Posts

1a. Picture overload! How it went on Week one

Image
It's Friday once again, aka Grocery Day and I've had a pretty successful week with this goal. I was able to get 4 of the 5 recipes made, start using my cast iron pan, worked with lemongrass for the first time, and learned to butterfly a shrimp! The salmon recipe calls for salmon, obviously. But for some reason I could not seem to get my old standby grocery store that allows pickup to stock it, nor to actually have it ready to pick up on time.  Here are some pictures and comments:  Day One, I had chicken to use up from a big roasted chicken I got from my friend Dan who raises them, so I did the Coronation Chicken recipe.  I'll admit to a substitution here, as neither I nor my husband likes curry flavor too much.  I used paprika instead, making the recipe my own.  I don't often make cold dishes for dinner, but this one was really good.  It has a tropical flavor to it with mango, coconut and cashews in the ingredients. I also don't usually use leafy greens for...
Post a Comment
Read more

1. The Overstuffed Cookbook Shelf - Week 1

Image
Friday July 12 Looking around my living room, you can see that I have a problem with books.  Cookbooks, especially.  I love cookbooks. They open up whole new culinary and cultural worlds if you're willing to try something new. The food looks, of course, amazing. It sounds mouth-watering. Cookbooks offer comfort, security, and the basic need to eliminate hunger in a way that satisfies our need to show love, to express our culture, to explore new cultures, and to stand amongst the legendary chefs who came before us and created just enough structure to allow us the freedom to create.  But if you're after affirmation, make sure you offer your culinary masterpieces to those who would not run to McDonalds at the sight of Duck a l'Orange. It's a tough road. And I remember my grandmother getting upset when someone didn't like her food. I thought it was silly, as a child, but now that I'm an adult and also love cooking, I can see how the link between love and lunch might...
Post a Comment
Read more

2. Week Two - On to the Frugal Gourmet

Image
Friday July 19 This week I am digging into the Frugal Gourmet Cookbook to get that ground pork recipe I was after.  Friday August 2 Well, make that two weeks. It's been a very busy couple of weeks. And this book was fraught with fails. Mostly on my part.  Orange Sausage Meatballs disaster Ok it wasn't meant to be a goulash.  The meatballs had orange rind in them, making them slightly bitter. And then other ingredients like cinnamon. So it seemed rather Fall-like right? The book said "cook in a light tomato sauce". Looking back, I imagine he really only wanted me to put them in tomato sauce. But overachiever that I am, I added all kinds of spices from Italian herbs to garlic and it became something else. And I thought, well this needs some kind of noodle. I added the only noodle I had, which was a macaroni.  It certainly looked good. But you know when you get all your friends together and some of them just don't mesh? They both end up looking at you like "why ...
Post a Comment
Read more