purplewiz

The first meal I ever made all on my own was a breakfast of cinnamon puffs and hot cocoa from an early version of the Betty Crocker Boys And Girls Cookbook. I burned myself taking the cinnamon puffs out of the oven, the first of many such injuries. I think I was about 8, and I remember that I insisted that my parents drink the hot cocoa with breakfast instead of their usual coffee. I was a child; I had no idea how cruel I was being . Marcia.

Just a related note: in many of the southwestern recipes I've been reading, they make the distinction with spelling. "Chili powder" is the blend with ground chiles, cumin, garlic, and what have you often used to make the dish called "chili". "Powdered chiles", "ground chiles", or most commonly, "ground (insert specific name of chile here) chile" are used to denote the dried and ground/powdered form of a single chile pepper variety. As mentioned earlier, they range from dead mild to hot enough burn off the soles of your feet from the inside. The best recipes also tend to give a hint about how hot a pepper they have in mind if you can't find the specific variety, such as "ground Chimayo chile or other mild chile powder". (I once ended up with a dish that was very tasty but a wee bit hotter than traditional because I didn't know the heat of the specific variety the recipe called for which I couldn't find!) Cayenne pepper is always called out as "cayenne pepper". I can't imagine using 4 tbsps of that...I'm VERY sensitive to cayenne, so I almost never use more than 1/4 tsp per dish, and that's more than hot enough for me! Marcia.

That's kind of the problem....I'm not really cooking much right now . We moved and then have had one crisis after another so the kitchen STILL isn't really stocked and by the time we start to think about dinner we're too starved to go to the grocery store and then cook. I used to post a lot more here...and yes, the ordinary stuff like grilled hot dogs, cole slaw, and deviled eggs! I also want to encourage those who cook the ordinary foodstuffs of day to day dinners because those are the foods we remember and turn to when we need comfort. I'm really looking forward to having the time and energy to cook again, even if it still is annoyingly awkward in my new kitchen. And yes, I'll take pictures and post 'em! And your scallion pancakes still look so good and eggy and delicious and exactly the kind of food I was in the mood for ! Marcia.

That looks SO good right now.... ...as do the dinners here. I come here and drool and dream of the day when I'm going to have time to cook something worth the time to take pictures and post it! You guys keep me going! Marcia.

I keep bricks of cheese darn near forever (ok, that's an exaggeration, but a long time) wrapped in paper towels inside ziplock bags. The paper towels keep the cheese and its moisture from touching the plastic, which tends to delay the growth of mold and slime. When the paper towels start feeling pretty damp, I throw out the old one and rewrap. Bacon: remove slices from the large package, portion into however many you usually eat at one time, and wrap in plastic wrap. I usually lay out the plastic wrap, put one slice of bacon on the end, fold it over, then put another slice on top, so the slices are separated by the plastic wrap. I do 4 slice packages that way, then store them in a ziplock bag in the freezer. They defrost quickly in the microwave. I completely agree with portioning out the proteins, wrapping, labeling, and freezing. Again, they defrost pretty well in the microwave. Sausages freeze brilliantly uncooked. I'm cooking for two, but I often make up the full batch (feeds 4 or 6 or whatever) of curries and the like and freeze the rest in meal size portions. That's my idea of fast food - defrost, heat, and it's a lot better than those frozen dinner things. This does require having a certain amount of Rubbermaid/Tupperware/Gladware/whatever containers around, but those cheap ones in the stores work well. Rice also freezes well. I make up a large batch, then portion and freeze in ziplock bags. Two minutes in the microwave and it's hot and fluffy and ready to go. In other words, your freezer is your best friend Marcia.

Oh my goodness, they're still there! Good to know some things never change. I'm really looking forward to this blog - it's such a beautiful area and the food pictures are already making my mouth water! Marcia. Cornell Engineering, Class of '86

Gini that would have been Sealfon's ....2 story brick bulding on Ridgewood Ave its a furniture store now ← Aw, all the good places are gone....I'll have to tell my mother next time I speak to her! I am late to your blog because I've been moving, but I grew up in your neck of the woods (Oakland and Wyckoff) and my, it's changed in the 25 years since I've lived there! It's been great to see it all again and how many new and great things there are! Thanks for blogging - Marcia.

Wow, what great dinners you've all made...I know, everyone says it, but I'm sure we all mean it. I know I do! suzilightning, the colors may clash, but that's not enough for Regrettable Dinners . It still looks way too appetizing! I finally, finally, FINALLY have the new kitchen online enough to cook a dinner. We've been good for breakfasts and lunches for awhile, but there were, uh, a LOT a kitchen boxes to unpack and organize (and which will undoubtedly get reorganized as I start cooking again). The fun is also learning to cook with gas again - I learned to cook on my parents' gas stove, but have lived in places with all electric kitchens ever since. I'm a tad rusty. Still, I managed to make a simple dinner tonight: Marinated grilled chicken (we moved the grill with us!), sauteed homegrown zucchini with onions, garlic, and thyme, and a quick pickled (homegrown) cucumber salad. As much as I like eating out, I've really missed simple dinners at home. Marcia.

Both dishes look just wonderful! Marcia.

We're in the middle of moving, we're eating out pretty much all the time, and looking at your curry makes my mouth water and makes me miss cooking! That looks so beautiful and so delicious! Marcia.

Even though we're in the midst of moving, my husband and I had tickets to the Weird Al concert last Thursday at the Colorado State Fair since before this moving odyssey started, and I wasn't going to let anything like 8 am house showings the next day make me miss the concert. (Side note: who gets up at 8 am to look at houses? Apparently someone....) And since we were at the state fair, I was bound and determined to check another food off my "top ten most wanted to try" list: the deep fried Twinkie. (I don't want to make a steady diet of them, just wanted to try it.) And as long as we were ordering a deep fried Twinkie, we got an order of deep fried Oreos, deep fried Snickers, and deep fried Pepsi. If you're going to blow it, blow it good. The Twinkie was the best of the lot. The creamy filling melted into the cake, giving it an interesting texture, and it ended up being more like a donut than anything else. But something about battering and frying the Oreos removed some of their essential Oreo-ness. They were good, but not special. The deep fried Snickers was TOO SWEET. I have a sweet tooth. It's really hard for me to find anything too sweet. But by the last bite of this I'd had more than enough. The deep fried Pepsi was just a funnel cake with Pepsi used as the liquid. It was awful. We each had about two bites, decided this was a waste of time, and tossed the rest while we went to watch the goat judging. After all the deep fried crap (we've decided that's the best term for this whole class of foods), we wanted something with some nutritional value for dinner. A gyros stand smelled wonderful, so we each got one....and it was far better than it had any right to be. The tomatoes were ripe, the meat seasoned well, and the tzatziki (sp?) tasted markedly of dill and garlic. My husband also had a locally made sausage - I don't remember the exact name, but it was pork with a coarse texture and a crisp skin. Absolutely delicious. But the bottom line with the deep fried stuff is that while I have no regrets about trying them, I don't think I'll be seeking them out again. Oh, yeah, and Weird Al put on a pretty good show, too. Marcia.

Not every meal, but certain types of meals: - spaghetti, chili, and other dishes where bread was used to sop up sauces - dinners involving roasts. For some reason, roast meats required rolls. - meals that were sandwiches, either open faced or closed - cooked breakfasts (toast) Toast and sandwiches were Wonder Bread - all other breads were Italian or French bread or rolls or crescent rolls. Except when my grandfather was eating with us, there was a special plate with a stack of white bread for him. No matter what we were eating, it wasn't a meal to him without plain bread and butter accompanying it. I don't tend to serve bread with meals unless I'm making sandwiches (and then it's the only starch). It's that whole reduced carb thing. Marcia.

Wow, I feel like a celebrity! ← Thanks to Kerry Beal for posting the link - as I just mentioned in another thread we're in the midst of moving, and so my internet time is limited! And thank you, Smithy, for posting the recipe in the first place...I don't know how many eggplants have given their lives for that recipe . Roasting broccoli: I usually parcook it first, then roast at 450F to get that crunchy outside. I agree that it doesn't transform quite like cauliflower, but it is quite tasty with a number of contrasting textures. Marcia.

We are in the process of moving. My goal was to use up most of the open jars and bottles of sauces, vinegars, oils, and spices before we moved. We move two weeks from tomorrow. Let's just say that my spices and condiment shelves do not look discernably different from how they looked about two months ago. In my defense, there's been less time for cooking than I expected due to house showings and the like. But to be fair, the number of bags of frozen proto pesto I've found at the bottom of the deep freeze makes me very glad I planted no basil this year. I've accepted that a lot of them are simply going to be tossed when the final frenzy of packing happens. And I'd say I'm not going to let this happen in the new house, but I'd be lying. Marcia.

I know I'm echoing others, but Roasted Cauliflower, Carnitas, and Jaymes' salsa. Oh, and Smithy's creamed eggplant. Gads, I love that stuff. Marcia.

Simple dinner from last Friday: seasoned grilled chicken and boiled corn on the cob. This corn differs from most others in a way that is not apparent from the picture: it was boiled for 5 minutes. I live at about 6500 ft, and water boils at about 198F. At sea level, 5 minute corn would be starchy mush. Up here, it's just about perfect, and 2-3 minute corn is unmistakably raw. (Don't even ask about 3 minute eggs.) Marcia.

What bothers me about many "zucchini" recipes is that they call for like 1 cup of shredded zucchini or one small one. When I need zucchini recipes, one small one won't even make a visible dent. So I like these for using LOTS of zucchini: Zucchini alfredo. Thin strips cut with a vegetable peeler, blanched and drained, and mixed with your favorite alfredo sauce. I was surprised at how good this was. Other people mentioned zucchini fritters, and I'll add my endorsement. I LOVE these things and they use a cubic blortload of zucchini - and you can use those huge ones that hide under the leaves until they're large enough to use as a canoe before you pick them. Just scoop out all the spongy stuff in the center and shred the outside as usual. Calabacitas. Sort of like southwestern ratatouille. Zucchini also makes a fantastic pickle relish. Back when I used to can more people really liked this. Zucchini frittata/souffle/Impossible Pie. I LOVE the combination of zucchini and eggs. Add a little ham and maybe a dash of onion and I'm in heaven. Zucchini lasagna. Use layers of zucchini slices in between the meat sauce and cheeses. Sauteed in butter with garlic, then simmered in white wine, add a chopped tomato, and finish with salt and black pepper. I think this might be my favorite prep of all. Marcia.

I went back to my post and I'm afraid I mistyped there...the other large club of a zucchini was in the fridge, not freezer (I did mention not having any brain power right now? ). It became calabacitas with dinner tonight, which I didn't take pictures of.... When I've frozen it in the past, I've shredded it and frozen it in measured amounts in ziplock bags. The texture deteriorates (understatement of the year), but if you're using it in zucchini bread or in a soup or a stew, it works fine (works great in albondigas soup, for example) (which I did make in another one of my Dinner postings once upon a time, to keep this on topic!). Marcia.

We do reduced carb, and that's how I found this "recipe". It's 2-3 small zucchinis (or one huge honkin' one with the pulpy center removed) that have been shredded, salted, let sit about 15 - 30 minutes in a colander, rinsed, and then squeezed as dry as possible. Two eggs, beaten, with 1 tbsp flour (oat or whole wheat flour works fine, too), 2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese, 1-2 sliced green onions, salt and pepper to taste. Mix together and then fry in a little vegetable oil until crispy and cooked through. It's a rough recipe because zucchini come in different sizes and exact proportions aren't that important - you need enough egg to coat all the shreds and a little flour to help hold it together. Sometimes I throw some feta cheese into the batter, this time I added some cilantro, some chopped mint is nice, there's a lot you can to do play with the flavor. I like to top them with a protein, but honestly, I could just eat them plain all day. I also like this recipe because it helps use up all the zucchini we're being blessed with . Marcia.

This was a "tropical" chicken: chicken breast marinated in lime juice, honey, garlic, olive oil, and rum, then grilled, then topped with a sauce made from coconut and more rum (I like rum!) and various other things, then topped with toasted coconut, toasted chopped cashews, and diced dried mango (As a rule, I don't care for dried fruit and I LOVE this stuff.). It was delicious. Unfortunately, it wasn't photogenic: Marcia.

We're still in real estate hell...I have no idea how you sell your house while still being able to cook! (Maybe there's a topic here about that somewhere....). On top of that, due to the atypical amount of rain coming through here, I haven't been able to pick zucchini for a few days - which meant there were three huge zucchinis out there waiting for me today. Fortunately our neighbors took one (and the two small ones) (I am going to miss them terribly when we move), one's in the freezer, and one became zucchini fritters for dinner: They served as a base for pork adovada with cheese: And oh goodness, was that good - I threw in a bunch of cilantro from the garden this time and it added something special. Marcia.

I've come to the conclusion that there's no rhyme or reason to what I measure and what I don't, and as long as the results are tasty, I'm content with that. Yes, when I'm baking, I measure. I don't bake often enough to wing it. But last night I made zucchini fritters. I used three smallish zucchini - I have no idea how much they weighed, or what kind of volume they produced. I tossed in two chopped green onions and some salt and pepper. Two eggs. Then I carefully measured out 1 tbsp flour and 2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese and mixed them in. Fried them up with what I thought looked like was the right amount of oil. They were great. Go figure. Marcia.

There's nothing like sharing food to make us want to cook properly...or just show off a little bit I didn't take a picture of dinner tonight, but it was a fritter/pancake thing with the rest of the broccoslaw (julienned broccoli stems with some carrots and red cabbage sold in a bag which has been on sale lately and I'm very fond of it), sauteed zucchini with tomato, white wine, garlic, and butter, and tuna salad sandwiches. We are in the middle of Real Estate Hell which will last another month or so, so I do the best I can with respect to meals, and try not to beat myself up if we eat out a little more than I might like. But I look at all the lovely meals here and drool. And dream of the day when I can take my time and cook a proper meal again. You're all my inspiration! Marcia.

Finally had a chance to cook dinner at home, and it was simple and good: Chili rubbed pork with a dollop of sour cream, grilled zucchini, and tossed salad. It really hit the spot. Marcia.

Oh, that is so beautiful, and such a perfect meal. Now I'm craving a BLT - but tomato season is a good 6 weeks away here! Marcia.