By Amy Barton


Bringing butter to room temperature quickly is the bane of my baking existence.  It's no secret that in the world of food, baking isn't my first love anyway.  There's so much science behind baking and being exact with measurements and timing, well, isn't really my specialty.  A pinch of this and a little-bit-o-that is the kinda gal I am.

Topping the list of my baking woes?  Bringing butter to room temp.  Friends of mine will tell you that when it comes to some things in life, I'm super planner.  Travel planning? Check.  Schedule planning for school, by semester?  Check.  Planning my sleeping-in routine (or lack thereof) on the weekends?  Check.  Planning to take butter out of the fridge hours before I'll be using it?  Big fail.

When I decide to bake, it's oftentimes spur of the moment.  And when it's not?  I don't always think to pull out all of my ingredients beforehand.  So, this is a common happenstance in my house.  I want to bake.  I need butter. Hey, I have butter!  Damn, it's in the freezer.  So much for "bringing butter to room temp" if I want to bake any time in the immediate future, right?  Wrong!

First thing's first - go get the butter out of the fridge (or freezer).  Do it right now.  Don't procrastinate - that's what got us into this mess in the first place!

Next - and this is easy - cut it up.  Yep, just hack away at it.  It may seem easier to just pop it in the microwave for 5 or 10 seconds at a time while keeping an eye on it.  Don't do that!  In most baking applications that call for room temperature (but not melted) butter, there is a reason for the texture clarification.  Trust me, I've learned this the hard way a BUNCH of times! 

How you cut it doesn't really matter.  Size, shape, no matter.  I cut it in half lengthwise.  Then I cut those two halves in half, lengthwise again.  Then I line all four of those pieces up and just cut them into little squares.

Pro tip: Cut your butter up on a surface that is easy to move, like this thin plastic cutting "board" I put on top of my actual cutting board.  Why?  What if you chop the butter on your cutting board and leave it to come to temperature?  Then what?  Then you have a blast trying to scrape soft, silky, ooey, gooey, oily butter off your cutting board (or counter, or whatever) and into your mixing bowl.  So put it on something!  Other easy options are wax paper, aluminum foil, parchment paper, or a small extra cutting board or paper plate.

Spread the butter out!  I know we all love warm fuzzies and snuggling up next to our neighbor, but butter doesn't deserve the warm fuzzy treatment at a moment like this.  If you leave it in a big pile, it's just about as good as not cutting it up to begin with.  Cutting it up AND separating it allows air to circulate around a larger surface area of butter, which brings it to ambient temperature faster.

To take it one step further (and to warm your butter even faster  without actually melting it), put the cubed butter somewhere relatively warm.  This depends on your kitchen, obviously.  I'll usually put mine on the stove top as the oven is preheating, or I'll set it right next to the stove (pictured above) if I have a burner on.  Both of these methods help immensely.  If you're not actively preheating or baking already, you could always put the butter on top of the fridge (it's usually warmer up there) or out on the patio (don't put it out on the patio).

There you have it.  It's really that easy.  Just remember one thing: When I say you're bringing butter up to room temp faster, I mean exactly that - faster, not "fast".  There will be some waiting time still, but this will cut it down.   I'm usually ready to bake in a half hour or less, which gives me plenty of time to prep the rest of my stuff and then be on my baking way.

Happy Buttering!  Errrr, I mean Happy Baking!  I'm not Paula Deen, I promise.

By Amy Barton

National Bagel Day is upon us.  I can't think of a better way to celebrate than with an Everything bagel.  It's got, well... everything!  It's the holy grail of bagels, if you ask me.  

Trouble is, I don't always feel like a bagel.  Yes, I'm from New York.  Yes, bagels are a major thing there.  Yes, I do love them.  But truth be told, I don't eat a lot of bread or bread products.  Nothing against 'em, they're just not really my style.  After gastric bypass surgery, I get full pretty quick - no need to fill precious real estate with baked flour!

While I may not be a bagelaholic these days, I'm still a sucker for the "everything" flavor.  What do I put it on, if not a bagel?  Ummm... what do I NOT put it on?!  It's great on just about anything you can think of.  Veggies.  Popcorn (oh yes, I just changed your life indeed).  Salad.  Mac 'n cheese.  Breakfast (hello, everything eggs!).  Cheese balls.  Cream cheese.  Line your Bloody Mary rim with it.  Hell, I could probably be convinced to put it on vanilla ice cream.  Click "Read More" to check out the recipe below.

By Amy Barton

It's confession time.  I love hot sauce - always have.  But I have not always loved Tabasco.  According to some hot sauce aficionados, this is basically sacrilegious.  There are certainly much better (and worse) hot sauces out there, but Tobasco is (apparently) a benchmark for your "basic, good" hot sauce.  Who knew?

While I may have recently converted from Tabasco Hater to Tobasco Fan (in limited instances, which I'll get into shortly), the elusive title of "Favorite Hot Sauce" still goes go Cajun Chef.

So, what happened?  I'm a sucker for retail, that's what happened.  During a 2013 trip to New Orleans (Happy 30th Birthday, Amy!), I got sucked into the Tabasco store.  To be fair, a friend recommended that I try Tabasco's "Family Reserve" if I did nothing else.  Okay, he didn't recommend.  He threatened my life.  So, off I went.  And what did I find?

A lineup!  It was like being in Tabasco jail.  Or heaven.  Whichever.

While I did end up trying the Family Reserve (it's awesome!), my first foray was directly into Tobasco Soy Sauce.  It sounds weird.  It looks weird.  It's fantastic.  If you can find it, try it.  Slightly spicy soy sauce?  You don't know what you're missing.

Speaking of slightly spicy, that's what you get with the Family Reserve.  They're all slightly spicy I guess - they're hot sauces - but that one had more of a kick than I was expecting.  Delightfully, it also still has some flavor.  That's my beef with so many hot sauces out there - they're just HOT, with little to no actual flavor.  Family Reserve, you're okay with me.

Super honorable mention goes out to Cholula.  Cholula is the bee's knees.  It's not overly spicy, and the ones that are "flavored" definitely have flavor to them.  Chili lime, chipotle, chili garlic, regular... you've got all kinds of options.  If you're easing into the hot sauce world, Cholula is a great first choice.

What's your favorite hot sauce?  I'm open to suggestions and ready to try 'em all.  Post the best you've got in the comments below.