When I started working here five years ago in the small appliances department, my first purchase was a Cuisinart ice cream maker. I grew up in an ice cream household where every night (summer or winter) ended with a scoop or two of the frozen treat. We were a brave ice cream family, always branching out to whatever new flavor was at the grocery store…
In Season Now: Pineapple
You can find pineapples in the market year round, but their true season runs from March through July — which means you should be gorging yourself on as much of this sweet-tangy fruit as you possibly can over the next few weeks. Here’s everything you need to know to finish pineapple season strong.
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Pineapples don’t ripen once they’ve been picked, so…
Blackberry Ice Cream
Here in the Pacific Northwest we are blessed (or is it cursed?) with a plethora of wild blackberries. My family and I have had a great time picking blackberries around our neighborhood this summer and baking tasty treats like blackberry cobbler, berry galette, muffins and even making jam. This past weekend my kids requested ice cream so we pulled out our trusty old…
Welcome to the Test Kitchen
Our chef instructors teach cooking classes in over 50 stores around the country nearly every single day. During the week in our Seattle headquarters, a small team of chefs creates, tests and adjusts the recipes used in those classes — which is awesome for us here in the office because there’s always something tasty to try. Not so awesome? The phenomenon we’ve come to call…
Blackberry Basil Jam
With big blackberry taste and slight basil overtones, this vibrant jam is a delicious twist on a traditional jam. Make it now — it’s best in late summer when blackberries are bursting on the vines. Unlike other recipes, this one doesn’t call for powdered fruit pectin to help with thickening, so it’s important to cook the berries to the consistency you like. But keep in…
Nectarine and Peach Jam with Lemon Verbena
This jam is a delicious way to show off summer stone fruit, and it lets you enjoy the flavors of summer later in the year, too. When cooking jams that use fresh herbs like lemon verbena or thyme, we’ve found that it’s better to remove the sprigs prior to water-bath processing. That way you’ll avoid any bitterness in the jam.
Summer White Bean and Arugula Salad
Creamy white beans in this salad perfectly compliment the spicy arugula, sweet cherry tomatoes, and bright vinaigrette. Perfect for summer.
Canned cannellini beans may certainly be substituted, but in recipes with so few ingredients, we urge you to take the time to cook them yourself. For tips on quick cooking dried beans in a pressure cooker and assembling this dish, check out the…