Braising

Braised Short Ribs: Still not a great photo...I went through the chest freezer last night and found some beef short ribs, so I took them out to thaw.

Do you have an electric wok languishing in a closet somewhere? Many people do. I actually acquired mine when I moved into an apartment several years ago and found it in a cupboard. I don't know about elsewhere, but electric woks became very popular in the United States as Chinese food became less exotic and people wanted to begin making stir-fried food at home. Ironically, electric woks aren't very good at authentic stir-frying. Among other things, they rarely get anywhere near hot enough, they usually have non-stick coatings (less than ideal), and they are stationary. While they aren't actually all that useful for their intended purpose, you can retrieve yours from the closet because there are plenty of other things you can do with it.

Dry Lavender Soda is part of a line of all-natural, low-sugar beverages. It has a distinct lavender flavor and, perhaps surprisingly, I discovered that it makes an awesome braising liquid for chicken.