| Cooking Hints from Food Network Kitchens: Chocolate Chips, Lamb and Sugar |
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Food Network Kitchens Chocolate Chips for One It is unnecessary to make a batch of cookies and eat them all in one sitting. Prepare your favorite cookie recipe and roll the dough into logs. Then wrap the logs in plastic wrap and again in foil, and freeze. Cut and back as needed for you and your family. The dough will keep in the freezer for up to 3 months. Lamb for Spring When buying lamb, the first thing you should look for is meat that is moist but not sticky with fat that is opaque white. The color of the meat can vary from light to deep pink, depending on the age of the lamb, darker being older. Baby lamb is the youngest at slaughter time, being between 6 to 8 weeks old. Spring lamb is between 3 to 5 months old; regular lamb is under 12 months; while lamb between 1 and 2 years is yearling and over 2 years is the stronger-tasting mutton. Sugar Conversion The trickiest substitutions are when honey, maple, and corn syrups are used instead of sugar. Wet sweeteners are sweeter and contribute moisture to a recipe. Sugar, besides flavoring, affects the overall structure in a baked good. Converting a recipe that uses a dry to wet sweetener doesn't always work. A general guideline for substituting these wet sweeteners for granulated sugar is to use 2/3 cup honey or syrup per cup of granulated sugar, and to cut the overall liquid in the recipe by 1/4 cup. Many baking experts suggest if possible using honey as a stand-in for only half the sugar. (For more information, visit www.foodtv.com. Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service.)
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