Karen Hart
Expertise
Cooking Tips And Tricks, Grilled Cheese Sandwiches, Comfort Foods
- Karen's great food influences are her dad who taught her about patience and love with his fried cornmeal mush; her sister Linda whose green corn tamales and refried beans deserve a Michelin star; Nigella Lawson whose show was Karen's guilty pleasure during all six of her pregnancies; and Chrissy Teigen and John Legend whose cooking style and recipes make Karen's family happy eaters.
- Despite being a vegetarian, Karen loves the smell of bacon and grilling steaks for backyard barbecues.
- Karen loves learning about the culinary history of the U.S. capital and its surrounding areas.
Experience
Karen is a non-award-winning writer who has worked as a professional writer for over two decades. She freelanced for the Washington Post writing for its retired Sunday Source, as well as the D.C. Examiner. When she isn't trying the newest ice cream spot in town with her kids, she is watching Premier League Soccer.
Education
Karen has a B.A. in English Literature.
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Stories By Karen Hart
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Sometimes the simplest culinary ideas generate the best results, like in this super easy tip to serve spaghetti with brown butter and parmesan.
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In his youth, Edgar Allan Poe was known for his voracious thirst for alcohol. A family recipe for eggnog was the master of macabre's favorite tipple.
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If you've never been to Spain but are planning a trip in the near future, here's what to know about a typical breakfast spread and what it looks like.
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If you want to give this dish an Italian twist, it's time to borrow from Ina Garten's playbook and add a little pecorino cheese to your scrambled eggs.
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If you need to season or re-season your cast iron skillet with some EVOO, here's what you need to do (and what you need to be cautious about).
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When you are making the ultimate smash burger, one of the biggest mistakes home cooks make involves the smashing technique.
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If you really want to create a pancake that will have kids and adults coming back for more, reach for your hot chocolate powder and add it to the batter.
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Upgrade your scrambled eggs in the morning by using almond milk. With its silky texture, this non-dairy alternative works well for a satisfying egg experience.
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The paradoxical nature of this sauce is at the root of why it can frustrate the novice chef. But to get it right, you must have corn syrup and patience.
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It's time to rethink how you cut a slice of cake because it turns out the way you've been doing it all your life is incorrect. It's all about two changes.
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Salt comes in so many different varieties, it's easy to become overwhelmed. Why not follow the lead of celebrity chef Ina Garten and stock these three salts?
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If you are looking for a way to amp up your go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe, then you may want to consider adding bananas to your dough.
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While this bulbous root veggie is sweet by nature, that taste cannot only be tamed and balanced by adding black pepper, it can be transformed.
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Jell-O is delightful in its standard, jiggly-wiggly state. But when it gets thrown into the freezer a change takes place and all bets are off.
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If this is your spirit of choice and you want to leave behind the vintage in pursuit of the au courant, ditch the soda and reach for a cranberry juice mixer.
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Straight bourbon can be overwhelming for many drinkers, but you can add a simple ingredient to temper the taste. Adding orange juice can make it easier to sip.
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There may be a point when you find yourself with leftover ramen noodles and uncertain if you can store them for future use. The answer is, yes, you can.
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What is this chilly novelty? A smoked ice cube is water that has been infused with smoke from wood chips that are burned on a grill or in a smoker.
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If you're making the onion-overload that is a a Tennesse Onions casserole, it's easy for the dish to wind up too pungent. Luckily, that's easy to counteract.
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Starch - it's what makes pasta taste so good, but it can also be your dish's downfall. To avoid sticky pasta and ruined leftovers, this oily trick will help.
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The influence of California on the wine world cannot be understated - so much so that even Gordon Ramsay recognizes the state's stronghold in the industry.
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Ham and bacon are probably the meats you associate with adding to omelets, but beef jerky is a convenient and super savory alternative to elevate your dish.
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The fishy, umami flavor of sardines is hard to replicate. Luckily, tangy, crunchy capers are a great substitute for adding some plant-based Mediterranean zest.
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Most of us love a quesadilla, but making lots of them is fiddly, that is until you experiment with a giant sheet-pan quesadilla, with endless filling options.
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You might believe beer in a frosted glass improves the drinking experience - but don't buy into the myth, as a few factors actually dispel this notion.
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Both sugary and spicy, candied ginger packs a complex flavor that will elevate your next batch of gooey, chocolate brownies.
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American author Mark Twain made no secret of his love of whiskey. For awhile, his favorite drink was a twist on the classic old fashioned cocktail.