My Cooking Adventures

Help?!

2010-01-31T18:03:00.001-06:00

Okay everyone... I need some ideas. I have 20+ people coming over for a Super Bowl party next Sunday (anyone else feel like coming?), and I don't have any real cooking ideas. (Well, maybe a couple, but that's not enough.) Right now, I'm definitely doing a sandwich bar... Meats -- Fresh roasted turkey (like Thanksgiving), meatballs (which I actually am going to cheat and buy from Costco...

Fancy marinara

2010-01-25T19:10:00.005-06:00

I'm still cooking through our cupboard, so I thought I'd go vegetarian tonight. (We're trying to go more low-cholesterol in our diets.) Now, I'm not Italian and don't claim to be. (I leave that title to my cousin who is lucky enough to have a mother who learned how to cook Italian from her mother-in-law.) But, tonight's meal was capellini and marinara.The marinara is super easy and can be tweaked

Cooking my way through our cupboards

2010-01-20T13:12:00.005-06:00

Since I'm currently out of work and hopefully going back to school in the fall, we're trying to save money. A great way to do that (especially with how much food we have in this house) is to cook my way through what we have in our cupboards before going back to the store for more. So, last night, I made my first Chicken Curry, and I really wish I had started making this a long time ago. Last

Has it really been this long?

2010-01-18T17:06:00.004-06:00

I'm horrible. I have been cooking, I swear... just not too much that is new. Except for my big holiday family meal... but I forgot to take photos, so next time I cook those recipes, I'll add them.But, today I'm procrastinating, so of course I cooked. No pictures yet since we're not going to sit down to eat anything for another few hours. But, I just made (for the second time) the world's best and

I have been cooking... really!

2009-02-15T15:26:00.003-06:00

So, I've been a little distracted the last couple of weeks while looking for a new job. The goods news is... I found one! (And, I start tomorrow!) It's part-time, but I'll be working for a nonprofit, which is exactly what I want to be doing. And, I'll still have time to work on some freelance editing and writing projects I've taken on. But, I have been cooking. (I just haven't had a chance to

Super Bowl Sunday

2009-02-01T14:02:00.003-06:00

While I don't really care about either team this year (poor Bears), we're still going to a Super Bowl party this afternoon, and I made a trio of dips. Hummus (which you've already read about since I make it a lot), Roasted Red Pepper Dip, and Roasted Eggplant Dip. (And, of course, the pita chips, which you can find the recipe for in a previous post.) These dips taste good, are really filling, and

Alinea at Home

2009-01-28T12:05:00.003-06:00

My wonderful husband bought me the Alinea cookbook (autographed by Grant Achatz!) as a wedding gift. (I still think I won with the hand-made heavy metal quilt, but I digress.) Anyway, as I was saying... the Alinea cookbook is absolutely amazing. Gorgeous photos, clean look. And since Joel and I have actually been lucky enough to eat at Alinea twice, I'm super excited about trying my hand at some

Being out of work isn't so bad...

2009-01-27T13:05:00.002-06:00

... I have more time to cook! Today, with Joel off to another Metallica concert tonight, I made lunch. Pumpkin soup from scratch.At the end of the fall, we got a couple gorgeous organic pumpkins from our local CSA delivery service. I roasted them, pureed them, and froze the puree so that we could enjoy pumpkin all winter when local fresh veggies aren't available.I love making pumpkin soup, and I

Sorry it's been a few days...

2009-01-26T20:07:00.003-06:00

... the only think I've cooked since the last time I posted has been mac and cheese, and it's from a box, so that's just not even worth the time to sign in.Tonight, I almost cooked cashew chicken, but then Joel reminded me that he was going to see Metallica tonight, so there goes that idea. Instead, I whipped up a quick (but from scratch) spaghetti sauce. To my Italian readers, I apologize, but

Top Chef 1/14/09

2009-01-15T22:00:00.003-06:00

Who is obsessed with Top Chef? (Okay, I really enjoy Hell's Kitchen too... who doesn't love Gordon Ramsay, but I don't know when that's going to be on again.) But, Top Chef is the best real cooking reality tv show out there right now.I'm not going to recap episodes. If you want a good recap, I'm sure Television without Pity has something, or the official Top Chef website might have it. But, I am

Working from home today

2009-01-14T11:44:00.005-06:00

Even when I work at home, I make sure to give myself a lunch break. (My eyes need a break from staring at words on a computer screen all day.) I just finished making a super-quick, super-easy, fairly healthy meal that would also work well for an easy dinner if anyone's looking for ideas. It took about 15 minutes to prep everything. Yep... 15 minutes. Then it cooks or sits, and when it's done,

The only night Joel is home this week

2009-01-12T19:45:00.004-06:00

So, I made Tangerine Beef. Here's the photograph. Please forgive the use of my pasta bowls. (I love these bowls. Thanks to Stefanie G. who gave them to me as a Christmas present one year.) But, obviously, this isn't a pasta dish.Technically, I got the idea for the meal out of the All New Good Housekeeping Cookbook (see my favorites), but I was out of most of the ingredients it called for (like

Welcome to My Cooking Adventures!

2009-01-11T20:39:00.001-06:00

Welcome to my adventures in cooking. Unfortunately, I went to law school instead of cultinary school, so the best I've turned into is a pretty decent home cook. Now that I've left my full-time job, I've decided to start this blog.After this last holiday season (and getting married to a wonderful man who enables my cookbook and cooking tools addiction), I own close to 100 cookbooks, which I really