A Cook's Quest

Well as we all know even the best intentions don't always work out the way we plan.  After my corn salad post, I planned on preparing some new recipes throughout the week for all of your tasting pleasures but alas, life just got in the way.  Between the school activities that the kids had going on, practices and games we relied pretty heavily on our freezer meals I had stored away. Now let me tell you, I used to be intimidated by freezer meals .  I had visions of two days worth of cooking, high grocery bills, and food that I wasn't really a fan of.  I have since realized that there is no concrete plan for filling your freezer with food for later consumption.  After learning my way around the coupon world, and learning that I could still cook the same way I love to cook while using my coupons, I also figured out that my stockpile of groceries could be made into meals for the freezer just by doubling or tripling a recipe.  Now I routinely make t...

Every once in a while I have people ask me "why" I cook the way I do.  The short answer has just always been because I like to.  I have always felt more grounded and in touch with who I really am as I cook.  It is my stress reliever when times are hard and my enjoyment when life is good.  I cook when I am sad, when I am happy, when I am lonely, when I am surrounded by love, and when I just am simply bored.  I have never examined what drives me to try making something from scratch that I can easily by prepared or in a mix.  But now that I have more time to focus on food through this blog I wonder if my reasoning runs deeper than just liking to cook.  There is a certain feeling that comes when I serve food to the people I care about in my life.  I don't know what that feeling is, I don't even know how to describe it. I do know that when people gather to eat a meal that I helped create I enjoy every moment of the ...

My friend Shandra sent me a great dinner idea for Valentine's day.  She said that she loves to make the pre-packaged filet mignon steaks that are wrapped in bacon, served with garlic green beans and pasta or baby red potatoes.  The cost of the steaks are about $5.50 and depending on which sides you want to serve, the total cost for a nice dinner could easily be under $10.00! Thanks Shandra!

Many foods are almost always better the next day, with some exceptions.  Scrambled eggs, for example, should not be reheated; they will never be anything but yellow rubber.  There is no way to return a scrambled egg back to warm, buttery deliciousness after it has turned cold.   French Fries, golden, crispy, salty bites of happiness made wonderful by simply heating them in oil and topping with salt, shouldn't be re-heated from a cold state--ever--in my opinion.   Then we return to just about everything else, the foods that once cold undergo some magic.  Maybe it's refrigerator fairies or just simply time in a cold dark box, whatever it is, food is almost always better the next day.