Search Results for: blog spice it up with penzeys

Giant Carrot Cupcakes

I have a confession although it probably won’t surprise you. When I cook, I like to cook double duty. What I mean is that I like recipes that I can either make in big batches or recipes that can be used for two different dishes. This is one such recipe, at least for us. Carrot cake for breakfast in our house is not such an unusual thing. I find that if you omit the frosting and substitute instead some yogurt topping, it can even qualify as kind of healthy. It’s certainly no worse than sugar covered cocoa puffs that are … Continue reading →

Ask a Food Blogger: Chinese Five Spice

Question: Can you tell me what Chinese five spice is? What type of dishes would you use it in and where do you get it? What Is It? Chinese five spice is a spice that as you may have guessed, is used in Chinese cooking. It’s used in a variety of dishes although what it’s used for varies from place to place. In Hawaii, some restaurants even have it on the table as a seasoning condiment. The thought behind Chinese Five Spice is to “bring balance to food” by blending together all of the tastes in Chinese cooking: Tung Hing … Continue reading →

Twice Delicious–Roasted Chicken & Chicken Noodle Soup

I often buy whole chickens because they are on sale. Not only that but it’s a meal that you can cook once and then have on hand for at least a couple of days. Up until now, I’ve only used my leftover whole chickens for sandwich meat. . .but one snowy, cold day I had an “a ha” moment, and the result is what follows: Roast Chicken When it comes to roast chicken, I cheat. I have tried a variety of combinations of spices, and I’ve even rubbed my chicken in adobo–which my family also likes. However, our absolute favorite … Continue reading →

Spice It Up With Penzeys

“Once you get a spice in your home, you have it forever. Women never throw out spices. The Egyptians were buried with their spices. I know which one I’m taking with me when I go.” ~Erma Bombeck I don’t know which spice Erma Bombeck planned on taking with her to the grave, but if I could be buried with my stock of Penzeys Spices I know I’d be cooking it up right in my afterlife. A few years back when my husband and I lived in Jacksonville, Florida my sister came to visit. We were driving through San Marco when … Continue reading →

Do You Buy Food Delivered by Mail?

I do. Not everyday groceries, mind you. Most of what I order is stuff I can’t find in my favorite grocery stores. Take this acai (pronounced a-sigh-ee) stuff I ordered the other day from Acai Roots. Getting an Acai Fix I read an article about the benefits of acai berries, which come from Brazil and are supposed to be among the most nutritious and antioxidant rich foods on the planet. I’ve been buying Bolthouse’s Bom Dia line of acai drinks, but a friend of ours who’s from Brazil turned us on to Acai Roots’ product because it’s supposedly an even … Continue reading →

Blooming Teas

As I was sitting down to write about blooming teas –also called flowering teas, display teas, or blooming art teas– it occurred to me that this was another discovery made with my sister Coco. Like she did with Penzeys Spices, it was she who noticed the bags of tea with pictures of flowers on them in Franklin Tea, a specialty tea shop. She asked the owner what the picture represented, as the flowers were very exotic looking but the only writing on the bags was in Chinese except for the “title,” in this case “Jasmine Fairy Maiden.” “Oh that’s my … Continue reading →