Small Fry's Shopping List

Not a good speller and a carb addict, to boot. But at least the Small Fry is trying to help out. My favorite is how she spells schedule: skegual.

Even more fried

It was a very tiring week, with, among other things, a car breakdown and a dog who ate an entire bottle of Ambien. Technically, she should sleep till mid December, but she's trotting around, tail wagging, like nothing ever happened.

It being the second week of work, I came home Thursday night - having picked up the car, a new prescription for Ambien and the dog - and couldn't find the energy to even heat anything up!

A Trader Joe's run is in order. And instructions for Small Fry so she can start helping out.

This week, I am going to try cooking a big crock pot meal on Sunday (pot roast with veggies from the CSA farm), and then another one-pot meal on Tuesday. The first one-pot meal, from a cookbook called Glorious One-Pot Meals, was not so glorious. My oven temperature could be off, but it wasn't done in one hour as the cookbook said. Most recipes in the book make two servings in a 2-quart Dutch oven. (Two? Why bother cooking at all?) So I have to triple the recipes and then add one-half more to fit my 5.5 quart Dutch oven. I'm sorry but that is way to much math after a 10-hour day. For me, it's almost too much math for a Saturday.

I've decided to try two recipes from each cookbook. Hopefully, this next one will work. I'll do the math ahead of time.

Cookbooks from the library

Now that I'm a working girl again, I need REALLY easy dinners. I leave at 6:45 am and don't get home till 4:45. Plus, I have that weird, can't-stand-the-smell-of-food-in-the-morning thing, so the crock pot is out.

I decided I would get a cookbook a week from the library.

Last week, I used two recipes from a cookbook that promised it was the most uncomplicated way to prepare dinner for the family, with five tips to make it even easier. Her big tip? Don't change out of your work clothes until after dinner is made.

Are you kiddin' me?

If I had paid money for the book, I'd have demanded a refund.

This week I am trying recipes from a one-pot meal cookbook, where everything is piled into a Dutch oven and baked for about an hour. Tonight's recipe was frozen hash browns, frozen chicken breasts, teriyaki sauce and frozen vegetables. It wasn't done when the timer went off, so maybe putting it in for 15 minutes longer wasn't the thing to do. But it was underwhelming. That's not to say I won't try other recipes, though, because if it really does work, it would be great. Very few dishes and a hot meal.

Arrow Eggs

One of our hens has been laying double-yolkers. The eggs are so big, we can't close the carton.

School lunch

Every morning, I make Small Fry a peanut-free lunch so that, at her new middle school, she can have lunch with her friend Aru. She's the one with the peanut allergy. And Small Fry is fine with abandoning her usual PB & Js for this new friend.

I now make ham and swiss on homemade buns. It looks like I will begin making a lunch for myself; I am going back to work full time in two weeks. In the meantime, I also get to go to Puerto Rico with a friend. And we are adopting a dog that we meant to foster. We've named her Pumpkin, since we got her in October and there is something about her face that reminds me of a small pumpkin.

So here is a recipe I tried today, in an attempt to simplify the homemade buns. I am already planning for having way less time to cook.

School Lunch Sandwich Buns

1 cup water
2 eggs
1 1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons butter
4 cups of bread flour
1 teaspoon bread machine yeast

Place all ingredients in bread machine and use the dough setting. After it rises, shape into buns. Brush the tops with an egg wash. Let rise, egg wash again, then bake at 350 for 25 minutes.

After Forty Years of Marriage, She Tries a New Recipe for Hamburger Hot Dish

After Forty Years of Marriage, She Tries a New Recipe for Hamburger Hot Dish

by Leo Dangel

"How did you like it?" she asked.

"It's all right," he said.

"This is the third time I cooked it this way. Why can't you ever say if you like something?"

"Well if I didn't like it, I wouldn't eat it," he said.

"You never can say anything I cook tastes good."

"I don't know why all the time you think I have to say it's good. I eat it, don't I?"

"I don't think you have to say all the time it's good, but once in awhile you could say you like it."

"It's all right," he said.

Eggs

We started The Chicken Project last spring, with chicks from the farm store. They grew really fast, but then it seemed like there was a 2-3 month plateau - it took f o r e v e r to get our first eggs. When we finally did, it's like they all decided at once it would be a good idea to start laying. We got a ton. Small Fry sells them (company name: Arrow Eggs and she has a logo, flyers and stickers for the egg cartons. Little entrepreneur.)

Now, I am finding that one of my hens is laying double-yolkers, and they are perfect for omelettes. In fact, my first attempt at an omelette, using Cook's Illustrated instructions, was the best omelette I've ever had. Sorry to boast but it's true. The eggs this hen is laying are too big to fit in the carton - too big for the indent, and the cover can't close over it.

Having fresh eggs is worth all the upkeep for the flock. And the colors are gorgeous. Most lay various size brown ones. Hedwig lays green ones. Even our little bantam, Legs, lays tiny little white eggs.

Breakfast for dinner - can't beat it.

Not from scratch but it is fast

I have been drying tomatoes at 225 for 3 hours or so in the oven. Then I put them in the freezer. My neighbor's tip.





This was pretty good, at least according to Big and Small Fry.

Swiss Chicken Casserole

6 chicken breasts
6 slices Swiss cheese
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/4 cup milk
1 package herb-seasoned stuffing mix

Preheat oven to 350.

Arrange chicken on greased baking dish. (Pyrex). Top each with cheese slice.

Combine soup, milk and stuffing. Spoon over chicken.

Bake 50 minutes. Good leftover, too.

*** The frozen haricots verts at Trader Joe's are easy and delicious. I know, I know - not local at all. In fact, imported from France. But when you're a Fried Cook, they work.

Computer finally working

Thanks to my friend Cris, who told me about an external hard drive that is allowing my computer to actually work now.

I have been going crazy making jelly. Look!

Shana's slow cooker meal

Stuck once again with what to make for dinner, I decided to take a pork shoulder (BOGO at Byerly's), cover it with my neighbor's homemade peach jam, some soy sauce, a little homemade ketchup (also made in the slow cooker) and little garlic. Low for 8 hours. Served with basmati rice. Rave reviews from Jim and even Small Fry, who's not usually paying any attention.

The slow cooker bags really make life easier, too.

Will the secret service allow PB and Js?

On Saturday, Small Fry and I had one of our most exciting days ever: we and 17,000 others went to see President Obama at Target Center.

We left at 9 am. We were finally seated at 12:15.

Being one who plans ahead, I figured we would need a little brunch during that time, but, given the security statements (no bags, no liquids, etc), I wasn't sure what to do. Would Target Center have their nacho stand open?

So we packed some PB and Js and some chips, put them in a purse-like bag and tried our luck.

Security checked our bag and squished our sandwiches, but we didn't get wanded. And when we finally got a seat, the wadded up PB & J wasn't all that bad.

Even better, the exhilaration of getting to see the President of the United States! A once-in-a-lifetime experience that neither of us will ever forget.

Spontaneous volunteering

I decided to catch the last half hour of the Farmer's Market today. There, I run into Peg and she is loading up way more than a normal Farmer's Market run of produce into her van.

(BTW, her van sports my favorite bumper sticker: What Would Scooby Do?)

It turns out that she is collecting donations from the farmers for Keystone Community Services, who runs a foodshelf on University Avenue.

The farmers donate this food - and it's not just end-of-the-day produce, but beautiful vegetables - unblemished cauliflower the size of a steering wheel, boxes of tomatoes, etc. In fact, the farmers are on their way to their next market, so the generosity is amazing.

She asks if I have extra space in my car, which I don't. It's filled with Small Fry's stuff and there's a computer on the front seat that I am taking in for a free tune-up at Staples.

As I am heading to Staples, I decide to drop off the computer, clean out the car real quick and go back to meet Peg, if she's still there.

She is, and we load up everything and head out. When we get there, they bring out a miniature shopping cart. We'll need at least 17 more of those, I think. But more carts come out, and as it turns out, Peg has collected 650 pounds of fresh produce. 650 pounds!

The Keystone people ask me to fill out a form for the donation. I said I couldn't - I didn't even know who it was from. I said, "I just went to the Farmer's Market to get a few potatoes." They laughed, then Peg came and said it's from St. Cecilia's church and handled the form.

I was so glad she recruited me. It helped turn a bad day around. We've heard it before - that when you're feeling bad for yourself, do something for others. I'm here to tell you: it works.

Little day

Well, the vanilla extract is still a question mark. It's sort of light brown in color, and see-through. I don't know if it will work or not.

The jelly is fantabulous, and I've now made plum, Pink Lady (our favorite apple) and Shiraz. Photos to come, as the colors are really pretty. But I've run out of disk space on my computer, so I've got to get that all figured out. I like opening my pantry and seeing it all stocked up. I've already given some as gifts.

And the slow rise in the fridge method worked on the bread. I was reluctant about getting the bread machine out again, but now I'm workin' it. Let it do the mixing and kneading, and I'll just do the baking.

Big day

Today I made my own vanilla extract, jelly and cracked wheat bread. Not bad for a Fried Cook.

I'll know in a week if the vanilla extract will work. It looks like a lab specimen right now.

I'll know tomorrow if the cracked wheat bread is going to work. It's currently on a slow rise in the fridge. Since the Small Fry and I are going to the Zoo tomorrow, it won't be baked till after 2. We'll see.

And the jelly. The jelly! My friend Peg demystified this elaborate canning process of jelly making. It's still an ordeal, but one I am ready to tackle now. She set me up with cans, lids, Sure Jell and crab apples. Just need a shoestring and pillow case. More about that to come.

Manners

Has anyone but me noticed the proliferation of people talking with their mouths full? Actors have used this as a tool for a long time - two people, one with a bowl of cereal, a spoon and a witty conversation that can't be interrupted by the chewing of food. But even my husband is doing it and it is just disgusting. Can't anyone hold their thought long enough to swallow their food?

The other day I caught the last of a Rick Bayless show on PBS. Just before the credits, they playing some spirited music, slowed down the video and showed everyone eating, laughing and talking with their mouths full. Now in slow motion? And the Food Network is littered with chefs who cannot wait to tell you how good the meal they just made is - who cares if most of it is still in their mouth, not their stomach.

Sorry to rant. But it was pet peeves night at the Saints game last week, and that one is mine. Big time.

Total is a complete meal

I just didn't have it in me to even scramble some eggs for dinner tonight. But if Total cereal has a complete day's vitamins, doesn't that make it a square meal? I'm just sayin'.

Italian Beet Soup

Here is a recipe that I consider a lot of work (peeling beets, etc) but worth it. This recipe was from the Rosebud Grocery in The Galleria in Edina, and given to me by my pottery teacher, Maureen Brockway. I learned to love beets because of this beautiful red soup.

Italian Beet Soup

5 Italian sausages, cut into 1 inch pieces (I use the Turkey Store's sweet Italian sausage)
1 quart beef stock
2 cups fresh beets, peeled and cubed
1 large onion, sliced
1 large onion
2 carrots, diced
2 cups fresh spinach, cut into large pieces
3 large garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup olive oil (I use less or have omitted altogether and it's still good)
1/4 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp rosemary
4 cups beet green
1 cup white wine
grated romano cheese

1. Boil sausage in water for 5 minutes. Drain, then add beef stock.

2. Over medium heat, pan fry beets, onion, carrots, spinach and garlic in olive oil for 5 minutes.

3. Add these vegetables plus sugar and rosemary to the stock. Simmer 45 minutes.

4. Add beets greens and wine. Simmer another 30 minutes.

Serve topped with romano.

Yummy and easy

My niece is coming from Colorado, so the crock pot is the only way to go. My favorite ginger chicken, today served with roasted purple and red potatoes, carrots and beets.

Ginger Chicken

One family pack chicken thighs
soy sauce
Ginger preserves

Put it all in the crock pot on high for 4 hours and call it a day.

Roasted Vegetables

Any or all combination of
new potatoes
purple potatoes
fingerling potatoes
brussels sprouts
carrots
beets

Stir them around in some olive oil and salt, then bake at 350 for an hour. Stir every 15 minutes or so. Can get really adverturess and add rosemary.

Favorite bread

I found this recipe in Beth Hensperger's The Bread Lover's Bread Machine Cookbook. I've made it at least 6 times now, and this, toasted, with Peg's crabby apple jelly is a little slice of heaven.

Graham Bread

1 1/8 cups water
1 large egg
2 Tbsp butter, cut into pieces
2 1/4 cup bread flour (Swany flour from Hampton Park Co-op is terrific)
3/4 cup graham flour
1/3 cup nonfat dry milk
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tsp gluten
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 1/2 tsp bread machine yeast

I set my (way old) bread machine on the dough cycle, let it rise once, then let it rise in a normal bread pan and bake it in the oven. I find that once the bread starts kneading in the machine, I usually add more graham flour as it's too wet otherwise. All that business about never opening the lid just isn't true.

Obama blend

I have been hanging out for one hour per morning at J & S Coffee in St. Paul. My daughter is taking a sewing class from the lovely and fabulous Sister Louise. Although good coffee with half and half is a morning ritual I've had for decades, I've never actually hung out - all by myself - at a coffee shop before. I see lots of regulars who seem to have made J & S a morning habit for years. They all know each other. I'm the interloper in the corner with her nose in a book. I've read Year and Wonders and am now starting on People of the Book. Both good.

I noticed a sign in the window of J & S that says, "First Americans For Obama." And on the listing of coffee bean flavors, an Obama blend. I got the beans, and was surprised by the price of $20.08, and didn't even make the connection right away. I had high hopes that went along with the high price, though.

It's good, but I have to say, my Full City Roast Sumatra from Dunn Bros. is better. The Obama blend is a little on the Italian roast side, I think, and not as smooth as Obama himself.

20.21

We had dinner with our friends Ed and Anne at the 20.21 restaurant at the Walker. Asian fusion, shared plates and delicious. I told Ed how the elk with blueberry reduction sauce re-inspired me to be a better home cook. It's a benchmark I'll never reach, but still, something to shoot for that's a little better than casseroles made with cream of mushroom soup.

Our block party was Sunday and I made a cole slaw using the red cabbage from our CSA farm. I don't have much experience working with red cabbage, and when I washed it in the salad spinner, it turned the water the most beautiful shade of blue. I used the CSA's recipe:

Turnip Rock Cole Slaw

Finely chop one small head of red cabbage.

Stir together 3/4 cup mayonnaise, 1/4 cup white vinegar and 1 Tbs sugar. Add enough dressing to the cabbage to moisten it and season with salt and black pepper to taste.

For variation and any of the following: fresh parsley, crumbled crisp bacon, grated carrots, fresh tarragon.

Nothing seasonal

Our CSA farm has been stocking us up with greens. But it's cold, so I decide instead to make a bean soup. It's the recipe from the back of the package, but I make it Italian-y by adding prosciutto and Parmesan.

Bean Soup
1 bag 15 bean soup (Hurst's HamBeens brand. Dumb name but good soup.)
1 ham hock
1/4 c frozen chopped onion
1 can diced tomatoes
1 tsp chili powder
minced garlic
prosciutto
Parmesan, shredded

Soak beans overnight. Drain. Add 2 quarts of water and ham hock. Bring to a boil, then simmer uncovered 2.5 hours.
Add onion, tomatoes, chili powder and garlic. Simmer 30 minutes.
Add ham seasoning packet 1 to 2 minutes before finishing. Add prosciutto and top with Parmesan.

Makes 14-16 servings and freezes well.

Egg sandwiches

I have a backyard flock of chickens (12 currently) and they keep us pretty well-stocked with eggs. We sell eggs to neighbors and friends, including my daughter's 6th grade teacher. We have standing orders on Mondays, some who need just one egg and a new customer tonight from Thailand, who is amazed by the colors of our eggs. To be honest, every time I go check the coop for eggs, and there are some, it feels like the Easter bunny has been by.

Tonight: simple egg sandwiches, just like the ones at McDonald's but without the transfats. English muffin, ham, cheddar topped with a homegrown egg. Quick and easy after a long Board meeting.

Yuck.

Because of a shortage of time (Dad to the E.R. for stitches, painting Small Fry's room, getting our puppy spayed - you know, the usual) I buy a frozen lasagne from Schwan's, against my better judgement. How can you ruin lasagne? Well, it's possible. Leftovers go to the chickens.

At least we got to the U of MN's dairy store today, though, and got some more reduced-fat chocolate chunk ice cream. Nothing better on a 94 degree day.

Kale

What to do with the kale from our CSA farm? No better recipe than this, and even my 11-year-old loved it:

Quick Cooked Greens with Penne and Prosciutto

2 pounds kale, stemmed and washed 3 times
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 ounces prosciutto, thin strips
2/3 cup chicken broth (I use Better than Boullion)
box of Borilla Plus penne
Parmigiano-Reggiano, DiGiorno, on top

- Bring water to a boil in large and deep saute pan. Add salt and kale, cook 7 minutes. Drain, and put in bowl of cold water to stop the cooking process. Squeeze kale dry, until only a few drops fall from them.

- Cook pasta according to directions.

- In saute pan, heat olive oil then add garlic, prosciutto and greens. Coat with oil, then add chicken broth and cook 5 minutes, until most of the stock has been absorbed.

Throw everything together and top with parmesan. Yum.

Serves 8.

Local, local, local

Wow! I live near the University of Minnesota's St. Paul campus, where the deer and antelope play. Not really, but they do have horses, cows, sheep and chickens. It should have dawned on me sooner that they would also have a Dairy Store, but I just found out about it. We biked over, waited in a long line and discovered the best reduced-fat chocolate chunk ice cream I've ever tasted. The jury is still out on the cheese; I am saving it for book club on Friday. We're all reading any Barbara Kingsolver book, and since I just finished Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, I need to serve something local. I should also serve something made with eggs from my backyard flock. You can't get any more local than your backyard.

Here's what I am making for dinner. We are slated to get some broccoli via our CSA Farm today, which will go well with it.

Orange Hoisin Chicken
2 tablespoons frozen orange juice concentrate
1/4 cup honey
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
3 slices peeled fresh ginger, about 1/4 inch thick
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon sesame oil
6 individually frozen chicken breasts (unthawed)
2 teaspoons cornstarch combined with 2 teaspoons cold water
sesame seeds

Combine oj, honey, soy sauce, hoisin, ginger, garlic and oil in shallow dish. Coat chicken one at a time, then place in slow cooker. Poor remaining sauce over and book on low, 5 to 6 hours.

Strain sauce through fine-mesh strainer into small saucepan. Bring to a boil, them stir in cornstarch. Heat 1-2 minutes, till thickened.

Serves 6.

Let's call it a microwave

I am bothered by something I saw posted on Freecycle. Someone wanted to trade their "big nuker for your small nuker". Really? You're going to call something that you put your food in a nuker? Really?

Good Day

You know you've got a good thing going in your community when your breakfast is Grandpa Andy's homemade buttermilk bread, toasted, with Peg's homemade Crabby Grape jelly and an egg from the chickens in your backyard. Mmm.

Sprinkles today

It's sunny, but today at my parent's I inherited a bag of sprinkles. These are the colored sugars you use to decorate a cake or Christmas cookies. The Big Fries (my parents) are doing their best to parcel things out to us five kids. Since my Small Fry is the inventor of the peanut butter and sprinkle sandwich, we get the sprinkles.

I think it's hard to part with stuff, and it must be easier to give it to someone you know vs someone you don't. My Mom's cookbook collection has required a lot of thought and sorting on her part. She made sure to give me the Julia Child-signed cookbook, which I got for her one Mother's Day. I appreciate it.

1968

The Fried Cook and Small Fry went to my parent's today. There, we lugged up 23 batches of old Cook's, Bon Appetite and Gourmet magazines, and one called Cuisine. Some date back to 1968, when I was a Small Fry myself. Lots have cigarette ads on the back. I am at a loss as to what to do with them all. Small Fry estimates 300 total, and they are weighing my car down to the point that I am worried about the shock absorbers or struts or whatever it is they are taxing. Is it a betrayal to my Mom if I go right to Half Price books to sell them? Will she ask me for the Bon Appetite May 1984 issue at some point in the future?

Big Day

For a Fried Cook, I've done a lot of it in the past few days. I made my favorite Challah bread recipe, which netted me one huge loaf of Challah, 8 hamburger buns and a cinnamon bread loaf. This recipe always turns out - even in my tiny KitchenAid.

Today is my husband's 50th. Since he's super Irish (like Super Tuscan, but different), I made pot roast with potatoes, roasted rainbow potatoes and potato bread in the bread machine.

Also, had our first CSA farm delivery today. The rainbow chard is beautiful! I don't so much want to eat it, but to put it in a vase. I sauteed the spinach in some olive oil for dinner. We got Oak Leaf lettuce as well.

Here's the Challah recipe, thanks to Bread Made Easy:

2 cups warm water
1 1.2 tablespoons (2 packages) dry yeast
pinch of sugar
8 to 8 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose or bread flour
1 tablespoon salt
4 large eggs (preferably from your backyard flock) :-)
1/2 cup honey
2/3 cup vegetable or canola oil
1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for glaze

Pour 1/2 cup warm water into small bowl, Sprinkle with yeast and sugar. Stir to dissolve; let stand until foamy, about 10 minutes. * If it doesn't foam, your yeast isn't working.

Place 1 1/2 cups of flour and salt in bowl of KitchenAid, using paddle attachment. Add eggs, honey, oil and remaining 1 1/2 cups water on low speed. Beat until smooth. Add yeast mixture. On low, add flour 1/3 cup at a time until a ball is formed. Switch to the dough hook, and knead for as long as possible. On the teeny KitchenAid, the dough will start to climb up the hook pretty quickly, so you'll need to knead the rest by hand. Knead till smooth and elastic. Let rise 2 hours or so, until doubled. Shape into bread, braid or buns and let rise 1 - 2 hours. Egg wash before and after final rise. Bake 350 for 30 minutes.

Trader Joe's excursion

Maggie, Mary, Grandpa Andy and I make a pilgrimage to that wonderland that is Trader Joe's. It's my first time and I am overwhelmed by possibilities. I had planned to get one bag of stuff, but end up with two, as well as some two buck Chuck. I would have gotten more, but my side-by-side's freezer is teeny. Already, stuff falls out when I open the door.

Dinner tonight is Taco Bake, a la Cook's Country magazine:

1 can Ro-Tel tomatoes
1 can diced tomatoes
1 16-ounce can refried beans
3 cups shredded Mexican cheese blend
1.5 pounds ground beef
1 package taco seasoning mix
12 taco shells

Heat over to 475. In a 13x9 baking dish, combine Ro-Tel tomatoes and beans, and top with 1 cup of cheese.

Cook beef in skillet, drain fat, then add taco seasoning and next can of tomatoes. Heat through till thickened and nearly dry, about 5 minutes.

Arrange tacos upright in baking dish. Spoon beef into tacos, top with cheese and bake about 10 minutes.

Top with sour cream. Serves 4 to 6.

Friends

My friend Maggie is unemployed right now, so I invite her over for her favorite soup. Karen and her son come as well. Then, later, Grandpa Andy comes by. He is a new friend who loves to bake bread, as do I. I tried to make an asiago cheese bread in the bread machine and it didn't go well. Grandpa Andy brings some delicious cranberry walnut and Finnish cardamon, both fashioned into braids and egg washed. The cranberry walnut is gone almost immediately.

Maggie brings gigantor chocolate chip cookies with brownies in the middle. They are the size of a human head! Karen brings salad with greens from her garden. I didn't know you could get lettuce so fast!

Here is the soup recipe. I had enough for lunch, for dinner and to send some home with Maggie and Grandpa Andy.

Maggies' Soup

3 c whole milk
1 c Jiffy corn muffin mix
2 T butter
1 onion, chopped fine (I use the frozen ones)
2 garlic cloves, minced (I used jarred)
1 tsp cumin
2 quarts chicken broth (I use Better Than Bouillon)
1.5 pound chicken breasts, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch pieces (I use frozen Schwan's_
1 c shredded Monterey Jack cheese
3 c frozen maize (I don't like the word for this that starts with 'C' and it comes on a cob) (Schwan's is great)
parsley (I use dried)

1. Mix milk and muffin mix in bowl until well combined. Meanwhile, heat butter in large Dutch oven over medium. Add onion and cook till soft, about 8 minutes. Stir in garlic and cumin, stir about 30 seconds. Add broth, chicken and sweet potatoes. Bring to boil, reduce heat, simmer 8 minutes.
2. Stir in milk and muffin mixture, simmer 10 minutes. Add maize, cook 2 minutes. Sprinkle with parsley. Serve, topping with cheese.
8 to 10 servings

Good point

My aunt was telling me about the wonders of CostCo. I still haven't been, but she said that as she was looking around at all the prepared food, she realized that nobody cooks anymore - yet everybody is watching the Food Network.

Our friends Ed and Anne had us to their farm recently. Ed is a Sommelier and chef, and served elk with a blueberry reduction sauce. It was amazing!

I decide that while I will never end up on The Iron Chef, I can put a little more effort into evening dinners. The elk inspires me. I check more cookbooks out of the library.

Reading cookbooks

I am a very slow reader, so when I am not reading a bookclub book, I read cookbooks for fun.

Right now I am reacquainting myself with the bread machine that was being stored in the basement, thanks to The Bread Lover's Bread Machine Cookbook by Beth Hensperger. The bread machine is back on the kitchen counter, doing the work that the KitchenAid 600 mixer could not.

Last week, my Bread Made Easy cookbook said that I should knead the challah dough I was making for 5 minutes in the KitchenAid. But the KitchenAid had other ideas. It quit at 4 minutes. Wait, it didn't just quit actually. It died. Just made a little 'pft' noise and stopped working at all.

And in e-mailing KitchenAid to see why this machine died, they just kept saying I shouldn't have to knead dough beyond 4 minutes. But can't it do 5? Well, it should only need 4. But the recipe calls specifically for 5 in a KitchenAid. Well, do only 4. I returned it, having owned it for less than a month. Time to dust off the bread machine.

I am checking out a lot of Beth Hensperger's books from the library. I like the library books because some people (I think the library calls them 'Patrons') have made helpful notes in the margins.

What's for dinner tonight?

I never know if my husband will be home for dinner or not. He is a live-in-the-moment kind of guy, not a planner. I think I will just make a tuna casserole.

- Some egg noodles, cooked
- One can cream of mushroom soup
- Lots of tuna
- Frozen peas
- Top with parmesan cheese and ground Ritz crackers

Not a gourmet meal, but OK for a weeknight.

Fried Cook, first post

This blog is dedicated to me and all those like me: A 40-something wife and mother who has cooked every home meal for the last 18 years of marriage. This is where I am supposed to say that I l o v e to be home, cooking meals all day, baking bread and bars and cookies and providing sustenance and nourishment for my family. But truly, I am in dire need of inspiration, and am always looking for it. Though I've taken dozens of cooking classes, subscribe to cooking magazines and have a hefty collection of cookbooks, I can't seem to think of anything else to make. I am burnt out. I am the fried cook.

My search for inspiration is further spurred on by the fact that I can't have the same thing for dinner twice in a row. Small Fry (my daughter) can - especially if dinner were a PB&J every night. My husband could survive on pot roast alone. But I need variety, I guess.

Since I am doing so doggone much cooking, any recipes or ideas posted here have to be A.) Easy to make or B.) Worth the effort.