Tips and Tricks

Tips and Tricks Tuesdays: Make Your Own Sweet Iced Tea Concentrate

Posted on May 28, 2013May 21, 2013 by Northerly Nosh

ICED SWEET TEA CONCENTRATE

3/4 gallon of water
5 one gallon tea bags or 24 family size tea bags
5 to 8 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Boil the water. Remove from heat and add tea bags. Cover for 30 minutes. Remove tea bags and stir in 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda. (This helps preserve the tea, and does not affect the taste). Add sugar while still warm and stir until it dissolves. Pour in enough additional water to make 1 gallon of tea concentrate.

This concentrate keeps 4 weeks in the refrigerator and freezes very well. I store it in clean, washed milk jugs. It is really so handy to have and lasts a long time.

Note: **If you don’t like your tea sweet, you can leave out the sugar entirely. We like it slightly sweet and use 1.5 cups sugar.

TO MAKE TEA:
For 1 gallon of tea: Measure 3 cups of iced tea concentrate into a pitcher. Add enough additional water to make 1 gallon of tea and stir.
For 2 quarts of tea: Measure 1 and 1/2 cups iced tea concentrate into a pitcher. Add additional water to make 2 quarts of tea and stir.
For a 16 ounce glass of tea: Put 2-3 tablespoons concentrate into a 16 ounce glass. Fill the glass with water and ice; stir.

Keep unused portions of tea refrigerated. If the tea is too weak or too strong for you add more or less iced tea concentrate to the water.

Tips and Tricks

Tips and Tricks Tuesdays: What’s in My Fridge, Freezer, and Pantry?

Posted on May 21, 2013May 21, 2013 by Northerly Nosh

According to a recent survey, twenty-eight percent of Americans can’t cook. In fact, mageirocophobia, fear of cooking, is a real condition! While some worry about serving inedible food, others are afraid of complicated recipes, poor presentation, or cooking for large groups. So, today I’m going back to basics to help cooking newcomers tackle their kitchen fears.

Before acing the cooking process, they’ll first need to know the basics of food storage. So, here’s a cheat sheet for what to keep in your fridge, freezer, and pantry.

Fridge Essentials

1. Eggs (Love my backyard chickens! When we have too many eggs I freeze them too.)
2. Parmigiano-Reggiano: Store in the dairy drawer.
3. Meats: Store on the bottom shelf in case juices drip.
4. Organic Milk: Store in the coldest part of your fridge.
5. Produce: Wash, Prep, and Store. Nothing is better than going to the fridge and having your veggies ready to cook. (Gardening seasoned just started here in Minnesota cannot wait till harvest time. Till then I will have to enjoy local farmers markets.)
6. Condiments: Mayonnaise, Ketchup, Aldi’s Pure Maple Syrup (cannot beat their price), etc.

Freezer Essentials

1. Papa Pita Whole Wheat Greek Pita Flat Bread or Naan Bread
2. Chicken Breasts: Wrap pieces individually so you can defrost one at a time.
3. Veggies and Fruits
4. Cookie Dough
5. Soups and Sauces: Store in individual portions for easy defrosting.

Pantry Staples

1. Dried Fruits and Nuts
2. Oil and Vinegar
3. Dried Pasta
4. Spices
5. Canned Goods
6. Perishable Goods (Potatoes, Onions, Garlic)

Tasty Treat Thursdays: Super Soft Snicker-doodle Cookies and Freezing Cookie Dough

Posted on May 16, 2013May 11, 2013 by Northerly Nosh

Super Soft Snickerdoodle Cookies

makes about 3 dozen cookies

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
3 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
1 teaspon vanilla extract

For the cinnamon sugar:
1/4 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Heat the oven to 425°F. Gently melt the butter in a saucepan or in the microwave and let it cool while you mix the dry ingredients. Stir together the sugars, flour, spices, baking soda, and salt. Whisk the eggs into the cooled butter and add the vanilla. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, stirring just until it comes together.

In a soup plate or shallow bowl, mix together the white sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Form small 1 1/2-inch balls of dough and roll them in the cinnamon sugar. Place them on an unlined, ungreased baking sheet and flatten slightly. Bake for 7 minutes then remove and let cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes. Remove to a wire rack.

The dough can be refrigerated for up to 5 days, well-wrapped. It can also be frozen in logs.

Freezing Cookie Dough

1. Make the dough from any drop cookie recipe. Just stay away from cookies that are made with an egg white dough (like meringue) or a more liquid batter (like macarons or brownies).

2. On a baking sheet, place heaping spoonfuls of your dough. If the recipe requires the dough balls be rolled in a sugar mixture, do this before putting them on the sheet. Continue plopping dough balls until the entire sheet is full.

3. Put baking sheet in the freezer for a couple of hours or overnight.

4. Remove from freezer and place in airtight containers or freezer bags. Return to freezer.

When Ready to Bake:

Remove desired amount of cookie dough balls from the freezer. Place on a cookie sheet and bake per your recipe instructions. No need to thaw first, but you may need to add a minute or two to your baking time.

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