A Cook's Quest

For a few months I have been following a couple of blogs that participate in The Secret Recipe Club .  It is a private group of bloggers who are each assigned a blog to make a recipe from.  Everyone posts the recipe they chose at the same time on the same day as the rest of the group.  It looked like a lot of fun and a great way to find new food blogs with great recipes.  This is my first time participating and I have to say it was a lot of fun! The blog I was assigned is called Enriching Your Kid  and it is full of wonderful recipes that taste good and are good for you and your family.  The author is writing about her journey as she makes her mother's recipes and nourishes her family.  Her recipes range from nourishing pasta dishes loaded with delicious veggies to fruit salads and tips about packing great cold lunches.  I have quite a few of her recipes marked to make soon but I chose the Cheese Cutlets to make first because they w...

Fall is here and I'm ready for soup.  Warm, steamy, comforting, soup that warms you from the inside out.  I can't think of a better meal on a crisp fall day than a bowl of delicious soup and warm bread.  When I found this recipe on Pinterest I knew it was a recipe I would make right away...as in that VERY day.  The clencher was a little something called "Cheesy Yum," a mixture of ricotta and parmesan cheese that rests in the bottom of the bowl as you ladle up the soup. It creates a cheesy, gooey delight to enjoy with each bite.  I highly doubt that anything topped with a concoction of "cheesy yum," could be bad. As it cooks this soup fills your home with the lovely smells of Italian food.  It will make your children run to wash their hands in anticipation.  If you are lucky, you will have a dinner table filled with the sounds of clinking spoons and comments like, "wow," "this is amazing," and my all time favorite "you are the BE...

Which would you choose, a caramel sundae or a hot fudge sundae?  I am a caramel girl.  I think it is because it reminds me of my grandpa who loved caramels.  Every time I eat caramel on anything I remember him enjoying a bowl of ice-cream topped with rich and sweet caramel sauce.  But in all honesty, I can eat it with a spoon and ditch the ice cream altogether, YUM! Caramel is  melted sugar and it has a reputation for being tricky or temperamental to make.  I will admit that it isn't the easiest thing ever, but if you follow the directions and use the right tools you will end up with yummy, thick, delicious caramel sauce that makes vanilla ice cream better, and any apple dessert amazing.  So, be brave and try a batch you won't want to go back to the store purchased kind again!   The Basics There are two ways to make caramel.  The dry method involves heating sugar in a pan until is begins to melt.  There is nothin...

The theme this month for the Crazy Cooking Challenge (check out all the great links below!) is chocolate chip cookies.  I'm so glad because it forced me to try a new recipe, it has changed my view of my old cookie recipe.  After I tried these cookies from Megan over at WhatMegan's Making , I discovered that I had been settling in the Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe department.   These cookies aren't skimpy on the chocolate, oh no!  They are loaded with chocolate pieces nestled into a fabulous cookie batter and then topped with coarse sea salt.  The ingredients come together perfectly creating a rich and decadent cookie.  Truly, I would call them the Ultimate, the Best, the Awesomest, the Tastiest, which ever adjective you like, to describe them. I made a double batch for my son's game and every crumb was gobbled up before I could blink.   Please, please, please go make a batch of these cookies they are my new favorite!! ENJOY...

We eat a lot of chicken at my house...I mean a lot (many of them are here on the blog). This is thanks in large part to the great deals I get by ordering it in bulk through Zaycon Foods .  Every fall they have a chicken event and this year I am getting my chicken for $1.49 p/lb. The chicken is boneless, skinless breasts that have never been frozen. All you have to do is go to the  Zaycon foods registration page , register, place your order, then pick up your chicken on the day of the event in your area (there is a list of locations on their website).  You don't even have to get out of your car.  Then go home and package it however you like and throw it in the freezer. I don't normally do promotions on my blog, but for this kind of deal I had to share it with all of you.  I mean, who doesn't want chicken for a price like that? Plus, they sell beef, bacon, and regional produce throughout the year as product is available.  I have never been disa...

I love orange chicken.  But not just any orange chicken, a delicious sweet and crispy orange chicken that I remember eating when my family lived in Washington.  The restaurant was an old pizza place that had been remodeled into a Chinese restaurant. My mom used to take us there and my memory of the orange chicken leaves me drooling.  Now, as a grown up nothing has quite matched up.  Oh, yes, I have found many an orange chicken dish to try but none left me wanting more.  They were too sweet, not orangey enough, too sour, too gooey/sticky/thickish or simply just not good. So, when I stumbled onto this recipe I was excited for a few reasons.  First, I had all the ingredients (WOOT!).  Second, it cooked in the slow cooker (WOOT! WOOT!) and third, it is much healthier than fried versions (Triple WOOT!).  While it may not be what others deem as the best ever,  I was pleasantly surprised how the flavors came together.  The ...

I didn't share with most of you that I have been in mourning the last few months.  My dear, faithful, and trusty Kitchen Aide died on me.  My husband, who is very handy and mechanically inclined, stepped in while the poor thing was sputtering away and tried to no avail to save my favorite kitchen appliance.  But, there was nothing that could be done.  The motor was fried in a fluke accident when an interior bolt came loose.   As a result of losing my cooking companion, and life in general which includes three hunting trips, computer issues, kids going back to school, and me finishing my degree, I haven't been cooking much.  But now, life is slowing down a little bit and for my birthday my mother in law gave to me Ruby, my new Kitchen Aide mixer (yes, I know it isn't really normal to name an appliance but I couldn't help it.  I justify my actions by arguing that people name cars and boats and all kids of things so why not my shiny, new mixer?) R...