cooking – The Writing Life of a Tadpole

Not everything we cook is awesome (cooking attempt #2017-04)

January 21 2017

This past week, I had a feed from a site that advertises recipe collections where you can assemble all the ingredients for, say, 10 meals at once, and gives you a consolidated ingredient list plus the ten separate recipes. There are a few of these sites around, all geared towards the “busy mom” who can stock pile meals in the freezer and take them out when needed. My wife has had a freezer party or two with her Epicure business, and I think the idea is really solid. In some ways, it is simply assembly line principles applied to dinner prep so that if you’re chopping up meats or veggies, or getting out spices, you do it once instead of 10 separate times with each meal.

For the Epicure meals, it’s more tailored to the individual preparer, so you know what you’re getting. For the sites, usually of the 10 recipes, there are only a few I even like the sounds of, let alone trying them out with a full preparation. » Read the rest

Cooking attempt #2017-03 – English Muffin Pizza

January 7 2017

I was definitely of two minds for deciding whether to post this recipe at all and to blog about it (English Muffin Pizza (REC0007)). On the one hand, sure, it’s a light recipe, I like having it in the collection, it’s kind of fun, etc. On the other hand, it isn’t a “new” recipe, we’ve made it several times, and as far as recipes go, it’s not much more detailed than how to make a sandwich.

But the more I thought about it, and ignoring my OCD urge to put all the recipes I ever think are good on the site and to blog about making them, I realized I could adapt / expand the recipe to show other variations. So I created three “parts” to the assembly process.

First and foremost, there is your base — what type of English muffin are you going to choose? I can’t imagine ever going with cinnamon raisin, but hey, whatever floats your boat on your sea of taste buds. » Read the rest

Cooking attempt #2017-02 – Cowboy Beef Dip

January 6 2017

I’ve been looking for a light chili recipe that wasn’t too heavy on beans, or a stew that wasn’t completely tomato-based or heavy, or a dip that was tasty without being overwhelming. Hence trying this Cowboy Beef Dip (REC0006).

We adapted it from a recipe in a ground beef recipe book, which might sound a bit silly in and of itself — who needs recipes for using ground beef? The thing is that Andrea has these great Epicure silicone steamers that you can cook the ground beef in pretty fast and drain easily, without having to use a skillet (which I kind of hate). I do better with a dutch oven, with the high sides, but in a skillet, I frequently spill stuff over the sides trying to flip or stir. However, since this recipe had other ingredients to merge with the beef, we did it all in the skillet for this round anyway. » Read the rest

Cooking attempt #2017-01 – Sweet Chicken Curry

January 5 2017

As part of my goals for the year, I made a list of a bunch of different recipes that I want to try out. From that list, I prioritized a few (a precursor to my Level 1 settings in my goals), and Jacob made the first selection to try — a Sweet Chicken Curry in the Crock Pot / slow cooker (Sweet Chicken Curry (in a slow cooker) (REC0005)) from a diet cookbook. We gave it a go on New Years Day.

It is a relatively easy recipe. Only four ingredients to prep (chicken, a bell pepper, an onion and a tomato), throw them all into a crockpot. Combine four more in a bowl and pour on top. The big ingredient (besides chicken and curry) is in this step — mango chutney!

I confess I couldn’t even find it in the grocery store. I looked in with the pickles and things (condiments generally), nope. » Read the rest

Scarpetta’s Winter Table by Patricia Cornwell (PWBR00087)

December 30 2016

Plot or Premise

A cookbook disguised as a novel.

What I Liked

Nothing.

What I Didn’t Like

It was ADVERTISED as a combination of a cookbook with stories about Dr. Kay Scarpetta, and in that light, it fails on all counts. There IS no story, and nothing happening in the non-story — and worse still, none of the characters act like they do in the novels. The recipes are interesting, but basically this book was issued for one reason and one reason only — to milk some money out of the fans and to give them almost nothing in return.

The Bottom Line

Worthless.

My Rating

🐸⚪️⚪️⚪️⚪️ – 1/5 Finished (October 10, 1999)

Links To My Other Book Reviews

PolyWogg.ca

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