THE LATEST FROM FRAN BERGER
Kitchen Hacks
The Essential 5: Must-Haves Knives for your Kitchen
Make your kitchen functional and safe with sharp knives that can get the job done! Maybe you’re thinking it’s time to get a nice block of knives for the kitchen. I couldn’t agree more. MOST kitchens need an upgrade. But...
Read More
5 Minute Recipe for Parmesan Crisps – for salad or snacking
A quick recipe for Parmesan Crisps that will also introduce you to the Silpat non-stick baking mat. Here’s a recipe that you can literally use for anything – add to a salad, as a topping for a dish, or just...
Read More
How to deseed and chop a jalapeño
If you love cooking, then technique matters: the right way to prepare jalapeños for your recipe. One of the things I’ve learned about home cooking: you don’t have to actually be a chef to cook excellent meals. But, I have...
Read More
Pantry Power: 7 Items for Instant Meal Magic
You’ll be ready for just about anything if you keep these items in stock at home at all times. I keep my pantry well-stocked at all times. I owe that habit to years in the restaurant business. One of...
Read More
4th of July Party? How about a tasty recipe for marinated olives and feta?
Sophisticated but incredibly easy: smash some olives, crush a bit of garlic, shred some bread, and you’re good to go! Want to bring something different to your 4th of July party that DOESN’T need refrigeration or special care? A while...
Read More
Food Tip – Keep your herbs fresh for up to a week!
A quick and easy way to save your refrigerated herbs – they’ll keep for a week! We depend on the excellent flavor of our herbs to enhance our cooking. I have many friends who wait until the day before they...
Read More
Food Tip – The best croutons for your summer salads!
Add a kick to your salads with home-made croutons – and it’s so easy. I love crunchy carbs, don’t you? The specific carb that’s on my mind right now are croutons. Okay – so not exactly health food. I think...
Read More
Kitchen Safety Tip – avoid food borne bacteria and clean that sponge!
Kitchen sponges can be as dirty as your toilet! So clean or replace them regularly. I like smart people, but intelligent kids make me smile. Even when the smile is a tad uncomfortable. My friend and I were sitting in...
Read More
Kitchen hack: Save your leafy herbs, chop them the right way
How to chop leafy herbs AND keep all that wonderful flavor for your recipe. Open a recipe and you’ll find a call for a leafy herb – chopped. To be honest, unless you’re just using the herb as garnish (or...
Read More
How to pick olive oil – read the labels!
Want a great olive oil? Here are 6 tips for reading labels and looking for signs. I went to dinner at one of my favorite Italian restaurants in Beverly Hills with a group of friends. My history buff friend was...
Read More
How to dice an onion – the easy way.
This trick will make dicing onions quick and so very simple. Onions get all the grief. They stink up our kitchens and they sting our eyes and make us cry. Yet, onions are in so many recipes, all kinds of...
Read More
Unlock Flavor: 3 Pro Tips to Zest Citrus Like a Chef
My Three Tips to get the best of your ‘zest’. A friend of mine and I were looking over a drink recipe. When we got to the part about adding “zest” to the drink, she wondered, “what kind of zesting...
Read More
We love our Guacamole FRESH
Use this method to keep your guacamole fresh looking – even after you prepare it the night before! You have guests coming at noon tomorrow, and you want to make a guacamole dip. But NOBODY wants to eat brown guacamole,...
Read More
We love our Avocados GREEN
An easy to remember trick to keep your cut avocados from turning that unappetizing brown. If you have been following me for a while, you know that I collect little stories about this and that. I think that’s one of...
Read More
Kitchen Tip: How to slice a mango
Love the mango – tips on picking, prepping, and enjoying. A few weeks ago, I was with a friend, walking around a local farmer’s market (one of my favorite pastimes). We stopped at one booth where we found mangoes –...
Read More
Kitchen Hacks: Must Have Spices for any Home Cook
“Sniff test” your cabinet – it may be full of spices but are they still usable? Even if you cook every day, there’s always a chance you’re going to run into a situation where you just don’t have all of...
Read More
Time to Clean out the Kitchen Drawers?
Out with the old tools and the odds gadgets – and make sure you get these must-haves. It’s true that there’s a list of ‘must haves’ that every good home cook should have at their fingertips. But for me, after...
Read More
Is it time to update your cookware?
Celebrate the New Year or a New Home with new non-stick cookware from All-Clad and Staub. Maybe you’ve moved. Maybe you’ve remodeled. Maybe it’s the New Year and it’s just time. Whatever the occasion, it’s time to take a look...
Read More
Holiday Appetizers: hors d’oeuvres and finger foods, yum!
Tips for making your holiday appetizers truly appealing. Planning a holiday party? Start with all the ones you’ve seen – the good, the bad, and the ugly. Why remember the bad and the ugly? Because, we don’t want to do...
Read More
Kitchen Hack: Easier way to peel potatoes and stop them from Discoloring
Nobody likes black potatoes! Here’s how to stop it. As if you need a reminder – we’re coming up on the holidays and in my house that means a whole lot of potatoes! I’m not too fond of the yucky...
Read More