The 'How to Cook' Blog

I want to share with you one of the coolest ingredients I’ve seen in a very longtime. In fact, I’d venture to say it’s the most exciting thing in my kitchen now! This salt is just as the name suggests…it’s black salt. This salt comes from Cyprus, and is created when it dries in the sun, making crystal pyramids. Then, the salt is enhanced with activated charcoal. Activated charcoal has  [ Read More ]

It is my pleasure to present to you today my very 1st special guest on my show, my mother – Ingrid Turner from IngridTurnerToday.com to show you how to bake a coveted family recipe that’s been passed down many generations to make it to your screen today, and hopefully, into your home & heart. This is a Russian or German Mennonite recipe called Pirozhki. Now, today, we will be filling  [ Read More ]

This is one of our favorite Kasper family recipes…In fact, it’s the first recipe I learned to make on my own when I moved away from home. We don’t really eat the small, fluffy pancakes most families eat. We called these big, thin delights “pancakes”…our style of pancakes. Golden and delicious, these beautiful crepes can be eaten for breakfast, brunch or dinner, if desired. Try them…you’ll be so glad you  [ Read More ]

Ahhh…Zwieback!!! What could represent a soul food for German & Russian families better than Zwieback buns… I can remember the smell of zwieback baking in my grandmother’s farmhouse kitchen, my mother’s kitchen, as well as all of my aunts’ kitchens… …It is an ultimate goal of just about every extended-Kasper female in our family to have this recipe on hand, and hopefully learn to bake them well for ourselves…One day,  [ Read More ]

This is Day Eight of our One Month Grocery Shopping Strike! It’s also SuperBowl today… So, we are still “cupboard cooking”. When I saw the beautiful lamb loin chops in the freezer, I also noticed our rhubarb we harvested in the summer, chopped & froze. Immediately, I thought of a great, hot dessert fit for this Canadian snow today. One of my favorite rhubarb recipes is our traditional Kasper Family  [ Read More ]

Learning how to cook Mennonite Style Borscht is something we don’t take lightly in our family. We make this cabbage soup often, especially in the colder months of the year. One side of my family has Mennonite roots. We are German, but hailing from Russia, on my mother’s side. My other side is Ukrainian and they are well known for eating borscht too! “I love Borscht! I’m giving you our  [ Read More ]

It’s a great idea to learn how to cook meatball soup because it’s rather quick to create and is full of protein for those who love more “stuff” in their soup, but has lots of broth for us soup lovers out there! A favorite comfort food in our household is meatball soup like my mom used to make! It’s not Italian in nature, as you may think. In fact, I  [ Read More ]

This dish includes traditionally German ingredients for a full meal in a baking dish. It’s lovely for a family dinner or for a smorgasbord buffet. ~ Kimberly Edwards Type: Main Serve With: Nothing…It’s perfect all by itself! Prep Time: 15 min Cook Time: 1 hr, 40 min Yield: 9 x 13′ casserole dish Ingredients:

In German Moos (pronounced “mouse”) is a “dried fruit sauce” or dessert stew. Often called “pluma moos” as well. It is most delicious, a dessert of love and amazing for the Holidays! Grandma Kasper was an amazing cook and everything she made was memorable! During the Holidays, this special Moos was a dessert, a treat, a snack and a wonderful addition to the flavors we remember being present during the  [ Read More ]

I saw this great step-by-step video and had to share it with you. This is the perfect summertime beverage. Looks and sounds so refreshing. Photo left: Gancia poster print . I always believe making things from scratch at home, especially if it’s easy to do, tastes the best: How to Prepare a Delicious Aperitif – video powered by Metacafe *** I hope this is delicious, because I’m going to try  [ Read More ]

Maybe it’s just me, but I haven’t seen this liqueur on the market for long… It is a product from Hungary and it tastes amazing! It is not a well labeled bottle, but it is a rounded bottle and is distributed by Zwack Unicum PLC. It has the taste and aroma of pear and is peach in color. The alcohol content is 30% and it is recommended to drink on  [ Read More ]

I was asked today… “If an oyster could produce something other than a pearl, what in the world do you think would be a cool thing to find in an oyster?” I explored a lot of options, including diamonds, my favorite food, lobster…even the whimsical, like music or sunshine…but since I was in an Easter mood… …What if you went and collected a bunch of Gulf oysters, and opened one  [ Read More ]

Oh wow…This recipe comes from generations before me on my mother’s, German side of the family…However, Paska is traditionally a Ukrainian Easter bread! Absolutely delicious and it wouldn’t be Easter without it! ~ Kimberly Edwards ;D Type: Bread Serve With: Fresh, organic butter Prep Time: ~ 3 hr 45 min Cook Time: ~ 1 hr. Nutrition Facts: * Please use organic ingredients whenever possible. Ingredients: Instructions:

I love tabbouleh and happened to make a ton of it last night. I was about to bake some fresh bread and got a bright idea…Tabbouleh Bread! Amazing stuff… ~ Kimberly Edwards ;D Type: Bread Serve With: An amazing Vegetable Soup or Stew Prep Time: 5 min Cook Time: 2 hrs 35 min Yield: 1 loaf Ingredients: Instructions:

Leblebi is a snack made from roasted chickpeas, very popular in Turkey. It is traditionally, eaten alongside of Boza as a crunchy snack (see recipe here: Kimberly’s Boza). This snack is alleged to also increase breast size…That’s what they say ladies… ~ Kimberly Edwards . Type: Main Serve With: Kimberly’s Boza – http://CookingWithKimberly.com/?p=221 Prep Time: 5 min Cook Time: ~ 50 min – 1 hr Yield: ~ 3 cups Ingredients:  [ Read More ]

This is an ancient drink served in Turkey by street vendors, famed to increase breast size…That’s right ladies…That’s what is alleged about it…LOL…It is both sweet and slightly acidic when fermented. ~ Kimberly Edwards Type: Beverage Serve With: Cinnamon on top Prep Time: ~ 3 days Cook Time: ~ 20 min Yield: ~ 8 cups Ingredients: Instructions:

This is a passed down family recipe from my German side. It is so delicious, everyone craves this soup when the weather outside is frightful! ~ Kimberly Edwards Type: Soup Serve With: Fresh, crusty bread, sour cream and/or vinegar Prep Time: ~ 15 min Cook Time: ~ 1 hr Yield: 1 large stock pot full Ingredients: Instructions:

Truth be told, I was a vegetarian for 3 yrs during college. That’s why I have a bunch of vegetarian recipes. Here is a breakfast recipe I specifically created for my hubby in college so that I could include as much protein and as little fat as possible in his diet. After all, we were athletes! ~ Kimberly Edwards According to Wikipedia, it is one of the oldest known meals  [ Read More ]

.This recipe is a spin-off of my mother’s German potatoes and pasta (she calls it ‘Kartofel and Kleisa’…spelling is soooo wrong…LOL). This basically means potatoes, pasta/noodles (or homemade dumplings like spaetzel) with onions, usually served with Mennonite Farmer’s sausage…YUUUMMM! …But, since you can’t get this Farmer’s sausage from Kitchener, ON, Canada all the time, and it runs out quickly in our house, even though we buy 25 lbs at a  [ Read More ]