The Cooking Dish

Mirepoix: How to Make and Use It

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At its most basic, the standard mirepoix (pronounced “mihr-PWAH” or “meer PWAH”) is a mixture of onions, carrots, and celery sautéed in butter. It’s used as an aromatic, flavorful addition to foods ranging from soups and sauces to braised meats and marinades. Chefs around the world also refer to it as “The Holy Trinity,” and it can be used in oh so many ways.Continue Reading

10 Social Media Rules for Healthier Communication

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Social media revolves around communicating with each other. At the same time it shows us how inept at it we are. Social sites range from blogs with comment sections like this one, to platforms like Facebook and Twitter, to media-sharing sites like YouTube and Pinterest. Mastering each of these is an art form, and there have been plenty of posts written about it.

But not this one. Instead of the “10 Things to Do if You Wanna’ Be Big” routine, I’ve decided on another approach. This article focuses on finding our humanity in and adding value to social media. I’ve written some guidelines that, after years of online shenanigans, have proven helpful to me. I don’t consider myself a master (or even close to one) of social media, so feel free to add your own insights in the comments below.Continue Reading

The 50+ Best Kitchen Gifts – 2015 Gift Guide

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Once again the Winter holidays are right around the corner, and my kitchen begs for some holiday food and cheer. I swear last winter just ended. With one blink I’ve aged an entire year, and my belt is one notch tighter. Too bad there’s no reversal for that whole age thing.

As the temperature drops and my kids start to bundle up in their cute little coats, I find myself drawn to the kitchen more than usual. It could be that I enjoy the warmth of the oven, or that the chilly months are filled to the brim with nostalgia. Only now do I fully understand and appreciate the time my mom spent in her kitchen canning cider, baking pies, frosting cookies, and heating chocolate for our frosted and red kid noses. I think I will have succeeded if my kids can remember their childhood the way I remember mine.Continue Reading

How to Use flickr as a CDN in WordPress

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Howdy, this post is going to deviate a bit from the normal. Rather than talking about food, I want to share a few insights I’ve learned about hosting images on my website using flickr. It’s been helpful for me over the years, so perhaps it will help you too.
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Interview with The Chocolate Conspiracy

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Sometime near the end of Summer, beginning of Fall I had the delightful opportunity to meet with AJ Wentworth who is the owner, founder, chief chocolatier, and jefe of The Chocolate Conspiracy located in Salt Lake City, UT (900 S 265 E Salt Lake City, UT 84111, to be exact). I had a great time interviewing AJ and learned a lot about his business and what it takes to specialize in the raw chocolate business. Unfortunately because of website issues, I was unable to post the interview until now.

But the story begins before the interview. I met AJ at the 2013 Honey Bee Festival in Salt Lake City where two things brought my attention to his booth: 1) free chocolate samples (obvious attention grabber there), and 2) the really cool throwback art on the chocolate bars, and 3) it was RAW chocolate. My curiosity was peaked. Apparently I’m a sucker for raw gourmet chocolate wrapped in retro Asian-inspired art.
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A Visit to Slide Ridge Honey

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Just the other week my family and I drove down to Mendon, UT for an enlightening introduction and tour of the creation processes behind the delicious Slide Ridge honey products. If you haven’t had the opportunity to taste their honey products, you’re missing out: especially the honey wine vinegar.
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Question: How Do I Hard Boil an Egg?

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Before we jump in head first, here’s what you can expect out of this post: how to perfectly hard boil an egg every time, how to quickly boil an egg, how to peel a boiled egg, random egg facts, and some good old fashioned tom foolery. Fellow pinners, feel free to share any of these pictures, but I have created a Pinterest-friendly egg infographic-esque image that you might find handy. You can find that just below. Now on to the main eggvent!
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