How To Neatly Open a Pomegranate

I've shared my love of fresh pomegranates with you in the past, but I haven't shown you how to get all those yummy juice filled arils (seeds) out of them.  Some people like to cut the whole fruitin half, which is fine, but it cuts right through a ton of those juicy arils.  Here's what I do - first I cover my tablecloth with newspaper (the food section works particularly well).  I also put on a grubby shirt, just in case.

Okay, now I'm ready to get started.  I make a very shallow x-cut in the top, being very careful not to cut deep enough to pierce any of the arils. 

Next I follow the lines of the x-cut down the sides of the pomegranate, using just the tip of the knife to score the skin (again, not going deep enough to cut any of the arils).

Then I gently pry the pomegranate apart where I made the x-cut (a blunt butter knife might be helpful the first time you do this).  Once you get your thumbs in, it will pull apart very easily.  You can see the entire pomegranate is filled with hundreds of juicy arils separated by layers of a papery thin membrane.

The arils come out very easily, leaving just the skin and membrane behind.  One word of caution - I once did an entire case of these at one time and my hands were dry and stained for a couple of days afterward.  I don't bother to wear gloves when I open just one, but I would if I were to open a large number of them again.

And here are the arils.  I got just over 1 1/2 cups worth from this pomegranate.  We sometimes sprinkle them on salads or desserts, but our favorite way to eat them is just the way they are.

The next time you see a pomegranate at the store, I hope you'll give it a try!

My Mom Cave

Welcome to my Mom Cave.

Susan at Between Naps on the Porch is hosting a Mom Cave party sponsored by HomeGoods.  I've never been to a HomeGoods, but I like their commercials.  Dear HomeGoods, Please come to my town!!

Update - thanks for opening a store in my town - I love it! 

When I first started thinking about which space in the house I would call  my Mom Cave, my office came to mind.  It houses my desk and computer.  And my cookbook collection.

It's bright.

And sunny.

And Misty will tell you there's a big comfy couch and matching ottoman for reading or napping.  But after I thought about it for a while, I came to the conclusion that my real Mom Cave is my kitchen.

It's not the biggest kitchen I've ever had, but I love it and I happily spend a lot of time in it.

I love my range - it's my baby.  Hubby bought it for me when we built our last house, and I was very happy to have it moved half way across the country when we bought this house.

I like these guys too - Mr. and Mrs. KitchenAid.  I prefer using the 5-quart white one for making things like bread doughs and cake batters, while I prefer the 6-quart model for making big batches of buttercream or focaccia.  Sometimes I use them both at the same time, like when I'm making a wedding cake.  I have extra bowls, beaters, and whisks for each - they come in very handy.

My dishwasher has a stainless steel interior.  It's very quiet and no tomato stains!!  It gets quite a workout here - I do at least 2 loads a day, sometimes more. 

I really enjoy the granite counters - very low maintenance.  My only real complaint about the kitchen is the fact that there are no outside windows.  It can get kind of dark, especially on a dreary day like today, so we had under cabinet lighting installed throughout.

I custom ordered this cherry and walnut cutting board from the guy who makes a lot of the boards you see on the food network.  It's huge and I can chop tons of veggies on it with room to spare.

More counters... and the sink.  I really would have liked a single bowl sink, but our builder installed this thing instead.  It's hard to wash large platters and sheet trays with that divider in the way, but what's done is done.  You can't see them, but there are saddle stools on the other side of the peninsula.  I prefer to work in the kitchen solo, but I don't mind if you watch.  It's a nice spot to sit with my laptop and research recipes or prepare my next blog post.

This little counter is right next to the oven.  It's where I keep my olive oil selection, salt and pepper, onions, garlic, and shallots.  And my rotating cake stand, of course!

Wanna peek in some of my cabinets and drawers?

This is my baking cabinet.  I like it to stay organized which is pretty easy to do since I'm the only one who goes in there.  Except for the chocolate chips on the to shelf - hubby treats himself to a handful just about every day (I would never have left that bag like that, but I'm too short to reach it, and I know he'll get into again tomorrow, so I don't worry about it).  Anyway, this is where I store kitchen twine, baking spices, cocoas, various extracts and French essence, vanilla beans, a zillions kinds of decorative sugar, liquid measures, etc.

This is my baking drawer.  It houses several sets of measuring cups and spoons, piping tips, pastry brushes, a pastry blender, a stainless steel ruler, hand mixer attachments, a big cake lifter thingy, and 6 cookie scoops in various sizes.

My spice drawer.  Again, it stays neat because I'm the only one who goes in there.

Here's my bulk spice and tea cabinet.  Popcorn too... we love our popcorn.

I'm short and have an especially hard time reaching anything in this corner cabinet, so I store items that I don't use very often in here.  Cake pedestals, extra mixer bowls, water pitchers, crystal bowls and vases, etc.

My mixing bowls and various pie plates are down low for easy access.  I have a thing for pretty pie plates.

Some of my specialty cake pans.  I have another cabinet that holds just round pans in every size imaginable.

Everyday dishes and storage containers.  I added wire shelves to maximize storage.

Under the kitchen sink is another organizer shelf thing.  It's adjustable and I like that I was able to conform it around the pipes and garbage disposal.  I love that I can hang spray bottles on it.

There are two lazy Susan cabinets.  This one houses small appliances that I don't use very often.  I didn't get a picture of the other one, but that's where I store my flours, sugars, rice, etc.

This is the original pantry that came with the house - too small to be my pantry, but it works great as a storage closet for my pots and pans, crock pots, sheet trays, bulk onion and potato storage, etc.

This is a pantry we built to replace the tiny inadequate pantry the house came with - I can see everything at a glance.  This was a huge improvement to the functionality of the kitchen.

Well, that's about it.  I'll walk you to the door, but first check out my gelpro mat.  Ceramic floors are not very comfortable to stand on, so this baby makes my feet feel oh so good.  If you've been thinking about getting one of these, go for it!  I can't imagine going back to life without one.

Thanks for visiting.