Trivet

This Trivet will protect your countertops—but it looks snazzy enough to use in front of guests on a tabletop, too! This project makes great use of those corks with printed ends. Use them as the center surrounded by corks with plain ends, as shown in the photo, or mix it up however you like.

You will need:

* 37 corks (all the same height and width)

* Hot glue gun

* 1 (22") piece of (⁷⁄₈"-wide) grosgrain ribbon

1. Arrange corks as shown in the photo and glue together.
2. Glue ribbon along the center of the outside of the trivet, making sure to glue and tuck the ribbon into the crevices where the corks meet. Overlap the ends and cut off excess ribbon.

Cooking with Wine

“I cook with wine; sometimes I even add it to the food.” It’s a funny line from W.C. Fields, but the underlying idea illuminates one of the surest ways to successfully match wine with a meal: Cook with the same wine you serve. There are plenty of wines available for $10 or less that make perfect candidates for cooking, and for sipping while you cook. Trader Joe’s is a perfect place to find such wines.

Other great candidates for cooking are fortified wines, such as port, Madeira, Marsala, and Sherry. Each has a massive concentration of flavor, and they have the ability to stay fresh for quite a while after opening, thanks to their high alcohol content.

Wine has certain cooking properties that you should be aware of. Some “rules” are hard and fast because they’re based on chemistry. Others are based on common sense.

• When using wine in dishes with milk, cream, eggs, or butter, add the wine first to prevent curdling.
• Add table wines at the beginning of cooking to allow the alcohol to evaporate and produce a subtle taste.
• Add fortified wines at the end of cooking to retain their full-bodied taste.
• To intensify a wine’s flavor, reduce it. One cup of wine will reduce to ¹⁄₄ cup when you cook it uncovered for about ten minutes.
• Using wine in a marinade will tenderize in addition to adding flavor.
• If you use wine in a recipe that doesn’t call for wine, use it as part of the recipe’s total liquid—not in addition.
• Unless the recipe specifies otherwise, use medium-dry to dry wine.
• Use white wine for light-colored and mildly flavored dishes and reds for darker-colored and more highly flavored dishes.