Bourbon-Infused Smoked Cherries

On July 9, 2026July 9, 2026 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Column, refrigeratedLeave a comment

If last week’s Twice as Tasty column explaining how to smoke cherries blew your mind, the recipe I share this week in the Flathead Beacon will explode your tastebuds. Few cocktail garnishes surpass cherries that have been smoked and then preserved in bourbon. If you go big and smoke most of your cherry harvest or the flats you buy from a local orchard, these cherries are delicious in baked goods too, including the recipe I’ll share in my next column.

Smoking can preserve food on its own, but the short smoking time I recommend for fruits and vegetables is really just about flavor. Smoked cherries last a little longer than fresh ones, but they remain so juicy that they eventually will spoil and mold in the refrigerator. Submerging them in alcohol stops that spoilage process. As long as the cherries remain covered in the liquid and I dip into the jar with a clean spoon every time I garnish a cocktail, I can store them at fridge temperature until the next harvest.
Learn to make Bourbon-Infused Smoked Cherries

Smoked Cherries

On July 2, 2026July 2, 2026 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Column, grilledLeave a comment

The summer grilling season typically conjures up images of burgers and brats, but I get fewer raised eyebrows these days when I suggest in my Grilled and Smoked workshop, and share recipes for, grilling asparagus, corn, and pineapple. Smoking vegetables and fruit is just as effective at adding flavor, as I explain this week in my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon.

With smoking, you have the option of adding heat or not, which creates a different effect from a searing-hot grill. Cold-smoked vegetables retain more of their raw crispness, and cold-smoked fruits, like cherries, stay plumper and juicier. Hot smoking or preroasting works better for dense root vegetables that you want to make soft and tender, like beets.

Because produce absorbs smoke far more quickly than, say, brisket, you don’t need an expensive smoker—and some might actually get too hot for cold smoking. I smoke all of my vegetables, fruits, cheese, and fish in an old Weber kettle grill. I started with woodchips and a few briquettes and now use a smoke tube loaded with pellets to ensure the lowest smoking temperature.
Learn to make Smoked Cherries

Basil Buttercream Frosting

On June 25, 2026June 25, 2026 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Column, refrigeratedLeave a comment

My favorite childhood birthday cake was angel food, partly because it was always so light and airy and partly because it didn’t call for frosting. I was never a fan of the frostings that topped typical children’s cakes, which tasted supersweet and set up almost as stiff as pavlova. It wasn’t until I learned to make buttercream that I truly embraced frosted desserts.

As I explain this week in my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon, a good buttercream frosting is both rich and airy. It practically melts on your tongue, without leaving it feeling coated in sugar crystals. It accepts almost any flavor, from classic chocolate or vanilla bean to the unexpected in both color and taste, like the leafy green hue and hints of spiciness and anise imparted by basil.
Learn to make Basil Buttercream Frosting

Herb-Infused Sugar

On June 20, 2026June 20, 2026 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Column, dry storedLeave a comment

I preserve more herbs and other foods in salt than in sugar, but if you have a sweet tooth, you might do the reverse. As I explain this week in my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon, sugar, like salt, absorbs moisture and oils and inhibits spoilage. In high concentrations, such as in jams made without pectin, sugar traps enough water that microorganisms can’t grow. Once unsealed and refrigerated, such jams last longer than low-sugar jams, and mold usually forms only on the surface and only after weeks of air exposure.

As sugar absorbs natural oils from herbs and spices, it also picks up their flavor. Vanilla sugar is a simple example—and a fantastic way to repurpose a vanilla bean pod once you’ve scraped out the seeds for jam, buttercream, or a sweet sauce. You get the same effect when you infuse sugar with herbs, edible flowers, and other botanicals. You can use these in any recipe that calls for sugar, but they have the most impact when used to sweeten whipped cream or frosting, sprinkled on baked goods, baked into simple ones like shortbread, or stirred into a beverage.
Learn to make Herb-Infused Sugar

Buttery Jam-Filled Cupcakes

On June 16, 2026June 16, 2026 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn cakes, ColumnLeave a comment

I generally prefer pies, galettes, and other fruity desserts to cake, partly because of the fruit but mostly because I attended too many childhood parties with dry cake and overly sweet frosting. The handful of cake and cupcake recipes that I do bake, including the one in my most recent Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon, emphasize custardy or buttery batter that bakes up moist and light.

With a full-size, single-layer cake, you don’t have to worry about evenly dividing the batter: simply pour the entire bowlful into a loaf, sheet, or bundt pan and bake. For layered cakes, I find it’s worth weighing the batter to ensure an even portion in each pan. You can be less particular about cupcakes and just eyeball their equal fullness. Their second advantage, for the baker, lies in your ability to vary the flavors as you fill and decorate a single batch of batter.
Learn to make Buttery Jam-Filled Cupcakes

A Decade of Eating Well Year-Round

On June 4, 2026June 4, 2026 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Column, fresh eating, WorkshopsLeave a comment

The Twice as Tasty blog turns 10 years old this month, and it seems both that the decade has just flown by and that I’ve been sharing my love of eating well year-round for far, far longer. I collected my favorite recipes from the decade for you this month in my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon. In this blog post, I’ve also gathered blog readers’ favorite recipes into an easily bookmarked collection. Finally, I share some exciting news about upcoming private and public local workshops and my food writing for other publications.

This milestone wouldn’t have been possible without you! Thanks for reading, following, encouraging me, and making your own world twice as tasty.
Get recipe collections and learn what’s new

Balsamic-Roasted Radishes

On May 29, 2026May 29, 2026 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Column, fresh eating2 Comments

This time of year, I balance daily green salads with hot dishes, both featuring spring vegetables but providing different flavors and textures. Arugula changes from crisp to silky in Cheesy Wilted Arugula Penne. Asparagus transforms from grassy and bright to smoky and charred when grilled. And as I explain this week in my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon, radishes shift from peppery to sweet when roasted.

I emphasize salad radishes in this week’s recipe—a group that includes classic red-skinned Cherry Belle, multicolor Easter Egg, oblong French Breakfast, and green-and-pink Watermelon varieties—since they’re in their spring flush and we typically think of eating them raw. A giant daikon radish, which is typically sown in late summer to fall for a fall or mild winter harvest, can also be roasted but needs slightly different treatment. Peel this long, dense radish and then cut it into half-moons or cubes before roasting. When cooked, daikon radish holds more of its spicy flavor than round salad radishes.
Learn to make Balsamic-Roasted Radishes

Spring Pearl Barley Salad

On May 21, 2026May 21, 2026 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn ColumnLeave a comment

It’s easy to think of spring salads as light and delicate, because many of the first vegetables available to mix into them are tender greens and herbs, rather than the meaty tomatoes and sweet peppers that ripen in the summer garden. By mixing spring crops into a hearty, filling base, a salad like the one I share this week my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon can carry a meal.

Grains like pearl barley and farro, beans and other legumes, starchy vegetables like potatoes and sweet potatoes, and breads like a sourdough loaf for panzanella and Twice-Baked Sourdough Pita Chips for fattoush all turn a couple of handfuls of raw vegetables into a full meal. On the weekends, I often cook a double batch of Bulgur Taco “Meat” or beans to turn into Vegetarian Red Beans and Rice and then fold the rest of the batch into fresh lunch salads throughout the week.
Learn to make Spring Pearl Barley Salad

Tomato and Herb Salad Dressing

On May 16, 2026May 16, 2026 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Column, salads2 Comments

In winter months, when the ground is frozen and blanketed in snow, I rarely buy and eat fresh greens. But as the soil warms and spring greens sprout in my garden, I start eating salads—daily. The first ones feature mounds of greens and herbs sparsely dotted with other vegetables. When my lettuces bolt and turn bitter, tomatoes, cucumbers, and snap beans take over. Beets, carrots, and kale, plus a small flush of spinach, bump up against the first snowfall.

This type of seasonal salad building means you rarely find a mix of lettuce, tomato, and cucumber in my bowl. But as I share this week in my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon, you can still enjoy flavor pairings produced in different seasons. The secret is simple: make your own salad dressing. Homegrown frozen cherry tomatoes and dried basil have far more flavor than the fresh options you could buy at the store right now. In an easy dressing, they give summery flair to spring greens.
Learn to make Tomato and Herb Salad Dressing

Rhubarb-Ginger Seltzer

On May 7, 2026May 16, 2026 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn beverages, ColumnLeave a comment

As temperatures warm, I’m drawn to refreshing chilled beverages, but most store-bought versions are too sweet, fizzy, or artificial-tasting on my tongue—and the best brands are expensive. So I make own my fizzy beverages instead, to drink as a substitute for soda and mix into cocktails. The one I share this week in my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon uses spring’s first flush of rhubarb.

Rhubarb grows prolifically in my garden, so this all-natural seltzer concentrate costs me pennies to make. I have full control over the sweetness, as well as the fizziness of each drink, thanks to a countertop carbonation unit. Making my own flavored seltzers also reduces the number of cans and bottles I have to haul to a recycling center. The process takes minimal hands-on time and creates a long-lasting concentrate that flavors a large batch of drinks. I can’t think of any downside to creating this seltzer and similar versions with other fruit.
Learn to make Rhubarb-Ginger Seltzer