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King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion Cookbook

I must confess, I really hadn't heard of King Arthur Flour before I bought this book. My husband had mentioned hearing a story about them on NPR because it was their 200th anniversary, or something like that, and we had purchased a bag of their flour "just for fun" at Trader Joe's once, but it wasn't until I bought this book and read it all that I began to understand why they have the reputation they do.

First, this is not like your typical "brand name cookbook" that has the trademarked item to use in each and every ingredient list. Yes, we realize that this is a Hormel cookbook, and therefore you can't ust just any chili, but it must be Hormel. Fine. The fine folks at King Arthur Flour never force you to buy their flour, but they do tell you why they think theirs is superior to other products--and they give scientific reasons why and don't really mention it until the very back of the book.

Second, since the company has been around since 1790, they pretty much know what they are talking about. Flour has been their thing, and thus, baking as well. Every recipe I've made so far has come out well, with the Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies being declared "the best I've ever had" by more than one person.

The best thing about the book, aside form the great recipes, is the scientific knowledge in each section. It's all written in simple prose, very easily understandable, and yet it makes more sense than anything else I've read on the subject of baking. I'd never understood the concept behind making a pie crust before this, I had no idea that it was actually a GOOD thing to still see little bits of butter in the mix! And yeast breads? Now I at least know why my top fell in when I make a whole wheat loaf and I know how I can fix it for next time.

Of course, the King Arthur folks are the first to let you know that baking isn't an exact science; it's more of an art, really. There are so many variables that go into the success of failure of a recipe, ranging from the type of ingredients used, the age of the ingredients, the technique used, elevation, even the weather! But the knowledge and information they give really helps the home baker to understand and adjust for these variables, even if it takes a lot of time and practice to gt it right.

We have lived at a high elevation (4500 to over 5000 feet) for several years now, which is always a challenge for a baker. Recipes often give special instructions for high altitude, but they never say why or tell you how to tweak it (adjustments are not the same for 5000 ft as for 10,000 ft). The knowledge I have gained from this book has helped me to figure out just what tricks might work to save me from another failed loaf of whole wheat bread.

The only challenges I've found with it are that it was fairly expensive for a cookbook (about $35 when I bought it), quite bulky on the bookshelf and in the kitchen, though it does manage to lay pretty flat, and it doesn't have every recipe you'd ever want (but would you want it to?). It covers quite a bit of ground in the realm of baking, including homemade crackers, but readers will notice a natural bias towards New England recipes such as grunts and slumps, or even the cheddar chees piecrust for your apple pie. It's wonderful that they've preserved these old favorites, but other regions are more lightly touched upon.

Pros: Solid science, great information, tried & true recipes
Cons: More expensive, bulky

Method Dish Soap (Target)

I'll have to admit, I did no research on this before I went ahead and gave into my longing to own something made by Method. All of their home care products seem so well-designed and fun, that they just had to be good, right? I'm a sucker for marketing sometimes.

Turns out, not only was the pink grapefruit Method dish soap I purchased lovely to look at and delightful to smell, but it actually works pretty doggone well too! I had to clean the dirtiest pan I had ever had made a mess of (note to self: when steaming butternut squash, make sure there is enough water in the bottom of the pan to actually steam it). I truly thought I had forever ruined one of my favorite Calphalon pans with the horrid black gunk that a night of soaking did nothing to soften. But thanks to the great non-stick of the pan, the scrubby side of my sponge and my new Method dish soap (not to mention a LOT of elbow grease), I was able to get it so my husband had no idea anything ever happened to it! (Shh, don't tell!)

After that baptism by fire, the soap managed to prove itself on much simpler tasks. Since we don't have a dishwasher in our apartment, I have had ample opportunity to test its abilities. It cuts grease well, rinses off quite easily and seems to work very well over all. I've been using the blue Dawn for a while, and it worked well too, but seemed heavier and a little harder to rinse off. Have I mentioned that I love the scent? It's not too heavy, but just enough that it semlls nice. The citrus-y smell also makes me think "clean" without being "chemical," like some other products. It also seems more gentle on my hands than other soaps. I usually wear gloves when I wash dishes because the other soap dried my skin so much, but I've noticed I don't need them as much now with the Method soap.

One of the truly great things about the Method brand in general is that they are committed to the environment , both the larger environment and the home environment. The soap is biodegradeable, never tested on animals and doesn't contain phosphates and STILL cleans my dishes better than the "bad stuff," I've found me a winner! I alo really like their philosophy on what "clean" and "dirty" really mean, which you can check out here: People Against Dirty."

One important note: I'm not entirely sure, but I think the kind I bought is only available at Target, and possibly at some of the other larger stores. It's a 25 fl. oz bottle, but it's shaped more like a traditional dish soap bottle rather than the cool "blob" looking ones I see on all the other websites. I have no idea why I can't find a similar bottle, but they might be making some changes to the design right now, since drugstore.com has a disclaimer on their website ("Due to packaging updates, the image shown above may temporarily appear different from the product received").

Pros: cleans well, rinses well, great scent, good for the environment, pretty to look at, good price, gentle on hands
Cons: Packaging issues