Make Your Own... part 1

It can be easy and fun to make your own cooking products.  Here are a few goodies that anyone can make, use and enjoy.

Bread Crumbs

If you use bread crumbs in any of your cooking, you will love this because it means never buying them again.  Anytime you have bread that you're not going to use before it goes bad (part of a homemade loaf, the heal of a store bought loaf, etc.), simply tear it up into small pieces and lay it out in any flat container, such as a baking sheet or Tupperware lid.  Let the pieces sit out, uncovered, for at least 2-3 days and try to stir them around once, or twice a day.  Once the crumbs are completely dried out and larger pieces are crumbly, transfer them to a food processor, or blender and pulse until they are ground to your desired size and consistency.  If you do not have a food processor, or blender you can crush the crumbs by hand with any hard kitchen item - I like to use the top of my butter dish turned upside down!  Once the crumbs are crushed, store them in a jar or airtight containers for use anytime.  (Add a  generous sprinkle of Italian seasoning to make Italian bread crumbs!)

 Infused Olive Oil

This is so easy and so useful...  People pay a lot of money for flavored olive oil, but you can make your own with practically no effort.  Gather your olive oil (any type you want to use is fine), your herbs (preferably dried) and a jar/bottle (you can use the bottle the oil came in if you want).  Using dry herbs instead of fresh will prevent bacteria from growing in your oil and the oil will stay good for a longer amount of time.  The tastiest infused olive oil I've sampled was jalapeno garlic mixed with orange - it was amazing!  You shouldn't use more than two flavors in one bottle, but you can always combine different infused oils later.  A few great flavors I would recommend are chili oil (cut the tops off of some dried Thai chilies, or any other small spicy peppers), garlic-basil (dry out some fresh, whole basil leaves and use fresh, peeled garlic cloves) and citrus (remove the peel from two oranges, or lemons).  To infuse the olive oil, simply add your flavoring items to your bottle of oil and seal up tight for 24-48 hours.  If using peppers, add the whole thing; if using orange, or lemon, use the peel.  When your oil is done, remove the flavoring items by passing oil through a strainer, or sifter and return oil to the bottle to store for use.