News — FrugalHomemaking

Comments keep rolling in each week for our Jim Lahey’s Basic No-Knead Bread post. Some of you are baking pros and others have never baked a loaf of bread in your life. Hundreds of you have tried this recipe and have come to the same conclusion: this is some seriously delicious bread. I would have to agree. I have baked dozens of these beautiful loaves since I first tried the recipe over a year ago.  My Dutch ovens don’t have a chance to gather dust (find affordable dutch ovens on Amazon here) and my husband is one happy camper. All...

How to Can Pears I don’t normally wear an apron when I’m cooking, but sometimes I’ll remember to tie one on while I’m canning. So around this time last year, I was wearing an apron to can when my then 3-year old son walked in the kitchen and immediately spotted the problem, “Mama! Your cape is on backwards!” I love that kid. I think about that pretty much every time I put food into jars now. There’s something about home food preservation, whether it’s drying or freezing or canning, that makes me feel like I’m tapping into a long line...

Peach Vanilla Bean Jam Studies have shown that preserving food by canning is intimidating for 99.9% of people who are trying it for the first time. Okay, I just made that up. I don’t know of any studies, but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that this is an area of homemaking that can be totally overwhelming. Head space? Processing time?! A bubble remover?!? Ack! Take a deep breath. You can do this, and jam can help. Seriously, it is a great place to start. Simply chop the fruit, add the sweetener and spices (which can be changed...

Candied Jalapenos (Cowboy Candy) I’ll admit it. Jalapeno peppers intimidate me. It’s not so much the heat of eating them, as the pain of working with them. Jalapenos make me wheeze and cough. My eyes water. My fingers burn. Whatever my fingers touch burns. I had a huge bowl of jalapenos sit on my kitchen counter for four weeks because I was afraid of them. They just sat there taunting me. I can’t stay away; they are just so delicious. It’s like avoiding my workout DVD’s because I know they are going to hurt me, but I keep going back...

Peach Vanilla Bean Jam Studies have shown that preserving food by canning is intimidating for 99.9% of people who are trying it for the first time. Okay, I just made that up. I don’t know of any studies, but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that this is an area of homemaking that can be totally overwhelming. Head space? Processing time?! A bubble remover?!? Ack! Take a deep breath. You can do this, and jam can help. Seriously, it is a great place to start. Simply chop the fruit, add the sweetener and spices (which can be changed...