Julie Laing | Twice as Tasty

Oats, quinoa, pumpkin seeds, and agave syrup form the base for this apple- and currant-flavored granola.

Buckwheat Porridge with Mushrooms and Eggs - Flathead Beacon I don’t have issues with gluten-heavy foods, but I know so many people who watch their intake that I started developing specifically gluten-free recipes. I had such a positive response to my Low-Glute...

This is a gluten-free recipe I make all year: Now featuring mushrooms, Vinegar-Pickled Mustard Eggs, and the last of my storage onions. Soon with my first herbs, asparagus, and peas. Later with zucchini and sweet peppers. What will you add? flatheadbeacon.com/2026/03/05/b...

Enjoy this warming, filling, naturally gluten-free grain bowl as a savory breakfast or later in the day.

We Tested 10 Editor-Recommended Nonstick Skillets and Found a Winning "Forever" Pan Plus 2 more standout options.

I spent several weeks testing 10 nonstick skillets for @thekitchn.bsky.social to find the best options for any budget. I tested not just pans with a “traditional” nonstick coating but also ones with environmentally friendly surfaces. Read my results here: www.thekitchn.com/best-nonstic...

Free the Seeds 2026: Growing Together, presented by Land to Hand. Saturday, March 7, 9 am-3 pm, FVCC's Arts and Technology Building, Kalispell, Montana. Go to landtohandmt.org for all the details.

Local peeps: I will be teaching a free workshop Saturday, March 7, at Free the Seeds 2026: Growing Together, presented by Land to Hand. I teach at 12:30 pm as part of the full day of free workshops, a seed giveaway, and other activities. Get all the details here: landtohandmt.org/programs/fre...

This 4-For-$1.50 Dollar Tree Kitchen Find Has Revolutionized My Dinner Prep You can't beat the price of this kitchen tool that makes cooking (and even cleanup) easier. It's one of my most favorite recent finds.

Sometimes it's the little things: in this case, little prep bowls that have become a mainstay in my kitchen. Read about why I love them and how I use them in my recent article for @simplyrecipes.com: www.simplyrecipes.com/dollar-tree-...

This Simple Red Onion Trick Makes Everything Taste Better As someone who wrote an entire cookbook on pickles, I know that giving red onions the pickle treatment creates a tangy topping for tortas, tostadas, rice bowls, and more.

Pickled onions are some of the easiest pickles you can make, any time of year. In my recent article for @simplyrecipes.com, Chef Rick Martinez explains why pickled red onions make everything taste better and I share my quickest pickled onion technique. www.simplyrecipes.com/red-onion-tr...

Basic and Flavored Shortbread Cookies - Flathead Beacon When you buy a packet of shortbread cookies, they often seem like sweet yet uninspired biscuits. Shortbread recipes might not look any more enticing, because classic shortbread uses just three ingredi...

With the three-ingredient recipe in my latest column, there are so many potential upgrades. Brown butter or honey? Chocolate dip or cinnamon-sugar sprinkle? Citrus zest, crystallized ginger, or sesame seeds? Sweet spices or savory herbs? Which ones will you choose? flatheadbeacon.com/2026/02/26/b...

Stick with my three-ingredient recipe, or make it your own with custom flavors and shapes.

It is both! Enjoy!

Squash and Coconut Milk Curry - Flathead Beacon I particularly enjoy Asian-influenced curries in winter months. They’re warming, in temperature and spiciness, and bright with seasonings like zesty lime juice and salty fish sauce. Many vegetables wo...

I'm finally getting around to sharing last week's column. It's one of my favorite cold-weather meals, combining winter squash with summer vegetables plucked from the freezer into a warming curry. flatheadbeacon.com/2026/02/19/s...

The Right Way to Split an English Muffin (for Ultimate Nooks and Crannies) This simple trick exposes the craggy surface of each side of an English muffin, ready to capture melted butter or a gooey egg yolk.

Want the most nooks and crannies in your English muffins? Of course you do. I share the best way to achieve that—thoroughly tested with my homemade Stovetop Sourdough English Muffins—in my recent article for @simplyrecipes.com: www.simplyrecipes.com/how-to-split...

Vegetarian Smoked-Beet Reuben - Flathead Beacon I started using sourdough starter in rye bread because I wanted to recreate the loaves I ate while living in Russia. Then I tried a smoked-beet Reuben at the deli run in the mid-2010s by Three Forks G...

I have Three Forks Grille in Columbia Falls to thank for inspiring the sandwich in this week's column. The spinoff deli that served a similar Reuben was short lived (although the main restaurant still creates amazing dinners). So the best sandwich is now DIY. flatheadbeacon.com/2026/02/12/v...

Smoky beets make a delicious filling for a vegetarian Reuben, especially when you layer in homemade condiments.

Tangy Pickle Dip - Flathead Beacon Dips welcome fresh vegetables during the growing season, not just raw dippers straight from the garden but also mix-ins, like cucumbers in tzatziki and layers of alliums in onion dip. In winter, the h...

Looking for ways to upgrade the nibbles at your Super Bowl party (or however else you plan to enjoy Sunday)? Whip up the easy Tangy Pickle Dip in my latest column. If you plan ahead, you can toast up homemade sourdough bagel chips as dippers. flatheadbeacon.com/2026/02/05/t...

Goat cheese, yogurt, and up to three kinds of pickles create a bold dip that tastes delicious on homemade bagel chips.

Keep Garlic Powder From Clumping With This Surprising Pantry Staple Using this simple, inexpensive trick soaks up excess moisture and prevents hardening of garlic powder and other common spices in your pantry.

I stopped keeping garlic powder in my kitchen at one point because it always clumped up. Then I discovered the trick I share in my latest article for @simplyrecipes.com. It works so well I now dry my homegrown garlic and grind it into powder. www.simplyrecipes.com/how-to-keep-...

The Trick for the Crispiest Oven-Baked Chicken Thighs Here's how I create crisp skin-on chicken thighs that my entire family happily gobbles up. Bonus: It causes minimal kitchen mess.

I bet you didn't expect me, who hasn't cooked or eaten chicken in decades, to share tips on the best way to bake it at Simply Recipes. But no one expected me to review a Sugar Ray show back in the day either. Enjoy. www.simplyrecipes.com/crispiest-ov...

I Cooked Exclusively With Carote Nonstick Pans for a Month — the Removable Handles Are Worth the Hype They’re great for small spaces.

In my first piece in a long time for @thekitchn.bsky.social, I tested all sorts of food in Carote's super affordable, nonstick, detachable handle cookware. Yes, even chicken! Check out my review: www.thekitchn.com/carote-cookw...

Sourdough Rye Bread - Flathead Beacon My sourdough rye bread recipe clearly demonstrates how varying flours in dough creates an entirely different loaf. I developed it from Sourdough Cabin Bread, with the same 1:2:3 ratio of sourdough sta...

In this week's @flatheadbeacon column, I share my straight-up, no-nonsense rye loaf. Just wild yeast, water, flour, and salt: no instant coffee, cocoa powder, caraway, corn syrup, or other fillers. It's dark, tangy, and delicious. flatheadbeacon.com/2026/01/29/s...

Changing the flours and adjusting the technique gives my classic loaf a new texture and flavor.

The Tuna Salad Mistake I Made for Years (And How I Fixed It) This smart substitution is a refrigerator staple that brings a nice tanginess to my beloved lunchtime classic.

Whether you want more zing and flavor in your tuna salad or you're just out of mayo, I've got the upgrade for you in my latest piece for @simplyrecipes.com. www.simplyrecipes.com/tuna-salad-y...

The Only Dinner Recipe I Don't Take Shortcuts on (It's That Good) I’m hooked on this affordable and simple one-dish meal. And while I've made slight changes sometimes, this recipe is perfect as-is.

It's rare for me to make a recipe without tweaking it, even the first time I try it, but Meera Sodha's Vegan Potato and Cabbage Curry sounded so good that I made it exactly as written—and still do. Learn why in my recent @simplyrecipes.com article. www.simplyrecipes.com/meera-sodha-...

Why You Should Never Store Potatoes With Onions I grow enough potatoes to last the entire winter. To avoid sprouting and softening, you must keep potatoes separate from onions.

It seems natural to store onions and potatoes together, but it's actually one of the fastest ways to see them sprout and rot. Learn why, and get my tips that let me store potatoes and onions for months, in my latest for @simplyrecipes.com. www.simplyrecipes.com/never-store-...

Parmesan Sourdough Bagel Chips - Flathead Beacon As I mentioned in last week’s column, I bake bagels in full-dozen batches even for our two-person household because they keep well. If the final few verge on stale, another pass through the oven creat...

In last week's column I shared my recipe for homemade sourdough bagels, and this week I explain how to turn those bagels into chips. You can make these chips from store-bought bagels too, but really, who can resist homemade sourdough ones? flatheadbeacon.com/2026/01/22/p...

Slightly stale homemade sourdough bagels bake into crispy chips sturdy enough to support thick dips.

The $2.99 Trader Joe’s Find I Drive Across States for (And Always Buy a Case) I can buy these for $1 to $5 less per jar than the ones I find at my local stores. The Trader Joe's brand is also superior in texture and flavor.

If you live in Montana (or North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Mississippi, West Virginia, and perhaps even Alaska or Hawaii), you know all about Trader Joe's pilgrimages. In my recent piece for @simplyrecipes.com, I share one item I always stock up on. www.simplyrecipes.com/trader-joes-...

Sourdough Bagels - Flathead Beacon Sourdough bagels were on my to-make list from the moment I started baking with wild yeast. I’ve perfected my recipe over the years to create dense, chewy bagels ideally sized to layer and bite into as...

I prefer dense, chewy bagels to ones that feel like squishy rolls, and making them with sourdough starter and boiling them in a soda bath creates the perfect texture. I share my recipe and technique in my latest column: flatheadbeacon.com/2026/01/15/s...

A series of rest times, smooth shaping and a boiling soda bath before baking result in dense, chewy sourdough bagels.

The 1-Step Garlic Trick That Makes It Sweet, Not Harsh Raw garlic can taste sharp and overpowering if you use it the wrong way. This simple one-step trick mellows garlic’s bite and brings out its sweeter, more balanced flavor.

I had a hard time narrowing down my uses for roasted garlic in this recent @simplyrecipes.com article. I constantly have a head on hand for roasted vegetables, pasta, dips, pizza, soups, nachos, omelets, and simply smearing on toast. www.simplyrecipes.com/garlic-upgra...