helpful products

Here are some baking products that are really handy to have on hand.

This set of flavored oils is worth its weight in gold... It seems like I never have lemons, oranges, or limes on hand when I want them. Or I buy them and they end up spoiling before getting around to using them. These oils are used in place of grating fresh rind in recipes. I REALLY don't like grating citrus rind and it seems like half of it just sticks in the grater. These three little bottles will last a long time in the refrigerator (we've had ours a few years already) and go a long way as it takes only a fraction of oil to substitute for the amount of rind called for in a recipe. You can order them here.

In the same vein, Penzey's spices is a great resource. Their catalog and their website have good recipes and they have quality spices and seasonings at reasonable prices. None of their products contain MSG, including their soup bases which can be substituted for bouillon. We recently tried their pizza seasoning blend - add a teaspoon to a can of tomato sauce and you're set to go. I've learned quite a bit just by reading their catalog descriptions about where spices come from. (I know - I'm a nerd.)