tejon

Most of my cooking doesn't match my home culture at all. I grew up in Southern California, but most of the food we ate was 50s/60s comfort foods, emphasis on inexpensive ingredients (we were on welfare for a while). I haven't had creamed eggs on toast in many years, though it was a mainstay of my diet when I was little. Occasionally I'll do a pot roast or meat loaf, but for the most part I rarely cook "American" foods. I cook more Asian dishes than anything else, but recipes come from all over. I tend to love things with a lot of flavor and lots of produce. I've been cooking since I was around six years old when my mother taught me how to scramble an egg. I learned how to do a white sauce next, and experimented like crazy over the next few years. I was a very picky eater when I was younger, so it took some time for me to branch out into other cuisines - I didn't even try Indian food until I was in college, but now it's one of my favorite things to cook and eat. I learned mostly on my own and with the help of my grandmother who was an amazing cook. My mother could produce decent food when she really tried hard, but it wasn't her thing. I've also learned a lot from recipes, from TV, from experimenting, and from trading tips with other cooks (here and with friends as well).

We were planning on planting several huckleberry bushes in the back yard, along with some blueberries as well. Now I'm really excited - I've never tasted huckleberries, but they sound divine!

It depends so much on the pantry and supplies you find in each kitchen. I once cooked dinner in a house that contained only the following seasonings (other than kechup, mustard, pickles, and hot sauce): salt, pepper, lemon pepper, and cinnamon. No garlic, no onions, no other herbs or spices of any kind, and all the rest prepackaged foods that didn't work well as ingredients. Look at it as a personal challenge. How creative can you manage faced with unknown ingredients and equipment? I'd see it as a chance to see what you can create from nothing or very little, to see how well you can do outside of your culinary comfort zone. I'll bet you come up with some great dishes in the end.

I love our family dinners. It's the one reliable time each day that we're all in the same place at the same time and only interacting with each other. Time to touch base with each other and find out what happened during the day. It's a great place to learn table manners, something my 6 and 8 year old are still working on mastering, and it's just plain nice to eat together. All of these things could certainly be accomplished while doing other things - this is simply something that works really well for my family.

I should get a knock on the door soon, too, then. I have lots of "regular" stuff growing there (bayberry, a fuschia that seems to live through absolutely anything, hostas, bleeding hearts, lavender, and sweet alyssum), but there's also several varieties of sage, strawberry plants, and some bush beans. The latter blend quite nicely with the bleeding hearts, oddly enough. We're currently picking peas, radishes, lettuce, arugula, and herbs. The tomatoes are growing like gangbusters and there are several good sized green ones starting to ripen. Just put in some bell peppers, so we'll see what happens to those. Squash and broccoli and pole beans are doing well, and the I just planted a bunch of cucumber seedlings. I put in asparagus crowns this year and most of them sent up stalks that are now modest ferns. I'm also trying to start some papalo and culantro from seed, but haven't gotten any to sprout yet.

I used to work with developmentally disabled adults and it was very rewarding. Are you working with Marley in order to help her go forward in terms of potential job training, or more as something enjoyable for her to learn? It's wonderful that you are able to do this for her.

Strawberry shortcake made with the sweetest of berries and lots of whipped cream. Freshly churned vanilla ice cream, just at that edge of melting. A perfect chocolate truffle, smooth and rich and full of flavor.

Yep - I used Mountain brand full fat yogurt, drained overnight. The texture was the same as labne by the time I ended up stirring in the sugar and vanilla.

I had the same problem after storing the frozen yogurt. I used full fat yogurt and the amount of sugar recommended, too. Still delicious, but not smooth.

No home made foods allowed at our elementary school, outside of packed lunches. Even then, there is a strict "no trade" rule enforced by the lunch monitors. It kills me to bring packaged cupcakes or ice cream cups as treats for birthdays, but there just isn't an alternative. Pizza is also the school party meal of choice here as well. The packaged foods is really a liability issue. Who knows how clean family kitchens are, and who knows what allergens may be lurking in those home made cookies. The allergy thing really gets me, though. My oldest was allergic to corn for years. Bringing in prepackaged foods is *supposed* to allow teachers and aides to read the labels and ensure that children with allergies aren't exposed to something that will hurt them. However, it's almost impossible for the average person to read a label and tell if corn is there or not. So how a bag of pretzels (with corn based maltodextrin, way at the end of the ingredients list) is somehow safer than the soft pretzels I make at home, the ones I know each and every ingredient for, is beyond me.

I had some cookies and milk. ("Oreo Cookies" from Retro Desserts by Wayne Brachman. A grown up, even better version of the original. Though not too grown up - my boys love these!)

I made Salted Butter Caramel ice cream this last weekend. I got the caramel reasonably colored without going to more of a bitter edge (personal preference). The base ended up tasting like a really rich caramel sauce, very smooth and creamy in texture already. Here's what it looked like before chilling: Once I put the base in the ice cream maker it didn't get as firm a I would have expected, but it did firm up a good bit on sitting in the freezer afterwards. The resulting ice cream was unbelievably good. The only thing I'd change is the amount of salt in the praline. I'm assuming I should have used 3/4 tsp of a coarser salt (which would have been less in terms of actual sodium content) versus the finer salt I used. Next time I make it (which will be soon!), I'll use a rounded 1/4 tsp of fine sea salt.

Adorable produce wranglers! So do they like fish as well?

I made the Vanilla Frozen Yogurt a few days ago, and am really enjoying it. The drained yogurt adds a bit of tang and a wonderful, rich texture. I'm thinking of adding some cocoa powder to my next batch to make a chocolate version as well.

I love that idea! I've been trying to squeeze all the pantry space possible out of my kitchen, and something like that would really help. It really looks like something built in. I also grinned when you listed everything in the jars, as that's pretty much an inventory of my dry goods (with the addition of more Indian spices). For those of us in the US, how about a shot of a bag of milk? I always find the concept fascinating, since dairy here comes in paper cartons, plastic or glass bottles.

My grandma's recipe box. It's filled with hand typed cards with notes on how she changed each recipe over the years, who she served it to, what she served it with, who liked it and who didn't, and more. Reading each card not only evokes many a fond childhood memory but also acts like a family ledger of sorts. There is a wealth of history in here.

I'll humbly add my chocolate chip recipe (click!), which I've been fiddling with since I was little. The cookies end up chewy with crisp edges, and incredibly rich. I've been approached by quite a few people to make these and sell them, but somehow I never got around to it . They look like this: (psst - Kerry, there are now 10 chocolate chip recipes in RecipeGullet)

Rosettes! I used to make those at our local street fair. So delicious right after you sprinkle them with powdered sugar.

Chocolate Chip Cookies Chewy, crunchy, decadent chocolate chip cookie The oatmeal pretty much hides as an ingredient, leaving the cookies wonderfully chewy without much of a clue anything else is in there. I've been working on this recipe since I was ten years old, and 28 years later I think it's just about right :-) 1 c butter, unsalted 1-1/2 c brown sugar, packed 2 eggs 1 tsp vanilla 2 c flour 1 tsp baking soda 1 tsp salt 2 c oatmeal, quick 12 oz semisweet chocolate chips 1-1/2 c walnuts, chopped Cream butter until light and fluffy. Add sugars, eggs, and vanilla. Sift together flour, baking soda and salt. Add oatmeal to flour mixture, then mix well. Add dry ingredients to butter and sugar and mix well. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts. Cover bowl and refrigerate at least 1 hour, until mixture is firm. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease 2 cookie sheets. Form into balls the size of walnuts and place on cookie sheets 3 inches apart. Bake 10-12 minutes, or until edges are just beginning to turn golden but the centers are still a little soft. Let sit on cookie sheet for about 2 minutes to firm up (cookies finish cooking on the sheet). Remove from cookie sheet and cool on cooling rack. These cookies don't keep well, but they're so good, that won't matter! If you really need to keep them for a while, freeze them as soon as they are cool in one layer on a flat surface, then transfer into a freezer bag and seal. They are actually really good semi-frozen, too. Keywords: Easy, Snack, Cookie, American ( RG1976 )

I'd use foil so the moisture from the fritatta doesn't soak through. The structure of the foil should make for easier eating out of hand as well.

I think a lot about the food I prepare, regardless of who will be eating it. I tend to obsess about menu choices, how to best make each dish, how to serve it all, about all aspects of a meal. I haven't cooked for three star chefs, but I have cooked for people who I feel do far better than I do in the kitchen. Not surprisingly, they are just as food obsessed as I am and we all tend to agree on what the finer and not so stellar parts of a meal were. What I serve depends on so many things, but I can't say that I've changed things around significantly because someone more culinarily gifted than myself was going to be eating.

I'll second the recommendation of Banh Cuon Tan Dinh. The food is delicious, and I've been really impressed with the service, especially the willingness to explain dishes for the unfamiliar.

Ditto on bringing along reusable bags. Extra perk is the 5 cents per bag I get discounted from my grocery bill .

I only bother with horizontal cuts when I need a really fine dice. Otherwise, vertical cuts alone do the job quickly and reasonably well.

I used to have one of those bottles when I was younger! I remember winding up the ballerina and shaking the bottle to watch the gold flakes drift down. Didn't even realize it was alcohol inside until I was a bit older .