We were in Sète, France, my first French host family and I, lazing about for a week at their summer abode. Every morning I would run through the terraced seaside town, hoping to sweat out every gram of chocolate I’d filched the day prior.

I was sixteen, and a wannabe vegetarian. But I’d been too polite to tell the Provençal family who’d taken me in that I didn’t eat meat. Au contraire, the more they piled onto my plate, the more I ate.

There were lamb chops and grilled sardines that we inhaled until our teeth clanked against the bones, headcheese and calf’s testicles that I thought would land me in the local clinic. Every chance I got–breakfast, late afternoon and even late night–I’d steal a hunk of baguette with butter, jam or Nutella. A sweet antidote to all those other toxins I was pumping into my body. Or so I thought.

I ran because I fretted about what my mother would say when I got off the plane back in New York. Oh, honey, we sent you to France and you gained ten pounds?!

The day Colette was making la bourride for lunch I was, literally, running late. The creamy fish stew, a local specialty, was coughing up its last few bubbles atop the stove when I got back, and Colette was already snipping the fresh parsley to be sprinkled about at the last minute.

In one hand she held a juice glass crammed with the bright green leaves. In the other, a pair of kitchen shears. She plunged the blades into the glass, and just like that, thwack thwack thwack, she minced those little herbs to merciless content. Transfixed by her handiwork, I dawdled even longer. My mother never cut herbs like that!

I thought of this accidental lesson recently when I opened up a surprise package of cookbooks sent to me by Colette, and it was the 30th frigid day in a row, and suddenly all I wanted was a burst of spring on my tongue.

I went to the market, stocked up on fresh herbs and put together an herb salad concocted by Patricia Wells (much like this one). I paired it with a creamy mushroom risotto, and some fresh parsley snipped à la Colette.

It seemed like a fitting anecdote to tell in my first Plummelo blog post, because that summer in France was my first taste of culture shock. I was thoroughly, deliciously out of my comfort zone, and the second I got home was–to my surprise–the second I wanted to go back. As a working journalist, I get paid to replicate that feeling almost every day. But I don’t write about myself. Ever.

I’m guessing it’ll take some time for me to get comfortable with this forum, but I’m looking forward to the chance to share with you all kinds of thoughts about putting food on the table, and feeding the ones you love. I’m counting on you to tell me your own stories, from the good days and the bad!

While there are days of the week that call for marching out of your culinary comfort zone, everybody needs a handy trick or two that can quickly transform a kid’s dish into an adult’s delight, a banal arrangement into a bright set of bites. Snipping fresh herbs is one of those quick fixes; it turns a cumbersome task into a cinch. Just make sure your shears are clean and your herbs patted dry.

As a bonus, I give you this recipe for a baked risotto. Purists will say that baking rice in liquid does not a true risotto make, but I find this rendition comes pretty close to replicating the creamy, luxurious finish you’re seeking. It’s perfect on a weeknight when you don’t have time to babysit the stockpot, stirring stirring stirring.

What more can I say for now? Bon appétit!

My New Year’s Resolution has been to clean out my cluttered kitchen junk drawers. You know you have one. Well, I have three. So in my attempt to clean house (or just the kitchen), I realized I could not bear to toss some of my beloved kitchen gadgets. And there were a few that made me scratch my head and ask, “What is this thing?”

My most loved gadgets in the kitchen are always the ones that can do more than one job. So here is a list of my hall of fame double (and sometimes triple duty) gadget tools.

One. Egg Slicer: I know many of you are shaking your head. But please hear me out! Not only do I reach for it when I make the best Egg Salad, but I also reach for it when I make the coveted Banana Pudding to slice all six bananas perfectly. It’s much better than slicing all those bananas with a knife! I also use it when I make this delicious Avocado Shrimp Salad to slice my avocados into equal slices. I make sure to push the banana or the avocado through with my hand instead of pushing them down onto the bed of the egg slicer. Just make sure whatever you’re slicing is super soft.

Two. Garlic Press: Some prefer other garlic gadgets, but I prefer the old fashioned garlic press. Where’s the double in this apparatus? I found when I was making this Key Lime Pie, that I could actually use the garlic press to press the juice from those tiny key limes! I was jumping up and down at the joy of this discovery. Seriously, up and down.

Three. Cast Iron Pan, Enamel Cast Iron Dutch Oven, anything Cast Iron: Other than being able to brown and slow cook things, a cast iron pan (or dutch oven) can defrost that frozen chicken that you need to cook in 10 minutes (without any heat!). Try it if you don’t believe me. I line the pan with plastic wrap so it’ll be easy clean up and I toss the frozen meat on it (again, no heat). It will defrost much faster than just leaving it out on the counter.  If you like half frozen and half cooked meat, then you can always use the defrost button on your microwave… but we don’t recommend it.

Four. Microplane: Need I say more? This one little tool got rid of my nutmeg grinder and my citrus zester. I love this thing! I not only grate cheese and nutmeg, but I also use it to mince my ginger. One tip about ginger: peel the ginger and keep it in the freezer. It’ll zest even faster on the microplane when it’s frozen.

Five. Immersion Blender: Because of this gadget, I have no need of an ungainly, counterspace-hogging blender. Instead I use this to puree baby food, make protein smoothies for my husband (who is currently obsessed with Power 90X, a totally different post), and make a single serving of pesto. With an immersion blender, you don’t need those informercial bullet-shaped appliances with a hundred parts. And when you are done with it, it’s easy to clean and it fits in a kitchen drawer, neatly tucked away. I promise, they don’t pay me to sell these things…

Six. Salad Spinner: We always need more than one colander, especially when we are throwing a dinner party. One time I reached for the inner part of my salad spinner to use as my second colander, and I keep going back to it. I also use the outside part as a plain salad bowl. Why not? It’s a bowl, it’s big, and it’s not too bad to look at.

These are some kitchen tools with which I can’t part. What are some of yours?

(It took me a week or so to pare down my kitchen gadgets, and I’m happy to report that I’m now down to only two kitchen junk drawers.)

Photos by Melissa Devereaux and Paul Jin

See below for photo credits

But chopping or mincing garlic by hand is slow and tedious. You could always do that thing where you whack the flat side of a knife over the garlic, but that gets a bit messy. Getting the mini food processor out for such a small job is a hassle (and more to clean). That slamming food chopper thingy that you saw on TV is tough to clean too. My solution: the NexTrend Garlic Twist (Amazon, $16.99).

I use mine almost every time I cook, and it is really easy to clean. It’s plastic, and dishwasher safe, but I like to just leave it soaking in the sink for a bit, then use a soapy sponge. It’s much easier to clean than all the other garlic gadgets.

The great thing is the texture of the minced garlic after just a few twists. It’s not too coarse or too fine. And because it kind of smashes the garlic, you get better flavor out of the garlic than just chopping. It has 2 pieces (first photo) that when fitted together sort of looks like a yo-yo (second photo). To make the twisting easier, I cut larger garlic cloves in half and place each half on each side of the row of teeth.

Go ahead and start cooking (and sneak in some garlic even when it’s not in the recipe!). The more garlic the better. And don’t be ashamed to say “aaahhh” when you’re all done eating.

Top photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sackton/ / CC BY-SA 2.0

Other photos by Paul Jin

You might want to pull it out of hiding. The slow cooker can be a busy person’s best friend, especially if yours comes with a removable pot that allows you to do the meal prep work at night, then pop the pot into the base the next morning to get the cooking started.

I enjoy making many things in my slow cooker, and nothing beats coming home after a long day at work to a hot meal that I didn’t have to spend hours cooking. Slow cooker meals also use fewer pots and pans, meaning quicker cleanup.

This time of year, soup provides an easy way to serve a complete meal that is healthy, economical, soul soothing, and provides leftovers that taste even better the next day. Chicken soup is the gold standard of soups, but there are certainly variations to jazz it up, which I highlight below.

Here is a basic recipe I use for slow cooker chicken soup, plus three ways you can take a chicken soup base and create an entirely new dish.

The night before you will be cooking the soup, prepare all of your ingredients by chopping the chicken and vegetables. Place the vegetables in your slow cooker pot (if removable; if not just use a bowl and transfer in the morning) and store in the refrigerator overnight.

In the morning, pour the stock over the vegetables, add the chicken, olive oil, and pepper. If you are cooking for less than four hours, use the high setting on your slow cooker. Otherwise, set it to the lowest setting. Half an hour to an hour before you are ready to eat, switch the setting to high. Ensure the chicken is fully cooked before serving.

Serve soup with whole grain rolls and salad for a filling winter dinner.

Here are three easy variations on the basic chicken soup recipe:

Italian style: before cooking, pour in a can of drained, rinsed white beans and 2 cups chopped escarole. Before serving, place a scoop of pesto, jarred or homemade, in the bottom of each bowl. The heat of the soup will melt the pesto and bring its basil and garlic flavors throughout the entire bowl.

Mexican style: before cooking, pour in a can of drained, rinsed black beans, a jar of salsa, and chopped jalapenos (if you are adventurous). For presentation and a delicious crunch, cut flour tortillas into thin strips, sauté in olive oil until golden, and arrange on top of the soup.

Thai style: before cooking, grate 3 tsp. ginger root into the rest of the soup ingredients along with 2 tsp. red curry paste. Before serving, add a can of coconut milk and juice of one fresh lime and stir thoroughly.

Soup can be made a little more fun for kids by adding alphabet pasta, something that our mom did when we were little.

Leftovers are good for up to three days (in the refrigerator). The soup can also be frozen in single-serve containers and reheated at a later date.

Stay warm and healthy this winter with an easy soup that is ready for you at the end of a busy day. What else do you like to make in your slow cooker?

Meghan Malloy is a guest blogger for Plummelo. She works as a Marketing Communications Manager in the publishing industry. On the side, she writes the blog Travel Eat Love, for the love of food, wine, travel, and the everyday adventures in life. She resides in Boston, MA with her husband and two cats. For more cooking ideas from Meghan, please check out her blog at traveleatlove.com.

Photo sources:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kiwanja/ / CC BY 2.0