how to – In Good Taste

How to style a basic bar cart for your home

Guest Post — Wed, 21 Dec 2016 03:04:04 +0000

By Alexandria Heinz, FTD An everyday, basic bar cart may not have all the glam and pizzazz as one that’s decorated for a party — but it should still sparkle with basic bar cart essentials that reflect your own personal style. No matter what you choose to accessorize your bar cart with, there are a few things to consider to make it a decorative yet functional staple in your home. Style the shelves The top shelf of your bar cart should be stocked with the essentials. Do you pour yourself a glass of wine or whiskey after a long day at work? This is where you’ll place your wine glasses, whiskey glasses, decanter, or any other everyday essential. Don’t forget about the bottom shelf! Here is where you can store extra supplies such as liquor bottles, glasses, and other accessories. You can also use this space to store cocktail mixing accessories such as muddlers, shakers and an ice bucket. When choosing bottled ingredients such as bitters and mixers, opt for bottles that have a vintage-inspired look to add a touch of class. Include fresh ingredients Fresh fruit will make your bar cart pop with bold color. Citrus such as lemons, […]

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How To: Make a Vintage New York Egg Cream Bar

Maris Callahan — Wed, 02 Dec 2015 02:51:58 +0000

This past weekend marked six years of living in Chicago. Naturally, I spent the weekend in New York instead of doing Chicago-y things in the city I currently call my own. As much as I love that I call Chicago home, there are certain things that taste better in New York: pizza (I’m sorry, but it’s true), lox and bagels, Chinese food and even the iconic black and white cookie that you just don’t find anywhere else. The other thing New York has is Vintage® Seltzer, which always had a place in the refrigerator when I was growing up in New Jersey. Made with natural flavors, no artificial flavors and no added colors or dyes, Vintage Seltzer is available in 10 flavors: Original, Lemon-Lime, Mandarin Orange, Lemon, Lime, Pomegranate, Seedless Watermelon, Raspberry, Raspberry Lime and Wild Cherry. Perfect on its own, Vintage Seltzer is also excellent in cocktails or in one of New York’s other iconic recipes: the New York Egg Cream. I learned about egg creams at a young age, but it’s only recently that I learned about the difference between seltzer and sparkling water. Essentially, the difference amounts to the carbonation: seltzer has more of that fizzy bubble and sparkling water […]

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How-To: Shuck Oysters at Home

Maris Callahan — Wed, 10 Dec 2014 17:00:22 +0000

Like knowing the how to crack and cook a whole lobster, shucking an oyster is a skill that you might not need every day, but it’s a very handy trick to have up your sleeve when the opportunity arises. It’s a skill that we’re still working on honing, but master shucker Matt Balikov, who posts behind the oyster bar at Chicago’s seafood mecca Pearl Tavern, has perfected the craft quite impressively. Though there is an old adage dictating that we should only eat oysters in months that have the letter “R” in them, that rule no longer applies. Balikov says that this rule comes from a time when we did not have strong and efficient means of refrigeration for transportation. Since we can now send oysters from coast to coast in a matter of hours after harvest, they are generally considered to be available year round. There are some types that can only be purchased in certain time periods for reason such as ice sheet formation, accessibility to harvest locations and individual farmers preferences,but in general, seasonality is no longer a major issue for oysters. With the widespread availability of oysters from coast to coast, we taped Balikov to give us some tips […]

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How-To: Create Beer Pairings with Fall Dishes

Corinne Hanshaw — Wed, 15 Oct 2014 05:00:56 +0000

Fall has officially debuted and as it happens every year, taste buds begin to crave something new. Instead of craving cold beer and summer barbecue fare, pumpkin and stews are high on our radar. This leaves a lot of people wondering how to pair beer with fall flavors. We had the pleasure of interviewing Chef Eric Jacques Crowley, owner and chef instructor at his cooking school, Chef Eric’s Culinary Classroom in West Los Angeles, about how we can incorporate one of America’s favorite beverages: beer with fall flavors. We also shared some of our favorite fall dishes with Crowley and not only did he provide us with some stellar beer pairing suggestions, but he gave us the why and the how, too. Your Guide to Fall Beer Pairings Butternut Squash Pair a butternut squash soup with an ale, like Allagash Fluxus. You can roast the butternut squash in the oven before making the soup, if you wish to get a darker, sweeter soup, which the beer’s rich flavor will complement. You could also substitute some of the vegetable stock in the recipe with beer if you wish to cook with it. Pro Tip: you don’t want to roast the squash with the beer, […]

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How-To: Season a Cast Iron Skillet

Maris Callahan — Mon, 13 Oct 2014 21:00:23 +0000

If there is one thing every cook, beginner to advanced, should have in their kitchen, it’s a cast iron skillet. It’s one of my most used kitchen tools and is as perfect for stovetop cooking or frying as it is for baking a batch of brownies or a skillet chocolate chip cookie. You can use a cast iron skillet for most anything as long as you take the time to maintain it and keep it in good condition. Before you begin to use it, you must “season” your cast-iron skillet, which makes it super easy to clean. You can take your cast iron from stovetop to oven because it can withstand the super-high temperatures. How To Season A Cast Iron Skillet Step 1: Gather Your Materials To season a cast iron skillet, you need a few materials that you probably already have in your kitchen: dish soap, a sponge or stiff dishwashing brush, a kitchen towel (paper towels will work too) and vegetable oil or shortening. I’ve used olive oil for this step, but there is no reason to use your highest quality, expensive oils here. Store brand shortening or vegetable oil will do just fine. Step 2: Preheat Your Oven […]

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