If you’re having a small New Year’s gathering (or if it’s just the two of you), I’ve got a great suggestion: King Crab Legs with Drawn Butter.

Easy. Elegant. Oh, yes, a bit expensive (which makes it extra special!).

King Crab is sweet and delicious, and unless you live in Alaska or further up north, it’s already cooked (and frozen) when you buy it. All you have to do is thaw, reheat and eat!

There are several ways to prepare King Crab, but I like to steam-reheat them in the oven. For a step-by-step tutorial on how to do it, click here.

Because this is a special night, I like to serve them with drawn butter (also called clarified butter). Drawn butter is butter that has been melted with the milk solids removed. You can also season it with herbs or lemon juice if you like. Drawn butter is also great to drizzle onto steamed vegetables.

Here’s a step-by-step tutorial for How To Make Drawn Butter:

Clarified Butter

prep: 5 minutes
cook: 15 minutes

serves 6, 2 tablespoons each

you’ll need… 

½ pound butter

let’s get to it…

1. Melt butter in a heavy saucepan on low heat.

2. Milk solids (in the form of white foam) will cloud the top: DO NOT STIR.

3. When butter is completely melted and small bubbles  begin to form around the edge, turn off heat. Let stand 3 minutes.

4. With a small ladle or spoon, skim off the milk solids.

5. You’ve made drawn butter! Try not to disturb any milk solids remaining on the bottom of the saucepan when you pour it bowls for dipping the crab.

For more Kitchen How-To and Tips, Check out my Extra Helpings Tab!

Need some help in the kitchen, but your volunteers are barely able to see over the counter top? Don’t despair… put them to work!

I’ve said it again and again, but some of my best memories are of being with my kids in the kitchen. It’s where they can learn about food, as well as some very basic life skills. They’ll also learn about kitchen safety and cleanliness, something that they’ll use the rest of their lives.

But, most important: make sure YOU have the time to help them! You don’t want to be rushing to get dinner on the table. You’ll need a lot of patience because the first few times they assist you, they’re not going to know what to do!

Kids from about 3-years-old can start helping (if they want!). I’m not a slave driver, but getting kids in the kitchen is a great way for them to learn about team work and that cooking can be fun.

Kids like to eat what they’ve had a hand in preparing, so you might get them to try some foods they’ve vowed they’d never eat. Most important, you’ll get the chance to really be with them… to hear their stories and inner secrets. And, if you have more than one child helping you, learn how to stand back and just listen to the conversation between and among them.

That’s how Mama finds out what’s REALLY going on in their lives…

For a breakdown on age-appropriate tasks, and more ideas on how to get your kids in the kitchen, Click Here.

We eat fresh broccoli all year, so I honestly didn’t know that it was a seasonal vegetable. Yep… fall to early spring, that’s when it’s at its peak.

I guess I thought that as long as the broccoli wasn’t yellow and limp, it was good to go.

No, no, no. There’s so much more to it.

Something to remember: even if you buy gorgeously green broccoli with tightly packed florets, if you overcook it you’ll loose all the nutrients. Lightly steam or microwave the broccoli until tender-crisp and you’ll preserve the cancer-fighting beta-carotene.

Here are 10 Tips for Buying Perfect Broccoli… at any time of year!

Hurt myself. Again. Hard to type. Even harder to work in the kitchen. Thank goodness for the Staybowlizer!

But before I start singing the praises of my new favorite kitchen helper, let’s talk about ME…

Between all the writing I do and the constant kitchen activity, I got me some vicious carpal tunnel syndrome in my left hand (I even have the ugly wrist brace to prove it). In addition to curating this fabulous website, I’m a culinary consultant… so I really can’t afford to miss a day’s work.

Thank goodness I met the Staybowlizer folks at the International Housewares Show in March (where they won an Innovation Award).

The sturdy Staybowlizer really is like a third hand in the kitchen (or in my case, a second hand). It holds your bowl in place so you can whisk your vinaigrette and stir your batter without your bowl dancing off the countertop.

This is a great alternative to the “damp towel ring” many of us have used to steady a bowl on the counter. The suction-like bottom keeps the Staybowlizer where you want it, and the tapered opening lets you tilt and angle the bowl for easier whipping.

You can also invert the 8¾-inch Staybowlizer ring on top of a pan of boiling water to create a double boiler. It’s made of BPA-free FDA standard food-safe silicone and is microwave and oven safe to 500°F.

Best part? It’s dishwasher safe. And, it comes in a lot of cool colors, so it even looks nice on your table as a trivet.

You can find it on Amazon.com or TheGrommet.com.

Here’s a great video that will show you what it’s all about: