I'm Bad at This!

Hello to those out there who hear me!

I suppose there is a direct correlation between my cooking and my life. I haven't done much cooking since I have been commuting for nearly three hours a day to get to my job in the city. BUT! That is soon to change as I have accepted a new position closer to home and will now commute about 30 minutes a day. With that time I will be attacking one of my cookbooks (yet-to-be-determined) and aggressively improving my culinary finesse.

I am planning on taking classes this Spring but do not foresee any interference with my cooking fun. I want to tackle cakes and stews. Both good for these hearty winter times! We shall see what becomes of it!

Anyways. I will return to my cooking craftiness and be posting probably a summary of the few things I have made of interest over the last 6 months.

Apple Cake

I do love making this apple cake! It is simple and fun and makes the apartment smell like heaven. The cake recipe came from Recipezaar.com and had good reviews. I love making things fun with them. I take whatever cake batter is left and I make a fun design. The Heart was made completely from scratch. The other was a Mother's Day tribute and was one delicious treat. It took a good amount of effort and a sharp knife to cut out the letters. If you can't freehand, you can print bubble letters off of Word make letters to trace! Honestly I think that extra effort that goes into it makes it taste all the better. This cake is served best with a side of french vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

Turkey Tacos and Mexican Rice

I'm an Italian junkie. For eons I have made something with pasta, olive oil and more garlic than anybody should have in any given meal... but I soooo love it! After having the realization that if I continue to eat pounds of pasta I will inevitably have to hate Italian food for all its negative impact, I have decided to make a change. So now I am trying something else. Cooking a meal without pasta! (I do realize that rice is the pasta of other nations but eating less portions is better than the mounds of pasta I love!)


"Turkey Tacos"

Sometimes you need a quick meal. We picked up an El Paso Dinner Kit from Wegman's and whipped it up in about twenty minutes. Instead of the traditional ground beef, I decided that tossing in ground turkey would be a far less greasy option. To my delight, I was absolutely correct! The fresher taste made the tacos lighter and accompanied by fresh vine tomatoes, spring mix lettuce and a light dollop of sour cream, this was a fresh way to dine!

"Mexican (Inspired) Rice"

With an intense aversion to going to the grocery store again last night we decided to make Mexican Rice out of ingredients we had. Using, probably my favorite recipe website RecipeZaar.com we were able to link together enough pieces of recipes to make a tasty dish. Sauteing the onions in a little vegetable oil we browned them and tossed the rest of the ingredients and boiled for 20 minutes. Fresh red pepper, tomatoes and onions made this a healthy dish that just keeps giving. A dash of cayenne pepper and it's heated up! We have plenty for leftovers!

An oldie but goodie...

Branching out is something I have been trying to do since getting on the cooking train. One of the very first experiences was making Pork Chops with Apples and Taleggio Cheese along some fantastic Wild Mushroom Gnocchi. Both of these recipes (and most likely many many more) are from the fantastic Jamie Oliver.

"Old-School Pork Chops"

The pork chops were a trip. I can't seem to ever get the cut of meat that a recipe calls for. My pork chops are a bit thick but they do the trick. Make sure to cut them as shown in the photo. Cutting away from the bone in inch long sections opens it up and allows the meat to cook quicker. Macintosh apples are truly the best for this recipe and they cook nicely. Don't over-cook them into a squishy mess! I have used both the Stilton and Taleggio cheeses and I fell in LOVE with the Taleggio. It is a great cheese for making this dish melt in your mouth.

"Wild Mushroom Gnocchi"

I have managed to make this extremely tasty dish a staple in my repertoire. It is easy to toss together and with great grocery stores like Wegman's you can grab the Gourmet mushroom mix, tear it up and cook it up! Soon, I hope to take on the challenge of making my own gnocchi, but we'll see when I can get the time for that!

All in all this dinner takes me 90 minutes. I am finding a recurring problem that I always under-estimate time. Time is an asset in the evenings and after a long day of work I have two modes: Lazy-Leftover Lady and Sizzling-Saucepan Siren. This is why for time reasons I invest in leftovers! On a Siren night I make enough for dinner the next night or at least lunch the next day. Honestly, on your average week you don't want to cook every night so take advantage of the motivated nights and cook yourself a small feast. You'll appreciate it the next day!

The First Blog is Always the Weakest

After the recommendations of several friends I am now just getting around to showing off my expressions in food. For a while now I have been showcasing my endeavors on everyone's favorite social networking site, facebook.com, and have decided to move on to a blog. It won't be an every day blog-- I just can't handle that, but I will try my best to update every week at least. (Who knows though, this could get very addicting...) Life gets in the way and that's my goal; to show that it doesn't take a Top Chef Master to whip up something healthy and amazing in the kitchen on a Wednesday evening.

I'll post pictures and recipes accordingly and if you have any requests just send them along! I'm here to share what a young, freshly married woman has to offer the world of culinary arts.