I enjoy cooking but I’m not resolving to do anything in paricular about it over the next year other than to enjoy and learn more about it.
On the education front I’d like to:
Finish reading “On Food and Cooking“
Read a James Peterson book on a cooking subject
Pick up a copy of the “Flavor Bible“
Take an on-line [...]
Like most folks I’ve been seduced by the convenience of microwave popcorn – throw in an bag, hit the “popcorn” button, rinse, repeat. Over the holidays I made some caramel popcorn using the (*gasp*) non-microwave variety and had the oppertuniuty to hone some long forgotten popcorn skills:
2.5 tbsp oil; canola , corn or peanut
1/2 cup un-popped popcorn kernels
1/4 tsp [...]
Lately when I need a quick bite to eat I zap some frozen boneless buffalo style chicken pieces. I usually get a bag from Schwan’s – they are more tasty than spicy hot. Still, I like to have them with some store purchased blue cheese dressing to at least make my mouth think they are [...]
Usually I have a meal planned for Sunday evening, but last night I just had one too many things to do so it was a “Make Your Own Darn Dinner” (MYODD) affair.
When 7 PM rolled around my daughter was put off by having to “roll her own”. When I asked what she wanted she said [...]
My current culinary quest is hash browns. I’ve tried several recipes and none seem to capture the texture I’m looking for: Crisp on the outside, light and fluffy on the inside. Eventually I’d like to be able to incorporate some onions and seasoning into the equation, but for now I’m working on texture.
Most recipes call for shredding peeled potatoes on a box grater, [...]
Friday night and rather than hanging at my favorite watering hole, I’m at home cooking for the Yankee Swap party tomorrow night. I’m making spiced nuts and caramel corn as my swap gift. The nuts will go in a nice glass jar and the caramel corn in a festive tin.
The spiced nuts go like this:
1 [...]
It’s almost time for the annual Yankee Swap Party. Every year my friend Sue throws this increadable party the second Saturday in December. Everyone brings a $15 gift, a scratch ticket and something to eat. We all have a blast! There’s usually about 40+ people at the gathering.
This year there’s a tropical party theme. Along [...]
After cooking dinner and desserts for a few months, I came to recognize a oft-used hardware duo: the jelly roll pan/cooling rack combo. An elongated cooling rack inserted into a jelly roll pan allows this this multi-tasker to serve as a:
suspended baking contraption for oven headed foods like onion rings, fish sticks, etc. Basically it [...]
After I began doing most of meal planning and shopping I went through a period where every night was a new dish (or just about). After a few months of this my family asked about having “the stuff we used to have”. This wasn’t a knock on the “new” cooking but rather a reminder that [...]