How to access expired website content from America's Test Kitchen

UPDATE: America's Test Kitchen and Cook's Illustrated have updated their websites, so this trick no longer works. I very much encourage everyone out there to get a subscription to Cook's Illustrated or cooksillustrated.com - it's well worth it...

Just discovered a way to access all the expired content on the America's Test Kitchen website.

Click here for this old review of chef's knives.

Didn't work huh? You should have ended up at http://americastestkitchen.com/cooksbounce.asp, with message saying "Expired Content".

Now try this link. (If you're not already registered on the website, you can type in frugal.foodie@gmail.com and hit submit to get through the registration.)

It worked, right?

Here's the trick:

• 1. Right click on any expired link on the site. Copy it.
  
  
• 2. Paste the link into your browser address bar.
  
  
• 3a. If the link includes this sequence at the end, "&iSeason=", change the number after the equals sign to a 6 so that it reads, "&iSeason=6".
  
  
• 3b. Or simply add "&iSeason=6" to the end of the url if nothing is there.
  
  
• 4. Type in your e-mail (or frugal.foodie@gmail.com) to get through the registration, and there you have it, all the America's Test Kitchen content you could ever want.

Just another quick tip from the Frugal Foodie...

UPDATE: I posted this tip at Chowhound and eGullet earlier today, but both posts were removed by administrators. This may be more controversial than I initially thought.

To clarify: I don't advocate doing anything illegal to access restricted content on the internet. I don't believe this work-around is illegal, so please follow your own conscience in using it. I'm a big fan of America's Test Kitchen and Cook's Illustrated, and certainly don't want to harm their business. I may just go ahead and alert them to this gap in their security myself. Thoughts from any visitors on the ethics of this would be appreciated...

10 Steps To A Frugal Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is the ultimate frugal holiday. No expensive presents. No fancy decorating. Just quality time with the family and a delicious home-cooked meal. And the meal does NOT need to be expensive or time-consuming. Thanksgiving is mostly about the side-dishes, and side-dishes are often inexpensive. Even the meat course is not too bad, with high-quality turkeys going for only about two or three bucks a pound.

But keep it simple. There's no need to make complicated dishes with expensive ingredients. Just make simple, classic recipes. If you do it with a little finesse, it will be the best Thanksgiving you've ever had.

A Few Days Beforehand

1. Buy a good quality turkey. Time is money, and you don't want to have to spend time brining a bland supermarket bird just so that it is juicy and tasty. If you're in California, I'd recommend a Diestel brand turkey (found at Whole Foods among other places). The turkey will have been treated nicely during its life (no factory farms), and will taste better than a Butterball that has been injected with flavored salt water (so-called self-basting). Go for 1 to 1.5 pounds of turkey per person. Stick with the upper end if you want a lot of leftovers.

Can Be Done Ahead of Time

2. Make a simple fall soup. Try carrot-ginger or butternut squash.

3. Make dessert. Try a pumpkin or apple pie. Or a pumpkin cheesecake. Even just cookies and ice cream would be simple, delicious, and inexpensive.

4. Make cranberry sauce. The canned cranberry jelly is somehow retro and delicious, but a cranberry-orange relish is incredibly easy to make and tastes awesome. Last year we served both the canned and the homemade.

On Turkey Day

5. Cook the turkey simply. There's a lot of extra things you could do if you want the perfect turkey (such as brining, e.g. this SF Chronicle recipe), but buying a good turkey and cooking it to the right temperature is probably good enough. Try these high-heat, quick-cooking time recipes from Epicurious or Safeway. Temperature matters, so Thanksgiving is a good opportunity to pick up an "instant-read" thermometer. I've had pretty good luck with the Taylor model.

6. Potatoes are cheap. Mash them. Last year I enjoyed mashed potatoes with sage and white cheddar cheese.

7. Make stuffing (more properly called dressing b/c it's cooked outside the bird). Bittmann has a feature today on simple stuffings. For something more substantial (but more expensive) try cornbread-sausage stuffing.

8. Make another vegetable side dish. Try creamed leeks. Or make something lighter, like green beans with ginger butter.

9. Remove and rest turkey, heat up side dishes, and make gravy. The Epicurious turkey recipe cited above has a simple version. Alton Brown's scientific explanation plus from-scratch version here.

10. Serve and enjoy!

UPDATE: Other Thanksgiving advice for those on a budget from About. Even more advice here, here, here, and here.

Carrot-Ginger Soup

+ + =

This is my first recipe post, just in time for Thanksgiving. If you go to a market with good prices, you should be able to make this recipe for about $2.50. Enjoy!

Carrot-Ginger Soup (serves 8)
Originally from "Recipes From A Very Small Island" by Linda Greenlaw and Martha Greenlaw

6 Tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter
2 pounds carrots, peeled and thinly sliced or grated (I run the carrots through the shredder on my food processor)
2 large onions, finely chopped
1 Tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger (use a little more if you want a stronger ginger flavor)
2 teaspoons grated orange zest
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
4-5 cups homemade chicken stock or the low-sodium canned/boxed version (the Trader Joe's organic free-range version is good and cheap)
1 cup half-and-half
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup minced flat-leaf parsley

1. In a large, heavy saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the carrots, onions, and a few pinches of salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 15 minutes, or until the vegetables begin to soften.
2. Add the ginger, orange zest, and coriander. Add 2 cups of the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low so that the stock simmers. Cover, and cook gently for about 30 minutes, or until the carrots are very tender.
3. Transfer the soup to a blender or food processor and puree until smooth. You may have to do this in batches. Return the pureed soup to the pan.
4. Add the remaining chicken stock and the half-and-half to the soup until brought to desired consistency. (I like it pretty thick). Heat through over medium heat. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
5. Ladle into bowls and sprinkle with parsley. Serve immediately. (You also could refrigerate for a few days or freeze for a few weeks.)