emmalish

I always wing it when I make hummus. Usually 2 or 3 garlic cloves (depending on size), a can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed, couple tbsp of tahini, and (this is probably sacrilege, but...) some sundried tomatoes. All in the food processor, and I add olive oil to the right consistency and lemon juice and salt to taste. I can eat the entire bowl by myself. Preferably with toasted pita, but sliced baguette is great too.

I've never tried these, but why do you say they're grease-bombs? Aren't they just regular pancake batter cooked in a different pan?

Here's my leftover risotto, with the tomatoes added (as it was meant to be). Looks much better. And tastes better. It needed that bit of acid.

I've also read that the time of year can affect "yellowness" of yolks, as well as many other factors such as stress and feed quality.

Nice! I work right around the corner from there (score!). Edited to say that on second thought, this might be a very bad thing.

Kentan, where abouts on Alberni will this be?

You have to read the taste test over at the AV Club... http://www.avclub.com/articles/kfcs-double-down-sandwich,32804/

Too late to edit my previous post, but I thought I should point out that I'm not above eating instant mac & cheese or frozen dinners occasionally too, but I don't kid myself that it's good food.

I'm curious to hear some examples. One of my coworkers says she's trying to eat healthier, but her new "healthy" lunches still include cup-a-soups and frozen meals. And when she does make soup from "scratch", she uses bouillon cubes in place of stock. She thinks this is all good. Another friend gives her daughter lunchables and instant mac & cheese and considers that "real food". The way she looks at it, as long as it isn't junk food (like chips & candy), then it's good for you. She also doesn't think McDonald's is nearly as bad as it's made out to be. And yes, she believes she's eating and feeding her daughter healthy food.

Those cloverleaf rolls look lovely! I've never seen those before. Yesterday I just had a tuna melt (quick & easy and I've always got all the ingredients)... Today I spent a bit more time and made mushroom & leek risotto. I usually make this with tomatoes as well, which adds some colour and a bit more flavour, but I forgot to pick some up. I'll definitely be adding them to the leftovers tho. In the meantime, it's not pretty, but it's still tasty...

Ha! This is timely. I was just looking at my shelf and shaking my head last night. I have 1 bag and 3 half boxes of penne, two half boxes of macaroni, 2 half bags of orzo, and a bag of caserecci. I also have lasagna noodles in the freezer. Not a huge variety of shapes, but every time I decide to make pasta and pick up ingredients on my way home, I forget that I already have a ton and will buy more. I usually think to myself, yes, I know I have a couple opened boxes, but together will they add up to enough? I'd better get more just in case...

JAZ, that approach makes much more sense to me too. I usually bake my mac & cheese in a deep-ish dish, but I'm okay with a 20-80 ratio. Just read the Alton Brown recipe posted upthread. That's pretty close to what I usually do, but I'm just winging it. I also sautée the onion in the butter, then add the flour and mustard and continue on, rather than adding the onion later. And like Melissa, I'll sometimes add a can of tomatoes as well. Depends what I'm in the mood for.

I especially notice the difference when I'm cooking something that needs to be stirred semi-regularly or left to simmer for a length of time – in an integrated space I'm able to wander into the livingroom and still keep an eye on what's on the stove, while in my kitchen I'm just kinda stuck there for the duration.

I have room for a small table & chairs in my kitchen, so people can congregate somewhat, but it's separated from the livingroom by a long hallway. My old apartment was much more open concept, and I could putter in the kitchen and watch tv at the same time. Now, even when I'm on my own I don't spend as much time in the kitchen as I used to. Because it does feel more like a workroom.

Sadly, none of my old cookbooks have publishing dates listed. The two I swiped from my mother are The Purity Flour Cookbook and the Five Roses Flour Cookbook (23rd edition). The ooooold cookbook that a friend bought me is called Common Sense, but the cover is blank and the first 13 pages are missing, so I can't even tell who the author is (the entire book is completely falling apart, and was just held together with a rubber band when he first bought it – but has all these wonderful newspaper clippings and handwritten recipes tucked in the pages – it's awesome).

Rico, those quesadillas look and sound fantastic.

That's a very good point.

Not a professional, but I just spread the excess out on a sheet of parchment paper, then break it into chunks once it's hardened. I don't have a cryovac, so I just pack the pieces in plastic freezer bags.

Some coloured glass liqueur glasses I inherited from my grandmother. I'm sure they have no monetary value, but I'm curious about their history. No one in the family knows where they came from – just that she'd had them forever. Then of course there's the kitchen itself – the house I'm in was built around 1920. The appliances are all new(-ish), but I wonder about the wiring... I also have a few old cookbooks that I'll have to check the publishing dates on when I get home tonight. I'm pretty sure one is from around 1920 as well (it has a recipe for squirrel!).

I'm not organized enough to do this. I carry cloth bags with me at all times (they fold up tiny and fit easily in my purse, and I picked up about 10 of them just before Christmas), but I generally just swing by the grocery store on my way home from work, so it's pretty spur of the moment. And even if I do know that I'll be picking up groceries on my way home on a given day, I am NOT going to be carrying around glass jars with me all day beforehand. Sorry.

Kim, it's mutual (see my posts immediately following yours in the baking and dinner threads). Your meals are always so much more elaborate with multiple elements – I'm almost ashamed to post mine! My dinners are usually just a bowl of glop on top of some other glop... and breakfast is just pureed glop or an egg on toast. *sigh*

Kim, all I can say is do it!! And here I was, feeling so proud of myself for making cookies this weekend, and lookit you! Where on earth do you find the time?

Kim, as always, I'm amazed. You always go all out!

Thank you! I've always wondered about that...

Oh yeah, bbq salmon is amazing and a staple here in Vancouver. Don't usually bother with the bbq sauce tho.