been steaming our corn. I want all that flavor on our plates not tossed away in the cooking water! But recently, I saw an America’s Test Kitchen video on how to microwave corn “in the husk” that results in perfectly silk-free ears on the plate
When I told friends, they laughed because most of them had been microwaving corn for years. (As you can see, I don’t think microwave when it comes to cooking.) But most of them had also been husking the corn before they cooked it, so they did find the video helpful.
Grilled Corn & Elote
If the resident grill master is making supper, you can toss the corn (husk and all) right on the grill and get some of that lovely pop-corney caramelization going. We don’t have a safe grill space so I used a combo method to make the elote in the photo.
Elote is a favorite Mexican street food that has been showing up in Boston restaurants. A very popular version is served at Toro in the South End. There, it’s called “Maiz Asado con Alioli y queso Cotija.”
To make my version, I microwaved the corn for 2 minutes an ear (following the method in the video) and then popped the cleaned ears into a cast iron skillet to give them some color. I cut the ears in half for easier eating and stuck each half with a wooden chopstick.
Then come the toppings. Around here, most places seem to slather the corn in mayonnaise and then season. But in different Mexican cultural regions you might use butter, sour cream, crema, or citrus juice to moisten the ear.
Once you have a wet surface, you can add a Mexican cheese like crumbly Cotija Anejo, or substitute your favorite grated cheddar, Parmigiano-Reggiano, or a nice salty feta. Seasoning is the final step and that can include anything from salt to chili powder. I love a bit of smoky ancho chili powder on mine! Lime wedges, served on the side, are traditional.
If you’re having a party, you might set up all the toppings, salad-bar style, pass the cooked corn to your guests, and let them create their own version of elote.
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.
If you’re still tossing your sweet corn into a pot of boiling water, you may want to consider the alternatives.
For years, I’ve been steaming our corn. I want all that flavor on our plates not tossed away in the cooking water! But recently, I saw an America’s Test Kitchen video on how to microwave corn “in the husk” that results in perfectly silk-free ears on the plate
When I told friends, they laughed because most of them had been microwaving corn for years. (As you can see, I don’t think microwave when it comes to cooking.) But most of them had also been husking the corn before they cooked it, so they did find the video helpful.
Grilled Corn & Elote
If the resident grill master is making supper, you can toss the corn (husk and all) right on the grill and get some of that lovely pop-corney caramelization going. We don’t have a safe grill space so I used a combo method to make the elote in the photo.
Elote is a favorite Mexican street food that has been showing up in Boston restaurants. A very popular version is served at Toro in the South End. There, it’s called “Maiz Asado con Alioli y queso Cotija.”
To make my version, I microwaved the corn for 2 minutes an ear (following the method in the video) and then popped the cleaned ears into a cast iron skillet to give them some color. I cut the ears in half for easier eating and stuck each half with a wooden chopstick.
Then come the toppings. Around here, most places seem to slather the corn in mayonnaise and then season. But in different Mexican cultural regions you might use butter, sour cream, crema, or citrus juice to moisten the ear.
Once you have a wet surface, you can add a Mexican cheese like crumbly Cotija Anejo, or substitute your favorite grated cheddar, Parmigiano-Reggiano, or a nice salty feta. Seasoning is the final step and that can include anything from salt to chili powder. I love a bit of smoky ancho chili powder on mine! Lime wedges, served on the side, are traditional.
If you’re having a party, you might set up all the toppings, salad-bar style, pass the cooked corn to your guests, and let them create their own version of elote.
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.
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