Archive for ‘Cooking’

March 31, 2012

Etc

A few random thoughts that have absolutely nothing to do with each other, because it’s Saturday.

1.  My dog Henry decided to sleep in the bathtub the other night.

2.  I bought Pioneer Woman’s new cookbook which I have been waiting for for months and I have not had two seconds to look at it.  When I get a new cookbook I like to read it cover to cover.  I still have this cookbook in the queue of books to read.

3.  Once a year I turn all the hangers around in my closet and then once I’ve worn them I turn the hanger the correct direction.  That way by the time January comes around I’ll know if I haven’t worn something in over a year which means it’s time for it to go.

That is all.

March 4, 2012

Soyaki Sauce

Trader Joe’s sells a Soy- Teryaki blend sauce that I’m a big fan of, Soyaki.

It’s great as a marinade and also in stir frys, and whatever else you would normally use Soy or Teryaki sauce on.  I make the most boring stir frys (by the way is that how you spell stir frys?  looks weird) because I am/ was a picky eater and it’s something I am growing out of.  There is so much more I could add to it but for now I’m content with chicken, broccoli, a little garlic and egg (is that weird?  I like scrambled egg in my stir fry).  Peppers- nope.  Sprouts- nope.  Mushrooms- nope.  Someday I hope to get there but that’s just way too much for me now.

Growing up for lunch in elementary school I ate either a grilled cheese sandwich or macaroni and cheese that my nanny made for me and then in middle school I didn’t eat.  By then I had to pack my own lunches and I just threw them out as soon as I got to school.  In high school it was cheese its and a can of coke, or nothing at all.  I don’t know, I just didn’t think about food, which is something I can’t fathom now.  It wasn’t until college that I learned to love to eat and I started to branch out beyond carbs, cheese and chocolate.  So while the picture below may look really boring it’s a huge leap forward compared to what I was eating 10 years ago.

February 26, 2012

Red Velvet Whoopie Pies

I whipped these up the other day.  I mean my coworker whipped these up the other day, I helped a teeny but, but mostly watched and ate.  They were delicious.  Recipe here.  By the way, Tasty Kitchen is my go-to resource for recipes.  It rocks.

Speaking of whoopie pies, there is a gourmet whoopie pie bakery in the area, Whoopsies.  I haven’t been there yet but they look delicious.  And I agree with them… why not try something different?  I think they would be such a fun idea for a wedding or event.

(Photo source)

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February 12, 2012

Cheese Squares

My friend Emily’s recipe for Cheese Squares is divine.  They are pretty much butter and cheese soaked bread- how can you go wrong with that?  There is a lot of butter- I might cut down the amount of butter by a stick or two next time a make them.  As you can see from the picture they were oozing with butter.  They are very rich, and very delicious.

Kelly Cheese Squares
1 King Size Loaf Sandwich White Bread (Emily’s note: there is usually one kind of white bread that is square, buy this kind) (Julie’s note: I couldn’t find this so I just bought two loaves of white sandwich bread).
1 lb butter (I would do 3 sticks instead)
2 jars Kraft Old English Cheese (Emily’s note: This cheese is spreadable and not found in a refrigerated section, sometimes located at a weird place in the store, or near the Velveeta)
1/2 t Tobasco sauce
Dash Cayenne Pepper
3/4 t Dill Weed
3/4 t Worchesteshire Sauce
Let butter and cheese soften to room temperature.
Add other ingredients. Mix well.
Stack three slices of bread, cut off crusts. Put cheese mixture on one side, top with second slice and spread cheese on that, put third slice of bread on top. Cut stack into four quarters and spread mix on top and sides — not bottom.
Continue until material is used up. Makes about 36 squares.
Place on cookie sheet and freeze.
When froze solid, store in plastic ziploc bag.
Must be frozen before baking.
Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.
-Ingredients and directions taken verbatim from an email from my friend Emily.  Thanks Emily!
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January 6, 2012

Le Creuset Dutch Oven

I got a red Le Creuset Dutch Oven for Christmas which I was totally not expecting.  When I opened the present I literally shrieked like an 8-year-old who had just gotten a my size Barbie (that is a whole nother story…).

I hadn’t even asked for it.  I’ve been dreaming and salivating over a Le Creuset Dutch oven for years now, but figured I wouldn’t get one until I got married and someone bought me one off my wedding registry because they ain’t cheap.  And it was in red, which I don’t think my step-mom knew that I buy all my kitchen appliances in red because 1) most of my mom’s kitchen appliances were red and 2) I think red is a good color to have in the kitchen, it stimulates the appetite.

So this is pretty much what I look like now in the kitchen:

About the my size Barbie, I asked for one every year for Christmas for about 5 years in a row, but that was during the time when my dad was a recent widower so it probably went in one ear and out the other.  I think if I got one now I would probably shriek like I did when I got the Le Creuset.

December 5, 2011

Cookbook Update Winter 2011

I’m running out of room for cookbooks.  I’m sure I’ve mentioned it before, I read cookbooks like books, when I get one I read it cover it cover.  Their really the only books I read for pleasure.

Of course I’m a huge Pioneer Woman and I’m loving her cookbook (below is me with her at her cookbook signing last year).  I’m looking forward to her new cookbook coming our soon.  Love both of Teresa Guidice’s cookbooks (from Real Housewives of New Jersey).  They are actually really great, simple Italian recipes.  Silver Palate is a classic and has a great chocolate chip cookie recipe.

I’m in the Junior League of Northern Virginia, and it’s a well-known fact that Junior League cookbooks have some of the best recipes around, which is not good for a cookbook junkie like me.  Sine I am a JL member I can get other league’s cookbooks for super cheap.  I really have to limit myself to buying them every so often.  And of course, specifically JL cookbooks from the South would have the best recipes.

Better Homes and Gardens is a great go to cookbook for just about any recipe.  Mennonite Country Style recipes is another favorite of mine.  It’s very dear to my heart because it was written by Mennonites in the Shenandoah Valley where I went to school.  And Lord knows the Mennonites and Amish know how to cook.  The Cotton Country Collection falling apart cookbook is a hand me down from my step mom which I have yet to open but apparently a lot of her classic recipes come from it.  And then the classic Paula Deens…. and the last one I saw for sale at Mount Vernon.  I had to buy it just because it was called Southern Cooking.  I had never heard of it but I love the South and I love cooking.

Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food Mag…. I stopped subscribing… great recipes, I just don’t need them at this point in my life as a single gal with no family to feed.  Being Dead Is No Excuse (The Official Southern Ladies Guide to Hosting the Perfect Funeral)….. so absolutely ridiculous I had to buy it, but some great southern recipes.  And so spot on.  The Beyond Mac & Cheese is a reject from my step-mom that I don’t use, but I gladly taken in most cookbooks that are looking for a good home.

Someday when I have my dream kitchen I want to have a whole wall of just cookbooks.  There are a ton in my amazon wishlist at the moment.  Some days I want to just splurge and order every single one of them.  How great would that be to get an amazon package in the mail of like 50 cookbooks?

October 26, 2011

Banana Bread Muffins

Sometimes I get tired of baking things the conventional way like cookies in cookie form.  This time I had a bunch of bananas about to go bad and I really didn’t want to be stuck with a whole loaf of banana bread, and I’ve had these heart shaped cupcake molds in the pantry for over a year now so it seemed logical to throw the batter in them.  I like it because 1- they’re cute and 2- portion control! I only ate one three and they rest are in a ziplock in the freezer untouched for the past week.  Recipe from here

 

September 9, 2011

Mise en Place

From Wikipedia “Mise en place is a French phrase defined by the Culinary Institute of America as “everything in place”, as in set up. It is used in professional kitchens to refer to organizing and arranging the ingredients that a cook will require for the menu items that he or she expects to prepare during his/her shift.”

I’ve started doing Mise en Place pretty much every time I cook and I find it to be very helpful, you find out any hiccups before you start cooking (if you are out of an ingredient, etc).  It also makes you feel like you are on a cooking show… I’m not the only one who pretends like I’m on a cooking show when I’m cooking am I?

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August 8, 2011

Chocolate Chip Cookies

One of my favorite Chocolate Chip cookie recipe comes from The Silver Palate Cookbook.

However when I whip up the dough, a good 65% of it doesn’t end up being baked but rather is consumed for my evening meal for the next 3 days along with a glass of Franzia boxed Merlot.

I did make one batch in cupcake liners and sprinkled them with sprinkles… I was worried they would burn and/ or not bake all the way through but they came out great, nice and chewy like I like.

The Silver Palate Cookbook’s Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus extra for baking sheet (I skip this and just use a silpat liner).

1 cup light brown sugar

1/4 cups granulated sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract (this larger than normal portion of vanilla gives it a really great flavor)

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (I actually use a mixture of milk chocolate and semi sweet chocolate chips when I bake cookies, and I never measure I just eye ball it because I don’t like as much chocolate chips as they recommend.  I like to be able to taste some dough when I make cookies, not just chocolate).

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350, grease baking sheet.

Cream the butter and both sugars together until light and fluffy.  Add the eggs and vanilla and mix well.

Sift the dry ingredients together and mix in.  Mix in the chocolate chips.

Bake 8-10 minutes in the center rack of the oven,

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July 15, 2011

Iced Coffee

I brewed about 45 gallons of iced coffee concentrate the other day… I’ll have coffee concentrate till approximately May 2013.  What’s better in the summer than ice-cold home-brewed coffee in a mason jar?  Two of my favorite recipes here and here.

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