THE LATEST FROM FRAN BERGER
Kitchen Hacks
5 Minute Recipe for Parmesan Crisps â for salad or snacking
A quick recipe for Parmesan Crisps that will also introduce you to the Silpat non-stick baking mat. Hereâs a recipe that you can literally use for anything â add to a salad, as a topping for a dish, or just...
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How to deseed and chop a jalapeño
If you love cooking, then technique matters: the right way to prepare jalapeños for your recipe. One of the things Iâve learned about home cooking: you donât have to actually be a chef to cook excellent meals. But, I have...
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Pantry Power: 7 Items for Instant Meal Magic
 Youâll be ready for just about anything if you keep these items in stock at home at all times. I keep my pantry well-stocked at all times. I owe that habit to years in the restaurant business. One of...
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4th of July Party? How about a tasty recipe for marinated olives and feta?
Sophisticated but incredibly easy: smash some olives, crush a bit of garlic, shred some bread, and youâre good to go! Want to bring something different to your 4th of July party that DOESNâT need refrigeration or special care? A while...
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Food Tip â Keep your herbs fresh for up to a week!
A quick and easy way to save your refrigerated herbs â theyâll keep for a week! We depend on the excellent flavor of our herbs to enhance our cooking. Â I have many friends who wait until the day before they...
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Food Tip â The best croutons for your summer salads!
Add a kick to your salads with home-made croutons â and itâs so easy. I love crunchy carbs, donât you? The specific carb thatâs on my mind right now are croutons. Okay â so not exactly health food. I think...
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Kitchen Safety Tip â avoid food borne bacteria and clean that sponge!
Kitchen sponges can be as dirty as your toilet! So clean or replace them regularly. I like smart people, but intelligent kids make me smile. Even when the smile is a tad uncomfortable. My friend and I were sitting in...
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Kitchen hack: Save your leafy herbs, chop them the right way
How to chop leafy herbs AND keep all that wonderful flavor for your recipe. Open a recipe and youâll find a call for a leafy herb â chopped. To be honest, unless youâre just using the herb as garnish (or...
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How to pick olive oil â read the labels!
Want a great olive oil? Here are 6 tips for reading labels and looking for signs. I went to dinner at one of my favorite Italian restaurants in Beverly Hills with a group of friends. My history buff friend was...
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How to dice an onion â the easy way.
This trick will make dicing onions quick and so very simple. Onions get all the grief. They stink up our kitchens and they sting our eyes and make us cry. Yet, onions are in so many recipes, all kinds of...
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Unlock Flavor: 3 Pro Tips to Zest Citrus Like a Chef
My Three Tips to get the best of your âzestâ. A friend of mine and I were looking over a drink recipe. When we got to the part about adding âzestâ to the drink, she wondered, âwhat kind of zesting...
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We love our Guacamole FRESH
Use this method to keep your guacamole fresh looking â even after you prepare it the night before! You have guests coming at noon tomorrow, and you want to make a guacamole dip. But NOBODY wants to eat brown guacamole,...
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We love our Avocados GREEN
An easy to remember trick to keep your cut avocados from turning that unappetizing brown. If you have been following me for a while, you know that I collect little stories about this and that. I think thatâs one of...
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Kitchen Tip: How to slice a mango
Love the mango â tips on picking, prepping, and enjoying. A few weeks ago, I was with a friend, walking around a local farmerâs market (one of my favorite pastimes). We stopped at one booth where we found mangoes â...
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Kitchen Hacks: Must Have Spices for any Home Cook
âSniff testâ your cabinet â it may be full of spices but are they still usable? Even if you cook every day, thereâs always a chance youâre going to run into a situation where you just donât have all of...
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Time to Clean out the Kitchen Drawers?
Out with the old tools and the odds gadgets â and make sure you get these must-haves. Itâs true that thereâs a list of âmust havesâ that every good home cook should have at their fingertips. But for me, after...
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Is it time to update your cookware?
Celebrate the New Year or a New Home with new non-stick cookware from All-Clad and Staub. Maybe youâve moved. Maybe youâve remodeled. Maybe itâs the New Year and itâs just time. Whatever the occasion, itâs time to take a look...
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Holiday Appetizers: hors dâoeuvres and finger foods, yum!
Tips for making your holiday appetizers truly appealing. Planning a holiday party? Start with all the ones youâve seen â the good, the bad, and the ugly. Why remember the bad and the ugly? Because, we donât want to do...
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Kitchen Hack: Easier way to peel potatoes and stop them from Discoloring
Nobody likes black potatoes! Hereâs how to stop it. As if you need a reminder â weâre coming up on the holidays and in my house that means a whole lot of potatoes! Iâm not too fond of the yucky...
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What about those Meal Kit Delivery Services?
Review of the top 5 meal kits â for pleasure, convenience, and flavor! A friend of mine goes on frequent camping trips with her family. Thereâs one thing that she does before every trip â no matter if itâs a...
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