INGREDIENTS:

1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast

1 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)

2 cups bread flour

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons white sugar

1) In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.

2) In a large bowl, combine, 2 cups bread flour, olive oil, salt, white sugar, and the yeast mixture; stir well to combine. Beat well until a stiff dough has formed. Cover and rise until doubled in volume, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 150 degrees F (175 degrees C).

3) Turn dough out onto a well floured surface. Form dough into a round and roll out into a pizza crust shape. Cover with your favorite sauce and toppings and bake in preheated oven until golden brown, about 20 minutes.

Like I said, this is the best one i’ve found, this will make a pizza crust just as good as the ones that take a lot longer, though if you can let it rise longer, it will be even better, so if your not in a rush, just let it sit until you’re ready for it  This makes enough crust for a single medium pizza.  I like to add oregano and parmesan into my crust as well, and add cornmeal to the bottom. Yum!

I have way too many recipes to share, will be adding them throughout the week, stay tuned…

Well given that there is a lot of great info out there already about food prep, i’ve compiled a list of links here related to the subject. 

Most food prep involves cutting up veggies and while it may sound easy, there are definitly better ways to go about it. There are different techniques depending on how small you want the pieces to be, the shape you want them to be, and what it is you’re cutting up.  The basics are generally chopping, mincing, dicing, slicing, and julienne. 

First, you’ll want to make sure you have a good cutting board and a large sharp knife.  Here are some links to some of the very basic cutting tasks you’ll need for most every day recipes. The garlic one is really good, I felt liberated when I learned how to do the garlic by whacking it with the side of the knife, no more sitting there trying to peel each little one. I am actually guilty of not using fresh garlic at times because I just didn’t want to mess with it, no more!

How to chop an onion – http://www.ehow.com/how_13796_chop-onion.html

How to peel and mince garlic – http://www.ehow.com/how_13874_peel-mince-garlic.html

How to dice vegetables – http://www.ehow.com/how_13877_dice-vegetables.html

How to chop fresh herbs – http://www.ehow.com/how_13873_chop-fresh-herbs.html

How to Julienne Vegetables – http://www.ehow.com/how_13876_julienne-vegetables.html

Ok, as far as basic food prep goes, i’m really not sure what else people would want to know, if i’ve left something out, feel free to comment on it here and i’ll try to include it in a future post.  Now on to spice combinations, here’s where it gets fun. This is really where you need to experiement to see what suits your own personal taste, but there are some basic ones I can tell you, and i’ll include some of my own personal favorites that I use all the time.

One thing to remember about herbs  if you are using them is when you are using dried herbs use less, they are more potent, add them at the start of cooking. If your are using fresh herbs you add them at the end (10 – 20 minutes left cooking time)  so they keep their fresh flavor. 

Mexican – I use these spices a lot, they are very versatile.  Some mexican spices include cumin, cilantro, chile pepper, garlic, turmeric and onion.

Italian – Also incredibly versatile! Basil, thyme, oregano, sage, garlic, red pepper, fennel.

Asian – Ok, they are all versatile, these will make anything taste great Soy sauce, garlic, ginger, sesame oil, fish sauce, hot peppers, coconut milk.

These are just to give you an idea about which spices to use for which type of cusine you are trying to achieve.  I wouldn’t use them all together, try to limit it to 3 or 4 different spices in each meal, salt and pepper are extra. Now i’ll give you some examples of combos that I like to use.

Lemon – Well, I love the fresh taste of lemon, it goes great with everything, I use it a lot with fish, either just lemon, onions salt and pepper, or lemon, with tarragon (tarragon is a sweet almost licorice tasting herb that goes well with fish, chicken, and vegetables).  I’ll sometimes make a tarragon cream sauce with fish or chicken and lemon, and serve it over noodles or rice. 

Lemon thyme – Ok well i’m not sure how readily available this one is but i’ve been growing my own for a few years, I love this herb because it goes with everything and includes the fresh lemony taste I love, i’ve used it in pretty much everything. Soups, meats, casseroles, with veggies, rice, even in salad dressings. It tastes like thyme but sweeter, and with a zesty lemony taste.

Turmeric – There is emerging research that says if you eat enough of this it can prevent alzheimers disease, it’s good for your brain.  This is the spice that makes currys and yellow rice dishes yellow.  This is used in many asian, indian, and spanish dishes, it has a subtle warming taste to it that’s hard to describe. By itself it doesn’t seem to taste like much, but leave it out of a recipe and you will notice. Used with fish sauce, garlic, cilantro, and ginger, this will make some amazing asian rice dishes. Used with garlic onion and pimentos, you can make spanish rice.  Lots and lots of other recipes, I have been using this one a lot.

Ginger – I do an amazing marinade with soy sauce, ginger, sesame oil, sesame seeds, garlic, and brown sugar that will make everything taste great.  Ginger can be combined with many other spices to create unique flavors, this is a fun one to play with, be carful though, its potent, dried and fresh. This is one that is great in anything from dinner to desert, I have put chopped candied ginger in cookies before with cranberries and it was very good.

Cilantro – I use this a lot, all mexican dishes and fresh salsa of course, but I also love using it in soups, casseroles, rice, and salads.

Well, that’s all I can think of for now, I could go on forever. One last thing i’d like to add is if you can get your hands on fresh herbs, there is nothing like it to improve your cooking. If your put off by the prices at the store, growing your own fresh herbs is easier than you might think, and well worth the trouble. 

Next tuesday, i’ll start sharing some of the best basic recipes that I use everyday and i’ll also be adding recipes from other people’s kitchens. If you have a really good basic recipe, or a quick and easy recipe that uses few ingredients, send it to me and i’ll post it here.  Convo me on my etsy www.jessicac.etsy.com

I wasn’t sure where to start with this, so I asked on a recent forum post on etsy, what people who are learning to cook would like to know. I got a few suggestions of how to read a recipe, and basic food prep, lots of people wanting to know about spice combinations,, and lots of requests for simple everyday recipes with few ingredients. So i’m going to be adding some from my own collection of basic everyday recipes, and also taking some from fellow cooks and bakers. 

This is a lot of material to get through, so today we will be covering how to read a recipe, and basic setup and prep.

The first step is to read the recipe all the way through,, i’m going to include an example as a point of reference.

BANANA CRUMB MUFFINS

INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 bananas, mashed
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1/3 cup butter, melted
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon butter

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease 10 muffin cups, or line with muffin papers.
2. In a large bowl, mix together 1 1/2 cups flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, beat together bananas, sugar, egg and melted butter. Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.
3. In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, 2 tablespoons flour and cinnamon. Cut in 1 tablespoon butter until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle topping over muffins.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.

After reading the recipe all the way through, determine if you have all the ingredients you need, if you do, you can get started on setting up, if you don’t, you will have to go the the store or choose a different recipe.  Another thing to think about is how long it will take to make, be sure you have enough time to make the recipe. This one has a 20 minute cook time, I would add another 20 minutes for setting up and prep work, so we’ll call this one 40 minutes.

 Next you will want to make sure you have the nessesary pans and cooking equiptment, this recipes calls for a muffin cup pan, and or, muffin papers, two bowls, and measuring tools.

If you have the time, ingredients, and tools, you will want to begin setting up and measuring ingredients. Some cooks like to do this as they go along. If you are just starting out, I would reccomend measuring all of your ingredients first before you get started mixing anything. I don’t know how may times I have lost count while adding something to the bowl, it’s easy to do if the phone rings or someone is talking to you while you’re cooking!

Once you have set up it should be fairly easy to follow the recipe, stress free. Most people who are great cooks have had a lot of experience, so get to it!

Here is a link to some basic cooking terms:

http://www.cdph.ca.gov/programs/wicworks/Documents/WIC-NE-CookingwithChildren-BasicCookingTerms.pdf

Tomorrow i’ll be posting about some good basic food prep techniques, and spice combinations, any suggestions are welcome, so please feel free to post a comment here!

With this in mind, and dreams of fixing up my own home in the near future, I thought it would be a good time to showcase some of the amazing unique items that can only be found on etsy! I feel like some of the amazing home decor items get forgotten on etsy and buried by all the other bath and body, jewelry, and clothing, plus they are just too much fun not to share! Ok here they are, click on any image to go to the sellers shop. Have fun!

Ok, I have a freakish crush on these vinyle wall decals, so i’m giving them a whole section, forgive me.

Here are some of my favorites from some of etsy’s finest visual artists.

Here are some great furniture and accessory items for making the inside of your home a great place to hang!

Well i’d hoped to post some more items here, but i’m running out of time, there are just too many great shops on etsy to get through in one day! So if you like an item here, be sure to check out the sellers other items in their shop. Enjoy!

Most people fall into one of these catagories:  oval, round, inverted triange,  triangle, square, or oblong. The first step is to determine what shape your face is, or what combination of shapes, mine would be between round and oval. One good way to do this is to look in the mirror and imagine your face inside of a perfect oval, the areas that fall oustide of that oval will help you determine your face shape. Another way to do this is to draw an the outline of your face in the mirror with something like eyeliner or dry erase marker.  If you have an oval shaped face, you are lucky, this is the most versatile shape.  Keep in mind these are just guidlines, and the goal is simply to make your face look balanced. These pieces are from my shop as well as some of my talented “sisters in jewelry” on Etsy, enjoy!

Round –  Round faces are close to the same diameter all the way around, you’ll want to avoid earrings that stick out to the sides making you face appear even wider, round hoops are usually not a good choice, as well as anything with too many circles or balls. Go with a drop or stick earring.  Anything that’s long and skinny to elongate the face would be a great choice for you. A  skinny type chandelier,  oval or marquise earrings, or angular shapes would work as well.   Here are some examples of earrings that would look great on a round face shape:

Click on photos to go to respective shops,, I was unable to put in subtitles. Shops featured here include www.jessicac.etsy.com  www.hiddentreasure.etsy.com & www.meero.etsy.com

Oval – Oval faces are the most versatile of all face shapes as they are well balanced and any pair of earrings will compliment them nicely! Shops featured here include www.jessicac.etsy.com  www.maxsworld.etsy.com  www.dammas.etsy.com  &  www.Cance.etsy.com 

Square – Square faces  are either the same measurement horizontal and vertical or they are rectangular. Either way they require a rounded feminine earring that will soften the angular shap and strong jawline. You will want to stay away from angular shapes as this will exaggerate your already angular face. If your face is a true square, as with round faces, you will want to stay away from anything that will stick out directly on the side of your head making your face  look wider, a little length is also good for this face shape. Go with something like a teardrop stone earring or drop earrings with feminine details, spirals are  also great for a square face. Stay away from a large hoop earring, instead a small hoop or one that swings below or at the jawline will work for you.  If your face is rectangular, (longer than it is wide), a large hoop earring will work for you, spirals and curves close to the ear will work well for you, stay away from earrings that are too long.  Shops featured here include: www.jessicac.etsy.com  www.dammas.etsy.com  www.meero.etsy.com  $   www.SavannahRenee.com

 Oblong – Oblong faces are much longer than they are wide.  Short, drop earrings are a great choice for this face shape, diamond shaped earrings, shorter chandelier styles, or circular earrings that hang close to the ear. The idea is to make the face appear wider, try to fill in the space close to the ears and avoid anything too long.  Shops featured here include www.jessicac.etsy.com  www.Boquita66.etsy.com  www.HanaSakuraDesigns.etsy.com  &  www.meero.etsy.com

Inverted Triangle – Inverted triangle, or the less common triangle face shapes are wide at the forhead, with a small chin, or the other way around. Teardrop earrings and chandeliers are the best choice for a inverted triangle face, and vice versa for a triangle face. A V shaped chandelier would work nicely for a triangle shaped face. Shops featured here include www.jessicac.etsy.com  www.meero.etsy.com   &  www.jCranejewelry.etsy.com

Well I hope this has helped you to find the perfect earrings for you! Remember that these are just guidelines, you may not want to make your face look oval, but these techniques can be used to create any look you desire! For example you may want to accent your angular jawline instead of trying to soften it,, it’s all up to you, have fun with it!

Thanks to all the wonderful etsy shops who volenteered their work for this post!

Many of these designs are still available in my etsy shop.

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