Today, Mel had peanut butter and jelly on an eggo waffle.
According to my food rules, while an eggo and jelly or jam are acceptable breakfast foods, peanut butter is NOT.
Or maybe, this Peanut Butter and Jelly Tart could change my mind. Hmmm….
Seems like a debatable issue to me. What about you? Is peanut butter breakfast food for you?
I’ve earned my wings. Or rather, my carrying card as a proper southerner. Last night, I fried chicken.
See, I’m only half southern. But it’s a big half. My father, who passed away when I was 12, used to bounce me on his knee when I was a child and try to tell me that the south won.
“No, they didn’t, Daddy,” I’d declare, matter-of-factly.
But Mom’s from Youngstown, Ohio where they say things like “Y’ins” instead of “Ya’ll”, where they honk at you half a second after the light turns and where you’d be hard pressed to find biscuits and gravy on a breakfast menu.
So, even though I’ve lived all my life in one southern state or another, I feel like I have something to prove as a southern woman. I’m no belle and never want to be (too much propriety required). But since Ma was a Yankee, I wasn’t raised knowing how to make sausage gravy or grow okra. I’ve taught myself how to do a great deal of southern dishes, but for some reason, the one that seemed so impossible to achieve was a plate of good ol’ southern fried chicken.
And last night, I fried me up some. And it was GOOD. Now, full disclosure, I didn’t cut up a whole chicken. I didn’t even fry breasts. All we had in the freezer were tenders. Which are really small so they fry up fast and easy. But don’t think I’m not already planning to thaw out that whole chicken we have in the deep freeze and do this again. I just gotta give my arteries a few days to clear out, first.
The process was super simple and only required a little help from Ms. Paula Deen. Paula Deen’s house seasoning, that is. It’s nothing earth shattering. In fact, everyone should have house seasoning in their house and it doesn’t have to be Paula’s. You just mix up your most commonly used spices to save time.
For me, that would be kosher salt, freshly cracked black peppercorns and garlic. Almost everything, from spaghetti sauce, to meat and potatoes requires this combination in my house. So why not mix it up ahead of time instead of searching for the pepper grinder and the garlic powder and the kosher salt jar? It saves so much time.
To be honest, so far I’m not loving Paula’s ratio so I may adjust it later. But for the chicken, it was a real taste explosion.
We did have one hitch. Turns out we were out of egg. Actually, I bought egg but when Pickle was putting away the groceries, he didn’t see the separate brown bag with the eggs in it and so they sat out too long and we had to throw them away. That was a real bummer–to my meal and my pocket book. I shouldn’t totally blame Pickle, though. If I’d keep the kitchen table cleared off, he might’ve actually noticed the bag.
Yet, we soldiered on. I found a few recipes that didn’t call for the egg, so I at least had a theory that it would still work. I took my tenders and covered them with Paula’s house seasoning and a little paprika. I dredged them in flour. Let them sit for a few minutes and then dredged them again. This part would work SO much better with egg. But it worked just fine without, too.
My cast iron skillet needs re-seasoning. And de-rusting. And I didn’t have any steel wool. So, I didn’t use my cast iron. That would’ve also made my chicken more awesome.
So, I filled up my regular skillet with veggie oil. Yes, peanut oil would’ve been better but I was trying to save a few arteries. Here’s the key: let that oil get hot. Really hot. Dip the tip of the chicken in to see if it’s hot enough. Is it sizzling, all crazy like? Cool, go for it.
Dropped the chicken in for about 6-7 minutes tops. If these had been breasts or other pieces, it would’ve taken closer to 8-10 minutes. If they had been dark meat, 11-13 minutes. But these were puny little tenders so they were done at the same time as my microwaved steamed veggies and Crash Hot Potatoes.
So, have I earned my southern heritage or what, ya’ll?
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Southern Fried Chicken
1 lb chicken breast or tenderloins
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup house seasoning of your choice
1/2 tsp paprika
1 egg, optional
Oil for frying, vegetable, canola or peanut
Heat 1/2 inch oil in a deep skillet until it reaches 350 degrees or until you reach maximum sizzle when you dip the chicken in.
If you use the egg, beat with a tablespoon of water and place in a shallow dish. Place flour and paprika in another shallow dish.
Season the chicken with house seasoning, then dredge. The moisture of the chicken is enough to coat the chicken with flour. If you use egg, dredge it twice. If you don’t use egg, dredge once, then let the chicken sit for a minute. Dredge again.
When oil is hot, drop the chicken in, using batches if necessary to keep the oil hot. Drain on paper towels before serving.
The next day, go to the Y for serious cardio to work off the deliciousness.
I don’t get to bake nearly as often as I’d like. Pickle loves sweets, but he won’t actually eat them. Even if I make his absolute favorite: Mississippi Mud Cake, he still won’t finish it before it goes bad. Even though I love to bake, I don’t have much of a sweet tooth at all. I enjoy a piece of cake or a cookie every now and then but I don’t crave them.
Here in Oklahoma, the temperatures have dropped (into the 80s) and college football season has begun. This means we’re all itchin’ for fall and I’m ready to usher it in with open arms! So, when I saw this cinnamon bread recipe on Pioneer Woman, even I wanted it.
Looking at the photos on the website, I expected a quick sweet bread, like my Pumpkin Gingerbread. I don’t know why I expected that. I’ve never had to let a sweet bread rise before. Knowing me, it was probably just inattention.
But of course, this isn’t a quick bread at all. It’s a beautiful, crusty loaf of white bread that has these wonderful moments of cinnaminny (yes, I just made that word up) sweetness swirled in there to surprise and delight you.
Now, because it wasn’t a quick bread, the loaf was a bit of work to make. Not work, really…just time. It has to rise twice for a total of 4 hours. So you’ll probably need a full day for this. If you actually follow the recipe (unlike me) and if you have a stand mixer you’ll find it pretty easy to make. And it’s a great recipe for when you have a good book and some good tunes and you just need to hide in the kitchen for the day. It’s a perfect time to crank out the Pandora and jam for awhile. 
I’m going to send you to PW’s site for the recipe because I didn’t change anything. I just took pretty pictures. So, come bake bread with me and look at my pictures as we go!
The Pickle and I are frugal. We’re conscious of our spending and we try very hard not to over-consume. (I generally fail whenever faced with kitchen gadgetry, but that’s a topic for another post.)
We’ve got plenty of very good reasons to be careful with money, between my student loan, his medical bills and our home repairs. But we also have extras in our budget: the gym membership, cable TV, cell phones (not smart phones—I still can’t swallow that cost) and the privilege of eating out with our friends every week (that’ll be the last luxury to go!). So we’re by no means destitute, either.
I’m proud of the choices we’ve made. But recently, I realized that due to a carelessness of language, I constantly misrepresent our situation to the world at large. When we get an offer to do something that costs, I’ll often respond, “No, thanks! We can’t afford it.” Most of the time, it’s simply not true. We choose not to afford it. That paints a completely different picture.
One of the ways we’ve cut back is by not eating out as often. It used to be that the Pickle and I would eat out almost every day for lunch and then a couple times a week. Setting aside how awful that was for our health, it was just as terrible for our budget. So we just put an end to it and cook at home.
(Now you know why I have so much fodder for this blog! Ha!)
It was tough at first, but now it’s second nature. We set money aside to eat out with our friends on Tuesday nights and pizza on game nights, so it’s not like we’re denying ourselves. We’ve just stopped going to our neighborhood Chelino’s every time I don’t feel like cooking!
If we’re invited out but don’t want to spend, we’re happy to simply order a drink. To us, time spent with good people is worth any awkwardness this might cause. But it seems to make other people more uncomfortable than we are! We get a lot of incredulous reactions and most of them come in the form of kind offers to pay for our meals.
This is where misrepresenting our situation backfires. We have wonderful, helpful friends so by saying “we can’t afford it” we’re sending a message that we have no money. Were that the case, I would gratefully accept offers to pay for my meal. But how can I accept such an offer when I know that we can afford it, but we’d rather spend that money on cable TV or our YMCA membership. It’s not fair to let someone pay for my meal so that I can keep on enjoying my Netflix membership. Who wants to pay for someone’s meal, knowing that person is going out later to buy a new pair of shoes?
Not to mention the insensitivity of claiming that I can’t afford to eat when 1 in 5 children in Oklahoma really don’t know where their next meal will come from.
So from now on, I’m going to properly represent our situation by changing the way I describe it. I think it’s only fair to us and everyone. In our family, we’re proud of the smart choices we make with our money and it’s time that I use proper language to show it.
On Friday, Sauced, a pizzeria/café in the Paseo Arts District, served its last slice and while there are rumors of the business being bought and kept as a pizza place, it is closed for now. From what I hear, this had nothing to do with a lack of success, rather with the owners’ personal lives. Though it may seem incongruous, this makes me sad even though I’d vowed never again to patronize the place.
I really wanted to like Sauced and this change of ownership is a great opportunity to make a few simple, needed changes while keeping the spirit of Sauced alive in our community. I believe that’s essential for the next business to succeed.
Sauced did a lot of things wrong, but they did a lot of things right, too and they were a unique addition to our city. Yet, as a frequent restaurant go-er in OKC, Sauced failed me one too many times to earn my business. So if someone does buy the joint, I have a few words of advice for the new owners.
Ultimately, the concept of Sauced worked: outdoor dining, pizza by the slice with cheap but fresh ingredients and beer to keep people around when they just can’t eat any more pizza. And when the place first opened, it was awesome.
As it grew, Sauced developed a niche. It catered to the sub-cultures of the city, the scene kids: hippies, hipsters and crunchy artists. It was, quite frankly, a cool place to be. I hope that the new owners embrace this crowd. We have enough shiny gourmet bars and restaurants selling trendy for an extra $3.99 with every meal. Sauced had a casual, youthful atmosphere that complemented and competed successfully with other restaurants in the Paseo. So, for the new owners to turn their noses up on an established clientele would be a grave mistake.
However, Sauced perhaps embraced this clientele too much, ultimately focusing on atmosphere, rather than quality. Sauced didn’t care what everyone else thought of it and that gave it charm but it also gave it crappy pizza that took too long and was often served with attitude.
They didn’t seem to care because people they catered to wanted a place to smoke, hang out and meet their friends more than they wanted good pizza. And maybe that would’ve worked forever. But now, there’s a chance to find out what this concept could become if you pair a great atmosphere with friendly service and good food.
So the new place should do a few things to cater to a wider audience without becoming so trendy that it shuns existing customers. Among those things, the most important is customer service.
There were many times the Pickle and I would show up to Sauced with friends and stand in line for 10-15 minutes. When we finally got to order, half the ingredients and beers on the menu would be out. We’d head outside and find a nice spot and 30-45 minutes later the first order would come out and there was a good chance it would be wrong. It’d be another 30-45 minutes to an hour before the last person in our group to order would receive their pizza. Meanwhile, you’d finish your beer but loathe the idea of waiting in line another 10-15 minutes to order another. The employees would be exasperated or apathetic if you pointed out your incorrect order or complained about anything.
If you want to hire young people, that’s great. But find the ones who aren’t too cool to care about doing a good job. I realize that whether or not I get my single slice of pizza out in less than an hour is not life or death to a 17 year old. But it should matter to the establishment if they ever want my business again. So, hire people who give a damn and care enough to train them.
Second, get the pizza out faster. I don’t know a lot about restaurant management or pizza making. But I know that if I show up to a place with four friends and order pizza by the slice, I expect everyone to receive their meal within the hour. There’s got to be a model that will offer fresh ingredients by the slice in a reasonable amount of time without having to resort to heat lamps.
But, maybe I’m wrong. Maybe a made-to-order slice of pizza just takes time. That’s okay. As long as the atmosphere is nice, the service is friendly and I can easily keep the beer flowing (how about some wait staff or multiple registers?), I can be patient and enjoy the experience. Just be sure to make it worth my wait.
Don’t change the style of pizza. The large, thin slices of New York style pie are fairly unique in the city. The Wedge, Picasso’s and Hideaway all offer a thicker style pizza. But figure out how to make a thin slice of pizza without making it taste like cardboard. Be sure to actually cook the toppings but don’t burn the crust and if need be, limit your menu to ensure you can keep everything stocked.
These simple changes will take a cool place to the next level of awesome and bring in more business than before. It doesn’t need to be fancy. It certainly doesn’t need to be trendy. But it does need to be good, simple pizza with good beer and good friends.
Starting tomorrow, thousands of chile enthusiasts will descend upon a small town in New Mexico called Hatch for the 38th Annual Hatch Valley Chile Festival. Known as the Chile Capitol of the World, Hatch Chiles are considered some of the best chiles in the United States. These basic green chiles, which are similar or identical to Anaheims are fairly mild and best eaten roasted.
We have some of these green chiles in their easily available canned form. But, as I mentioned earlier this week, I was gifted with four fresh chiles. I wanted to use them up quickly so I changed my plans for our food day at work. Instead of Blueberry Cheesecake, I decided to make blueberry and green chile salsa.
So, step one was roast the chiles. This was super easy. Puncture the skin with a fork or knife. Fire up the grill (which my father-in-law stopped by this week to fix, YAY!) and toss those chiles right on the grate. Roast until they’re a golden brown on both sides. They will have several charred spots, too.
Once roasted dip them in an ice bath for about 10 minutes. Those you plan to use immediately skin, seed and chop. Those you’d like to save for later, place in a freezer bag with skin and seeds intact and freeze.
Finely dice the chiles and give the blueberries a rough chop in your processor. The rest is easy; just toss it in and stir.
I really had no idea what this would taste like. I had no idea whether to eat this with tortilla chips or cinnamon chips. We bought tortilla chips and I planned to turn some flour tortilla into sweet chips if needed. But when we tried it I was amazed at how salsa-like it really was. Other than a hint of sweet and a depth of flavor, you could close your eyes and almost imagine that it was tomato salsa.
Here’s the recipe:
3 c. fresh blueberries (I used frozen, thawed)
1/2 c. small red onion (I used 1/2 a large red onion)
2 hatch chiles, roasted, seeded and chopped
3 1/2 tblsp fresh lime juice (I used the juice of one full lime)
3 tsp olive oil
1/2 c. fresh basil, sliced thin
1/2 c. fresh cilantro, chopped (seriously, use fresh herbs; it’ll make a huge difference)In a food processor combine 3 c. blueberries and pulse 5 times to roughly chop. In a medium bowl combine the berries with the remaining ingredients. Toss to combine.
Now the question is: will this be too weird for the office? Let’s find out.
Gentry was brave enough to try it first at the ripe hour of 10:00 a.m. (which so goes against my breakfast food rules!) She agreed with me that it wasn’t very blueberry-y at all. As others tried it, they remarked that it was fresh and pointed out how good it is for you with all those anti-oxidants. Which is a good thing because there’s also plenty of dip and cookies and cake to go with our food day!
I had a rough weekend in the kitchen. Three, count ‘em, THREE of the recipes I attempted failed catastrophically.
It started with PW’s Homemade Cinnamon Bread recipe. Just a tip, from one cook to another…when following a recipe, you really should take all your measurements from the SAME recipe.
That’s right, while waiting for the yeast to awaken I took a quick peek at the Blueberry Cheesecake recipe on my laptop and left it up while measuring the sugar. Oops! No matter how much flour I added, the dough wouldn’t set up. So into the garbage it went.
Next up, I tried to make real Italian red sauce. The real Italian way. I used this recipe but instead of peeling fresh tomatoes, I used a bulk can of whole tomatoes. But I guess I didn’t put enough juice in it and it became an overcooked pot of stewed tomatoes. Yuck! Full of fail, again!
Finally, Sunday I had a special dinner planned for my mom. See, last weekend my mom bought me a beautiful Calphalon pot set just because she’s awesome. So this weekend I wanted to thank her by cooking her favorite meal: steak and Bearnaise sauce.
My mom’s not a big dessert fan, but I wanted to put in just a little extra effort to show her how grateful I am. So I pulled out a recipe for 5 flavor pound cake that she once obtained from a co-worker.
Several years ago, we attempted to make this recipe together and when we turned it out on the rack, it was literally still liquid. At the time, we attributed it to the use of a silicone loaf pan. But as I was preparing to make this recipe again, I started to get suspicious. For one thing, the recipe was not very specific and for a baking recipe, that’s odd. Then, it called for the shortening to be cut into the sugar, but not the butter. Strange.
So I hop online and do a quick search. Luckily, I found the exact recipe on AllRecipes and sure enough, there were a lot of differences. Most importantly, it called for the loaf to be baked almost twice as long as our recipe!
I felt pretty triumphant for following my instincts and double-checking the recipe. That is, until I overfilled the loaf pan and ended up with an over-cooked crust on the loaf and burnt batter on my pizza stone. When I tried to turn it out, the crust remained and the pound cake came out of the pan in pieces. Sigh. Thankfully, it was still edible…just not very pretty.
So, back to dinner. This should’ve been an easy one for me: grilling, roasting asparagus and mashing potatoes. What could go wrong? I had a beautiful cut of top sirloin that I sliced into three 8-9 oz steaks. We went to go put those on the grill and the grill’s broken. Awesome. So, we had to juggle broiling the steaks and roasting the asparagus in the oven. But, it finally came together at the end and both Mom and Pickle raved.
Still, that’s a lot of fail for one weekend. I was feeling pretty defeated. So this week, I had no choice but attempt redemption.
The subject? Homemade Cinnamon Bread. Finally, victory was mine! I’ll share the recipe and my thoughts about it in another post but I just have to share the end result because I feel redeemed!
As important as failure is when learning, that much failure in a short period of time can really bring you down. Luckily, it only takes one success to be reminded that the yummy sense of accomplishment is worth a thousand failures.
And so we soldier on, noshing as we go!
I love my friends! They know me so well!
This past weekend, some friends of mine were going out of town and were suddenly unable to board their dog. I was happy to lend a hand and only had to pop over a few times to let the dog out.
To repay the favor, these folks went above and beyond. Down in Texas, there’s an incredible grocery store called Central Market. Here in Oklahoma, we don’t have grocery stores like this.
Even the soon-to-be-built OKC Whole Foods won’t come CLOSE to this store. We’re talking olive bars, dip and hummus bars, fresh fruits and veggies I’ve never heard of, a butcher counter with a real butcher behind it who’s happy to answer questions, fresh baked breads, nuts and grains in bulk, an olive oil dispensary and oh.my.god. the cheese. It’s a foodie’s DREAM. The last time I was there, I really honestly never wanted to leave. I’d even consider moving to *gag*Texas*gag* just for this grocery store.
So imagine my elation when my friend stopped by last night with an incredible pile of gourmet goodies! We got fresh hatch chilies from Hatch, New Mexico plus a DVD on how to roast them. We also received a jar of rosemary, fennel and orange flavored olives, mozzarella marinated in pesto and coriander goat cheese. I could swoon, ya’ll.
I’m always happy to take care of my friends’ pets, so this was such an unexpected and thoughtful gift. I can’t wait to try everything and promise to report back on the results!
Until then, happy nomming!
What is a dudebro? Dudebros are best defined by the strength to which they grasp onto archaic concepts of masculinity and how that shapes their self-image. The term must at least partially be credited to our feminist friends at Shakesville, but like feminism, the term “dudebro” is for everybody.
Dudebros come in many forms*, hang out with many different people and often live peacefully among us. Sure, there are dudebros out there taking it one chest-bump or childish stunt too far. But not all dudebros are bad dudes. The majority of dudebros are kind, fun-loving and only mildly ridiculous. Still, it’s important to educate yourself so that you can determine if a man is too much dudebro for you to handle. That’s why my girls Mel, Lacy and I sat down to compile this helpful list for you.
You might be a dudebro, if….
…your truck’s jacked up higher than 6 inches on 22s.
…your fake and bake tan is the color of cheetos.
…you have so much gel in your hair that it hasn’t moved for days.
…you consider anything having to do with midgets a great form of entertainment.
…you’re on any reality show.
…you like your t-shirts in size “smedium” to show off your muscles.
…your son had a faux hawk before he had hair.
…you admire Johnny Knoxville and enjoy the sound of your bones breaking.
…your girfriend’s name rhymes with Snookie.
…you’re sporting more than one hairstyle at a time (i.e., a mullet and a faux hawk).
…your iPod Top 25 playlist includes anything by Kid Rock, Eminem, Linken Park or Nickleback.
…you look down on wrestling fans while enjoying your Ultimate Fighting Championships.
…you compensate for your shortcomings with the size of your truck, car or motorcycle.
…you have a rewards card at GNC.
…you have more than one tribal tattoo.
…you drive a crotch rocket that’s prettier than you are.
…you regularly attempt to high five or fist-bump your co-workers, women you meet at the bar or your grandmother.
…you name your children Ryder, Miller or Ash.
…fifty percent of your vocabulary comes from movies like Old Skool, the Hangover or any movie staring Will Ferrell or produced by Judd Apatow.
…your best buds are your frat brothers but you graduated 8 years ago
…growing facial hair is a group activity.
…you find reasons to dismiss or insult any woman that isn’t automatically impressed with your tattoos/vehicle/muscles/stunts.
…you’ve ever gone out in public with both a fedora and a pitbull.
…forced to choose between your mother and your Special Edition Godfather 4-disc box set, you’d have to think about it for a moment.
…you go on Myspace to pick up women.
…you ever use Dude and Bro in the same sentence.
…the scent of your man-fume can overpower people WHILE shopping at Abercrombie.
…you regularly refer to women as bitches and wonder why you strike out at the club.
…you think extreme sports qualify as culture.
If you are a dudebro, don’t fret. We’re just putting a name to a stereotype that you just happen to fall into. And we all know how useful and meaningful stereotypes are.
Calling you a dudebro isn’t a judgment. It’s okay to be a dudebro. Yes, your risk of being an asshole might be slightly higher if you’re a dudebro, but that doesn’t automatically mean you’re not a good guy.
Also, keep in mind that, like any stereotype, there are varying degrees of dudebrohood. Did you relate to all the questions or just a few? This will determine your dudebro ratio. You may only be part dudebro. If that’s the case, it’s up to you to figure out what the rest of you is.
If you have any other ways to identify a dudebro, please share them with us in the comments.
Chew on that, dudes.
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*DISCLAIMER: The dudebro stereotype must NEVER be confused with The Dude or Dudeism. To do so would be blasphemous. The Dude transcends all concepts of gender or privilege and delivers us to supreme awesomeness where we can wear a robe all day and drink white russians. This should not be mocked.
There’s nothing that says homemade to me more than wood in the kitchen. Much like a soda tastes better in a glass bottle, I’d swear that food chopped on or stirred by wood tastes richer.
But wood in the kitchen requires a level of commitment that you don’t need with silicone, plastic or metal. Those surfaces do an amazing job, but you can love ‘em and leave ‘em.
Many people won’t use wood for this reason. For me, the benefit far outweighs the minimal care required to have well seasoned wooden tools.
Let’s start with spoons. Sure, you could use silicone which can withstand temperatures like that of the sun. But don’t tell me you enjoy tasting your hard-won long-simmering marinara sauce on a silicone spoon?! It’s just not the same to me.
If you just can’t be bothered to hand wash all those wooden spoons, might I suggest bamboo? Bamboo doesn’t season like a wooden spoon and it’s dishwasher safe. I heart my bamboo spoons, a lot.
Turning to cutting boards, I’m a wood wacker. I like to wack on wood.
Stone and glass cutting boards are terrible for your knives so if you ran out to buy that nice knife like I told you to, splurge on a better cutting board, too. Plus, who can stand the sound that metal knives make on glass boards? Not this taterot.
Plastic cutting boards are great to have on hand. Their non-porous surface repels evil icky meat bacteria and the hard plastic doesn’t dull your knives. I have one that I use for raw meats and one that I use when camping.
For all other cutting duties, I turn to the big mamma, the queen of my kitchen, my wooden cutting board. It’s a handcrafted blend of pine, oak and cedar and I keep it out on the counter all the time so it’s always ready if I need to chop a quick onion for a sandwich or mince up some garlic. It’s rectangular in shape which is perfect for my small, narrow counter tops and for carrying over to the pot or sink to scrape.
Spoons and boards are not the only wooden tools in my kitchen. I also swear by my wooden mortar and pestle. I hand grind all my freshly dried herbs or even store-bought herbs like cloves, coriander or whole peppercorns. Now, if you intend to get serious about grinding veggies or pestos, wood is not the best material for a mortar and pestle. But for occasional use to grind spices and salts, wood is lighter, easier to use and better looking on my counter.
Now for the big question. Doesn’t wood get knicks and scratches that fill with bacteria and general ickiness?
Perhaps, but not enough to worry about if you take care of it properly. I don’t use raw meat on the wood and because of those evil little bacteria, I don’t recommend that you do, either. But for the most part a well-seasoned block shouldn’t carry any more germs than plastic or glass.
The key to keeping your board germ-free and beautiful is to wipe it down with mineral oil on a regular basis. Like a cast-iron pot, wood loves soaking in fats and oils, giving it a smooth, seasoned sheen. I oil my board every 3 months or so and my spoons every 6 months. Never place wood in the dishwasher or let soak in the sink and be sure to dry it well after washing.
My kitchen wouldn’t be my kitchen without wood. Maybe it’s just because I miss the forest back home in Virginia or maybe it’s just cuz I’m a big ole’ treehugger. Whatever the reason, wood is my material of choice for many of the tools in my kitchen.
