A Cook's Quest

During the warm summer months I am always trying to find new ways to make corn.  A few years ago I discovered this delicious fresh corn salad and a new way to make creamed corn .  Both dishes have been crowd favorites at family gatherings and potlucks. After seeing a post on Pinterest that instructed how to roast frozen corn in the oven, I decided to start experimenting. The final product was beyond tasty!  It was sweet, caramelized, and just a tiny bit spicy.  My family loved it, and I think it will be my new summer corn dish.  I can't say enough how much I loved it.  Honestly, I probably would have eaten most of it by myself if my family hadn't been around. Next time you need to make a side dish make this one.  ENJOY! Pan Roasted Corn Recipe Source: Jenn  1 tbl. olive oil 1 tbl. butter 3-4 ears of fresh corn, kernels removed from the ears 1/2 cup chopped red onion 1/4 tsp. salt a sprinkle of cayenne pepper (this is ...

About a month ago my mother in law called me out of the blue and asked, "Do you want a tread-mill?"  to which I replied, "ummm, yes?"  And within the hour I had a treadmill in my garage just waiting to burn all those unwanted calories off of my ever growing hips. Fast forward a  few weeks to when my mother in law was cleaning out her cabinets and stumbled upon a smoothie maker still in the box and never used.  She asked me if I wanted it or not, and, after considering what I had planned for dinner that night (NOTHING), I quickly snatched it up and became a hero when I made fruit smoothies and peanut butter sandwiches for dinner.  Thus, our love of fresh fruit smoothies was born in my kitchen.   There are millions of ways to make smoothies both healthy and un-healthy.  So far ours have been relatively healthy.  We have been making them by tossing in fruit, ice, and milk or yogurt and blending away.  But, now I feel an obligation to crea...

It is secret recipe club time again.  My life has been a rush of finals, research papers, and of course all the running around required with baseball, dance, and other family obligations.  I have been on the look out for fast, easy and delicious side dishes to go with our slow cooker dinners.  Melanie over at Fabulously Fun Food has a lot of great side dishes that are not only tasty, but easy too.  She gives a great description of the pros and cons of each dish as well as the changes she plans on making the next time. For this recipe I listened to her suggestions and eased up on the oil but I didn't know how much ginger to use so I just guessed.  I will probably add more next time or use thicker slices because we really like ginger in our house.  Overall though it was delicious!  Perfect to use as a side dish or to make into a vegetarian main dish with some other veggies.  I really loved the flavor of the ginger with the broccoli and nutty...

My only eating encounters with this version of corn preparation have always come from a can, and always tasted like sweet gooey corn.  Not surprising considering the ingredients in commercially made cream style corn. One name brand Cream Style White Corn contains corn, water, sugar, modified food starch and salt. Did you notice what I noticed? There is no cream on the ingredient list!  hence why it is only called cream style corn.  It was never a side dish I asked for, nor is it one I make on my own now as a grown up cook.  But, here I am posting a recipe for creamed corn  because my friend and co-worker, who is a creamed corn convert, told me how utterly wonderful this version is. When I say creamed corn I mean made with cream, not mashed up corn to make a creamy consistency.  There is no added sugar.  I have not added extra food starch.  And there is no added water.  I made this recipe from all things good and...

I've said it before, but I'm going to say it again I love the produce in the area I live.  Not only is there fresh vegetables to be found all summer long, but people love to share their harvests with friends.  My most recent score was a huge box of corn from one of the customers from my work.  He grew the corn himself then brought some into the bank for all of us.  Much like the cherries from earlier in the year my co-workers took what they wanted from the box and I got the rest. Now, I love corn on the cob but a girl can only eat so much. And aside from the typical, shuck, boil, cut off the cob and freeze method I didn't know what else I was going to do with all this corn.  Then, by mere accident I stumbled onto this corn salad recipe while I was browsing recipes at The Sister's Cafe.  The original came from Ina Garten, and like the sisters I didn't alter it other than reducing the amount of salt.  Something about the sweet corn, the...

Finals are over, and after a week of vacation I am back in the kitchen.  I have reacquainted myself with my old friends, kitchen aide, oven, utensils (specifically whisk and bowl scrapers) and of course the pots and pans.  I am ready to make all the recipes I have been looking at for the past three months, but just couldn't make time for.  These beautiful veggies came from our little garden so the first recipe I am making are these oven roasted tomatoes from one of my favorite sites, Our Best Bites .   These girls know how to make real food, in real kitchens for regular on the go families.  When I first started blogging I posted about making my own dried tomatoes as a way to save money.  I LOVE sun dried tomatoes but lets face it, they can be kind of spendy.  Then a few months ago I stumbled on to this recipe and let me tell you I don't know if I will return to my dehydrator or not.  I'm not a raw tomato eater, i...