Chirky

Hmm. I guess I have two cooking tips:
(1) If your recipe calls for wine, buy & use Rene Barbiere's table wine (red or white, depending on your recipe). It's cheap enough to not feel like you're wasting good wine ($6.50!) by cooking with it, and it's tasty enough to justify drinking the rest while your meal simmers.
(2) For taller, fluffier cakes and cupcakes, use extra-fine granulated sugar instead of regular granulated sugar.

I will do some brainstorming for your food blog!

I am thinking hard about domain names, and have come up with the following, which may be totally lame, I'm not sure -- I'm not super creative about these sorts of things, but GOD would I love me some free blog redesign!

chefchirky.com
igotflava.com (keepin' it real, yo)
dashofchirky.com

(I feel like you need to tie it in with your "brand" somehow, so I'm trying to make use of Chirky, obviously)

or, for the pun-inclined:

beefchirky.com

Must disagree on the wine tip. Always use the best quality ingredients... Quality ingredients make quality food.

Cooking tip: To lower the fat content of muffin recipes, sub apple sauce for butter and you will have healthier muffins that are still yummy and moist!

Ooh, another cooking tip: If you cook brown rice with water, it takes on a nutty texture and the grains don't stick to each other. However, if you cook brown rice with vegetable or chicken stock, it takes on a slightly sticky, creamy texture. Stir in a bit of parmesan cheese to the cooked rice and bam! You have a perfect healthy substitution a for white arborio rice when making risotto (which is usually very high fat).

I vote for Beef Chirky. What? I loves me some puns.

I'll try to think of stuff, too!

Cooking hint: Take nice ziploc bags to do your veggie shopping in. You won't waste time transferring vegetables and they stay fresh longer with the moisture locked in.

I like BeefChirky too.

I wish I had some good tips for you, but I can't really think of any.

I still think it's cool that foil doesn't get hot in the oven. How does that happen, really?

Try adding a few sprinkles of cinnamon to your spaghetti sauce. BBQ sauce to your chili. They'll enhance the flavor.

I'd like to preface this comment with the statement: I cannot cook.

That said I have learned to boil water and make a couple of things including pasta, certain vegetables and rice.

Tonight I made something very, very yummy, so I feel inspired to comment.

I took whole wheat penne pasta and boiled it in pot #1.

In pot #2, I boiled some more water and cooked already shelled, organic edamame.

The edamame finished first, so I drained it and set it to cool on the stove while the pasta finished up.

Once the pasta was done, I drained it and placed it back on the stove next to the edamame.

Then, I added a little olive oil, butter, salt and pepper to the pasta and stirred. Once it was pretty well mixed up, I added the edamame to the pasta and stirred some more.

Finally, I added some Parmesan cheese to the mix, and was done.

It was SOOOOoooo good. I was totally surprised (normally things I make scare me). You should try it. Yum, yum, yum! :D

Make sure you replace your baking soda and baking powder yearly. If you're getting flat cookies or heavy cakes bad soda/powder may be the cause.

Martha Stewart Tips

1. Stuff a miniature marshmallow in the bottom of a sugar cone to
prevent ice cream drips.

2. Use a meat baster to "squeeze" your pancake batter onto the hot
griddle and you'll get perfectly shaped pancakes every time.

3. To keep potatoes from budding, place an apple in the bag with the
potatoes.

4. To prevent egg shells from cracking, add a pinch of salt to the
water before hard boiling.

5. Run your hands under cold water before pressing Rice Krispies
treats in the pan and the marshmallow won't stick to your fingers.

6. To get the most juice out of fresh lemons, bring them to room
temperature and roll them under your palm against the kitchen counter
before squeezing.

7. To easily remove burnt on food from your skillet, simply add a drop
or two of dish soap and enough water to cover bottom of pan, and bring
to a boil on stovetop.

8. Spray your Tupperware with nonstick cooking spray before pouring in
tomato based sauces and there won't be any stains.

9. When a cake recipe calls for flouring the baking pan, use a bit of
the dry cake mix instead and there won't be any white mess on the
outside of the cake.

10. If you accidentally over salt a dish while it's still cooking, drop
in a peeled potato and it will absorb the excess salt for an instant
"fix me up,"

11. Wrap celery in aluminum foil when putting in the refrigerator and
it will keep for weeks.

12. Brush some beaten egg white over pie crust before baking to yield a
beautiful glossy finish.

13. Place a slice of apple in hardened brown sugar to soften it.

14. When boiling corn on the cob, add a pinch of sugar to help bring
out the corn's natural sweetness.

15. To determine whether an egg is fresh, immerse it in a pan of cool,
salted water. If it sinks, it is fresh, but if it rises to the surface,
throw it away.

16. Cure for headaches: Take a lime, cut it in half and rub it on your
forehead. The throbbing will go away.

17. Don't throw out all that leftover wine: Freeze into ice cubes for
future use in casseroles and sauces.

18. If you have a problem opening jars: Try using latex dishwashing
gloves. They give a non slip grip that makes opening jars easy.

19. Potatoes will take food stains off your fingers. Just slice and rub
raw potato on the stains and rinse with water.

20. To get rid of itch from mosquito bites, try applying soap on the
area and you will experience instant relief.

21. Ants, ants, ants everywhere ... Well, they are said to never cross
a chalk line. So get your chalk out and draw a line on the floor or
wherever ants tend to march. See for yourself.

22. Use air freshener to clean mirrors. It does a good job and better
still, leaves a lovely smell to the shine.

23. When you get a splinter, reach for the scotch tape before resorting
to tweezers or a needle. Simply put the scotch tape over the splinter,
then pull it off. Scotch tape removes most splinters painlessly and
easily.

24. Now look what you can do with Alka Seltzer. Clean a toilet.
Drop in two Alka-Seltzer tablets, wait twenty minutes, brush and
flush. The citric acid and effervescent action clean vitreous china.

25. Clean a vase. To remove a stain from the bottom of a glass vase or
cruet, fill with water and drop in two Alka-Seltzer tablets.

26. Polish jewelry. Drop two Alka-Seltzer tablets into a glass of water
and immerse the jewelry for two minutes.

27. Clean a thermos bottle. Fill the bottle with water, drop in four
Alka-Seltzer tablets, and let soak for an hour (or longer, if
necessary).

28. Unclog a drain. Clear the sink drain by dropping three Alka-Seltzer
tablets down the drain followed by a cup of Heinz White Vinegar
- Wait a few minutes, then run the hot water.