Ways To Use Maple Syrup
Add flavor to your favorite recipes by replacing refined white sugar with pure maple syrup. 1 1/3 cups (335 ml) of maple syrup replaces 1 cup (225 g) of white sugar. When using maple syrup, reduce the amount of liquid in recipes by 1/3 cup (85 ml).
Drizzle on fruit
Use on pancakes, waffles, and French toast
Use a touch in smoothies and yogurt
Sweeten teas, herbal teas, and coffee
Add a spoon to your favorite cereal
Use in barbeque sauces
“Work With What You Got!”
© Victoria Hart Glavin Tiny New York Kitchen © 2015 All Rights Reserved
Less Stress Holidays
Holiday time is a wonderful time of year, but let’s face it, there is plenty of stress that comes with it. During the holidays, it’s better to keep things as simple as possible.
Appetizers & Hors D’Oeuvres: Keep it simple. Serve a simple, but beautiful cheese platter. Add bowls of dried fruit and nuts, as they’re always very festive. I like to set up a small snack table set with bowls of olives, savory popcorn, and Marcona almonds. I also like to serve a crudité platter for guests who may not want to eat rich foods or are perhaps trying to eat a bit healthier around the holidays.
Plan Your Menu: If you’re having a sit-down dinner, try to make a menu that can be prepared somewhat in advance. Some great options might be a beef Bourguignon, braised short ribs, coq au vin or any other main dish that can be made the day before. I am a big proponent of choosing things to cook that can be prepped ahead of time. I like to start off a dinner party with a nice salad that incorporates some seasonal ingredients like pomegranates, pears, citrus or candied nuts. A winter squash soup is also a nice way to begin a meal. Dessert can be a simple winter fruit crisp or a spice cake served with ice cream.
Get A Head Count: When it comes to a holiday meal, any time of year, depending on the number of guests, a simple yet broad menu works best. For buffet holiday parties with over a dozen people, you might want to offer a couple of different entrees. Add a vegetable and perhaps roasted potatoes or roasted root vegetables. Offering a nice crisp green salad always rounds out the menu as well. Add some delicious small rolls or a sliced baguette and you’re good to go.
Serving A Nice Beverage: Then there are the beverages. Having a festive specialty drink is always welcomed by your guests. If you’re mixing the drinks yourself, keep it simple. Please don’t spend all of your time being a bartender at your own party. That’s no fun! You could mix a nice holiday punch bowl with an adult kick ahead of time. A splash of pomegranate liqueur or elderflower liqueur is a nice addition to prosecco or champagne. A white Christmas cosmo (made with white cranberry juice) is a holiday favorite. Make it in advance and when you’re ready to serve just shake with ice and serve.
Make In Advance: Many things can be done days before the party. Shopping for non-perishable foods like spices, flour, sugar can all be purchased many days before your party. You can also make your holiday cookie dough or pie crusts in advance. All you need to do is to make sure you freeze them until you’re ready to use them.
Keep Calm & Have Fun: The most important thing is to keep calm and have fun. A holiday party of any kind should be a time of joy for everyone, even the host. If you find yourself working way too hard to throw and plan a party then ask friends or family members for help. Perhaps a few good friends could bring a dish or two to help ease the stress on your kitchen. The goal is to have a good time with family and friends.
Happy Holidays From Tiny New York Kitchen!
“Work With What You Got!”
© Victoria Hart Glavin Tiny New York Kitchen © 2015 All Rights Reserved
Bartlett Pears
Bartlett pears are the only pears that change color when they’re ripe. Eat them out of hand like an apple, slice them onto a salad, or present on a platter with cheese & nuts. Poach them in fruit juice, or bake them into tarts, quick breads, or muffins.
In 17th century England, a schoolmaster named John Stair sold some pear tree cuttings to a grower named Williams, who quite narcissistically named the variety after himself. The Williams Pear became a staple variety, and when brought to the New World at the end of the 18th century, one Enoch Bartlett of Massachusetts planted it on his farm. Mr. Bartlett named it after himself and, from then on, throughout the United States, the Williams Pear became known as the Bartlett Pear.
“Work With What You Got!”
© Victoria Hart Glavin Tiny New York Kitchen © 2015 All Rights Reserved
Watermelon
Watermelon is the ultimate summer snack. As a kid growing up in Nebraska, my favorite way to eat watermelon was outside, with the juice running down my face and arms. Here is how I’m eating watermelon this summer.
Treat It Like A Steak
Cut watermelon into 2 inch slabs and drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with kosher salt and red pepper flakes. Eat with a steak knife.
Make A BLW
Forget the tomato and use a few thin slices of watermelon on your sandwich instead. Add some cheese for good measure.
Blitz It
Purée watermelon (seeds and all), strain, then add honey, and lime juice. Serve on ice with a mint sprig. Add rum or tequila if you want to be naughty.
“Work With What You Got!”
© Victoria Hart Glavin Tiny New York Kitchen © 2015 All Rights Reserved
5 Ways To Make The Most Of Plums
RAW
Pit and thinly slice for Spinach Salad with Plums and Goat Cheese
BAKED
Stone fruit crumbles, cobblers and crisps are hallmarks of late summer. Swap in plums for other stone fruits in your favorite recipes.
ROASTED/GRILLED
Roasting and grilling fruit brings out its inherent sweetness. Serve with crème fraiche, ice cream, or yogurt.
CANNED
Preserve plums by making jam, chutney, salsa, or a spicy sauce to enjoy the taste of summer year round.
DRIED
Dry slices in a low temperature oven for a sweet, chewy on the go snack, which are perfect for packed lunches.
“Work With What You Got!”
© Victoria Hart Glavin Tiny New York Kitchen © 2015 All Rights Reserved
5 Ways to Make the Most of Seasonal Stone Fruit
Ripen: Ripen peaches, nectarines and apricots at room temperature. Once ripe, they can be refrigerated for just a few days to help keep them at their best.
Speed Up: Speed up the ripening process by placing fruit in a brown paper bag on the counter, checking a few times each day.
Can: Preserve stone fruits by canning them (make jam, syrup or salsa) to enjoy the taste of summer year-round.
Dry: Bake or grill halves or slices at 200 degrees for about 3 hours, turning every 30 minutes or so, until dehydrated yet still soft. Store in the refrigerator.
Freeze: Lightly poach halved and pitted fruit in water (sugar optional), portion and freeze for later use in smoothies, baking, desserts or fruit sauce for pancakes.
“Work With What You Got!”
© Victoria Hart Glavin Tiny New York Kitchen © 2015 All Rights Reserved
Certain Produce Shouldn’t Be Stored In The Refrigerator
With some fruits and vegetables cold temperatures can lead to unsavory textures and flavors. Let tomatoes sit on the counter at room temperature, and store onions, garlic, and potatoes separately in a cool, dark place in perforated baskets or bins to allow for good airflow. Make sure to keep all fresh produce away from direct sunlight.
Onions & Garlic can lose crispness and become moldy when exposed to the refrigerator’s moisture. They can also impart their flavors on foods stored nearby.
Tomatoes flavor often diminishes when they’re chilled, and the texture can turn mealy as the cold temperature breaks down the membranes inside the fruit.
Potatoes starch content converts to sugar when cold, which leads to an unpleasantly sweet taste and discoloration when they’re cooked.
“Work With What You Got!”
© Victoria Hart Glavin Tiny New York Kitchen All Rights Reserve
Perplexing Foodstuffs
There are those foods that can be rather difficult to figure out how to eat without looking like you were born in a cave. Here are some useful tips for properly eating perplexing foodstuffs.
Artichokes
Pluck off artichoke leaves and scrape the tender part (not the prickly point) between your teeth (preferably after dipping in melted butter). Work your way to the delicate inner leaves, and then use a knife to cut off the remaining small leaves and feathery innards. Cut the artichoke “heart” into bite-sized pieces and eat with a fork.
Asparagus
Eat asparagus with your fingers if served raw as crudités. Eat with a fork and knife if served with dinner.
Bread
Break bread into bite-sized pieces, and butter it or dip it into olive oil just one piece at a time.
Crab (Soft-Shelled)
Eat entire crab, including shell, either in sandwich form or using a fork and knife. Remove inedible pieces from your mouth with a fork.
Fajitas
Place meats, vegetables, and other fillings on a flat tortilla. Roll up and use your fingers to eat fajitas from one end.
Fondue
Spear bread, vegetables, or fruit with a fondue spear and dip into cheese or sauce. Remove food from spear using a dinner fork, and eat from a plate. DO NOT double dip. Spear uncooked meat cubes and place spear into fondue broth or sauce. When cooked, transfer meat to a plate using a dinner fork and cut into smaller pieces to eat.
Lobster
Wear a lobster bib to avoid fishy splatters, Crack shells with shellfish crackers and extract meat with a small fork or pick. Cut larger pieces with a knife, and eat with a fork after dipping in melted butter. Clean your hands by dipping fingers into finger bowls, and use lemon (if provided) to cut extra grease. Dry your hands with your napkin.
Peas
Use a knife to push peas onto a fork. Do not mash peas before eating, or eat peas from a knife.
Raw Shellfish
Use a small fork to extract mussels, clams, or oysters from the half-shell. Season with fresh lemon or cocktail sauce. In informal settings, you may quietly slurp shellfish from shells.
Soup
Using a soup spoon, spoon soup away from your body and then quietly sip from side of spoon. Tilt bowl away from you to spoon up remaining drops.
Spaghetti
Twirl pasta with fork tines into bite-sized portions, and allow any dangling pieces to fall back onto your fork. You may also rest fork tines against the bowl of a spoon while you twirl pasta.
Steamers
Extract clam from shell using a small fork, and use a fork and knife to remove inedible neck. In informal settings, it is permissible to use fingers.
“Work With What You Got!”
© Victoria Hart Glavin Tiny New York Kitchen
While fruit bowls are pretty to look at, store apples in the refrigerator to keep them crisp longer. When they are kept cold, apples can stay nice and crunchy for weeks. Keep them away from aromatic foods like onions, as apples tend to absorb odor.
Picked up these Witch Finger Grapes yesterday. They really are nice a sweet.
