If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my newsletter and/or blog feed. See the boxes to the right. Thanks for visiting!

Guest Writer: Mike Selvon

Cooking is something that ties people together around the world. It is something we are familiar with. Not everyone has to cook for themselves but they have seen it done.

It is universal and connects us in a way that goes beyond age, gender, creed, or race. Traditions are made through the use of food. Celebrations call for special dishes especially prepared for that occasion. A birthday cake, a stuffed turkey or even a ham can all be foods that bring people together.

It does not have to be complicated. There are free recipes everywhere from the grocery store to the internet. Most dishes are not hard to make nor do they require ingredients not found in most grocery stores.

It all begins with a few basic items that every kitchen should have. Cooking utensils make the top of the list. There is no cooking performed without some basic tools. Read more »

Banquet Dessert Bakes is a line of simple, make it yourself with a few extra ingredients dessert mixes. I recently tried their Coconut Creme Pie. Here are my observations:

Prep Time
It took very little time to prepare the dessert. I probably completed the whole process, including cleaning up in about 15 to 20 minutes.

Crust
All you had to do to create the crust was add water. However, what resulted was a chewy crust that stuck to the pie tin and made it very difficult to serve decent looking pie slices. It tasted fine, but I would recommed either experimenting with adding less water than the box suggests or just using a ready-made crust.

Filling
Now, to be upfront, I love coconut. I want my coconut-flavored foods to be rich in coconut flavor, which is why I ended up using coconut powder in the coconut cream pie I developed. To my surprise, Banquet’s coconut creme filling did not disappoint. It had a rich, creamy and very coconutty flavor, with little bits of coconut mixed in.

The box recommends that you refrigerate 30 minutes before serving. I would recommend that you give it closer to an hour to allow the filling to fully set.

Overall
I’ve give this dessert 4 out of 5 stars. It tasted great, but the crust needs work.

I was discussing dairy products with my mother the other day, when she said she prefers to use goat’s milk over cow’s milk. She said it is better for you and that it is easier to digest for those of us who are lactose intolerant.

So, when I was grocery shopping the other day, I bought a quart of goat’s milk. It tastes quite different from cow’s milk. For one, it has a tartness to it that I recognize from eating goat’s cheese. Also, and this may sound strange, but it kind of reminds me of the smell of human milk.

Anyway, I can attest that goat’s milk was easier for me to digest, but I think as a beverage it would be an acquired taste. I did like it with my breakfast cereal, though. The tartness offset the sweetness of the Honey Nut Cheerios I was mixing in with my Fiber One. Read more »

Most of the time, when you find advice on cutting a layer cake horizontally to increase the number of layers, you’ll be told that you need a long serrated knife. And, it is always good to have one around. However, I’ve found that it is really hard to get a nice even slice through the cake that way.

Maybe its because I use too many strokes with the knife. The Food Network says that the fewer strokes you use, the smoother your layers will be. And suggests using toothpicks to help guide your cutting.

However, I found a bit of advice that has worked like a charm and doesn’t require an elaborate set up of toothpicks. All you do is get some dental floss — yep, I said dental floss — and use it to slice through the cake.

Usually, I’ll create a guideline with a knife, maybe even start the cutting a bit in a few places. Then I’ll cut off a piece of dental floss that is long enough to wrap around the edge of the cake layer and a bit more to hold on to. I wrap the floss around the cake, making sure it fits nicely into the guide grooves I created, cross the ends and slowly pull it through. It’s kind of like you’re tying a knot and pulling it tight. This pulls the dental floss through the cake, cutting it into two layers.

Then all you have to do is separate the layers so you can add the filling. But that’s another post.