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Posts published in “Reviews and Ratings”

Bananas Foster for Two

Bananas Foster for TwoBrowse recipes, menu ideas and more From Anna's Kitchen (www.fromannaskitchen.com)

No judgment here if you want to have your dessert for breakfast or brunch, or your breakfast or brunch for dessert. This is a fast, homemade, sweet dish for your Valentine to make tomorrow or this week. Serve this classic sauce (or is it a topping? or maybe it's a saucy topping...?) warm over waffles, crêpes, or ice cream.

Jump ahead to the recipe at the end if you wish, but first, I have to talk about crêpes. This was how we made and served bananas foster recently and I highly suggest trying it.

KitchenAid stand mixer attachments: The good, bad and ugly

KitchenAid stand mixer attachments: The good, bad and ugly

This is not a sponsored post or endorsement made in coordination with the brands or products mentioned here. 

Remember my story about how I used to religiously watch the FoodTV Network as a kid? (and still love to...)

Growing up, the KitchenAid (KA) stand mixer was one of those kitchen "toys" that the chefs always had on the FoodTV Network (aka the Food Network, as we all know it.)

One year for Christmas, I think I may have been 8 or 9 years old, my grandparents, together with my mom, decided to buy me a stand mixer as a Christmas/birthday present. My mom said she picked it up from Macy's, which I'm sure was at the height of the Christmas shopping rush, and lugged it through the store to her car.

I don't remember how I reacted to receiving the mixer for the holiday that year but to this day, it was probably one of the best gifts I've ever received.

Since we have Dave's KA mixer, mine is still at my mom's house, but it has served me well over the last two decades. It feels so strange to say that it has been "two decades" of using that machine. I couldn't tell you how many things I've made in it or hours I've put on it and it still runs great (knock wood.)

On the flip-side, I think some of the attachments for the KA mixer are gimmicky. Based on my experiences, here is a quick run-down of the good, bad, and ugly of the KA mixer attachments to watch out for if you are doing any holiday shopping for yourself or friends and family members that love cooking.

Meal delivery services for the home cook: Five years later

Meal delivery services for the home cook: Five years laterThe verdict on meal delivery services, an overview From Anna's Kitchen (www.fromannaskitchen.com)

Disclaimer: this is not a sponsored post, just a review of the services based on my experiences using them.

In 2015 I wrote an assessment of meal delivery kits that first appeared on my old personal site and blog (you can now read it here, too, as I've been transitioning some of my food-related posts to this site over time.) This was a follow-up to my review of Plated, the first meal kit service that I tried in 2014, arguably just as these programs were really starting to gain some popularity. I routinely subscribed to Blue Apron since the time of writing that article, which I preferred of the few that I tried (but, more on that later...)

Helpful alternatives to meal prep and an easy answer to the question "What's for dinner this week?", meal kits are ideal for nearly everyone, especially people that like to try new recipes or loves to cook but doesn't always have time to shop. Fundamentally, that has not changed.

Flash forward to 2019, and a lot has changed as far as the businesses themselves.

Meal delivery services for the home cook: A comparison of Plated and Blue Apron

Meal delivery services for the home cook: A comparison of Plated and Blue ApronBrowse recipes, menu ideas and more From Anna's Kitchen (www.fromannaskitchen.com)

Disclaimer: this is not a sponsored post, just a review of the services based on my experiences using them. This was originally posted on fuchsia-revolver.org on January 21, 2015.  Last year, I posted a review of the very first Plated box that I received. Plated is a meal delivery service that allows you to order meals by the “plate” (2 plates = 2 servings), and the ingredients and recipes to make those meals are sent for you to cook at home. My first two meals were swiss chard rolls stuffed with quinoa, goat cheese, and butternut squash, and stir-fried tofu…

Meal delivery services for the home cook: A review of Plated

Meal delivery services for the home cook: A review of PlatedBrowse recipes, menu ideas and more From Anna's Kitchen (www.fromannaskitchen.com)

Disclaimer: although it may sound like it, this is not a sponsored post, just a review of the services based on my experiences using them. This was originally posted on fuchsia-revolver.org on January 12, 2014.  You know those ads on Facebook? The ones that have migrated from the right sidebar to your timeline, increasingly targeted to your likes, so much that it can be scary? The algorithm changes recently made to Facebook are decreasing the reach of organic posts made by businesses, driving business owners to paid advertising via Facebook in the hopes of increasing exposure to potential customers. The…