It's Thyme To Cook ....

I thought I might try writing a once a week blog post on my disasters adventures with cooking. I have been trying new recipes and trying to move past either making the same old thing, or more common, eating out instead of cooking.

I have always been a mediocre cook. I can make a tasty meal, but nothing that would knock your socks off. One night while looking through a cookbook from Ina Garten that I have owned for years, I came across a page that listed 10 kitchen tools you'll use over and over. (Ina Garten, Family Style, pg. 244). She lists:

Braun electric juicer
Stainless steel mixing bowls
Cuisinart food processor
Parchment Paper
12 x 18 x 1 1/2 inch stainless steel sheet pans
Good quality knives: paring, 8 inch chef's, a serrated blade
Rasp zester
Kitchen Aid electric mixer
Oven thermometer
10 and 12 inch All-Clad saute pans

So I took inventory in my kitchen of the things that I have from her list:

Parchment Paper

Hmmmm, not good. How did I get to be my age without owning any of these things? Furthermore, I don't even know why I have the parchment paper. I have no memory of buying it.

I took this as a sign to buy new cookware, good knives, and perhaps learn to make something really memorable. In short order I purchased the requisite All Clad saute pan and skillet, and a set of Wusthof knives.

All Clad makes the most fantastic pans! They heat evenly and clean up is a snap. However, I didn't realize that cookware could cost so much!



Wusthof knives are unbelievable! I've never owned a good set of knives. These have been worth every bandaid I've needed for cut fingers.



I've never been a big fan of non-stick cookware, but I also bought several Caphalon Nonstick cookware pieces. This braiser pan is large and perfect for braising meat.




I now own several pieces of nice cookware, Ina Garten's "Family Style" cookbook, The Pioneer Woman's "Food from my Frontier" Cookbook, by Ree Drummond, and Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking." I grew up watching Julia Child on T.V. every week. So my first attempt at cooking something fabulous was Julia's "Boeuf Bourguignon". Okay, maybe I was a little influenced by my recent viewing of the movie Julie/Julia....

This recipe is found on page 315 in Volume One of Julia's cookbook. It is a two page recipe, not difficult to execute, and uses an entire bottle of red wine (none for the cook). As if making a Julia Child recipe wasn't daunting enough, I had defrosted twice as much beef needed to make this stew (doubling the recipe never occurred to me). So to solve this predicament I made the Pioneer Woman's beef stew too, (page 165, Food from My Frontier) and then had a taste test between the two. A rather ambitious endeavor if I do say so myself. I was still on my All Clad/Wusthof high and forgot for a moment that I wasn't America's Test Kitchen.

As I mentioned, Julia's recipe uses red wine. The Pioneer Woman's recipe uses a bottle of beer. I have never cooked with either (meaning IN a recipe, not as an accompaniment), so that was a new experience. Here is a picture of both stews side by side. Pioneer Woman's is on the left, Julia Child's stew on the right.



Julia Child's recipe was over 4 hours in execution, most of it just simmering in the oven except for this awkward maneuver where you have to pour the liquid that is as hot as boiling lava, from a dutch oven into a separate pan. This was how I accomplished that task:



The Pioneer Woman's stew was placed in the crockpot and just simmered all day long.




Both were delicious, and we ate stew for a week, but the winner was Julia Child's Boeuf Bourguignon. It had much more depth of flavor and a richer sauce.



These recipes were tasty and pretty easy to do. Julia's was more time consuming, but the end result was worth the effort. I don't think I really busted any culinary chops with these recipes, but I did learn that cooking with wine means more than having a glass while cooking.

Until next time, have fun cooking!

Last Month at My House - January

It's hard to figure out how to title a blog post when so much time has passed since I've last written a blog. People were wearing bikini's and sunscreen the last time I wrote something! I've decided to limit this post to the month of January, and hopefully, will post more regularly this year.


Daughter Susan has moved yet again, this time to the Fells Point area of Baltimore. She loves her new home.




On January 5th, Julie, Cassidy and I went to Susan's home for a belated "Christmas Celebration." We had dinner, which was just superb. Susan made stuffed portabello mushrooms and a green salad and bread. I provided the main course, which was chicken spaghetti.



We had a great day. Susan is a real city girl and loves living there. If it wasn't for the fact that she works 12 hours a day in a different city it would be perfect...but it's her life.


Julie gave me a belated Christmas gift. It is something I've wanted for years...




She is having another baby!!!! We are all so thrilled for her, Tommy, and Miss Cassidy. The baby is due on September 18th. I am so happy that God is blessing this family with another little blessing from Him!


I have been very busy trying to reorganize the kitchen cabinets again. I decided that I no longer needed two pantries for food, since there are only three of us here at home now. So my large pantry shown here...




Is now housing my growing collection of cookware...I am having so much fun buying these pots and pans. I didn't know there were so many different pans for specific cooking tasks. I'm sure you really don't need so many different pans, but what fun is that line of thinking?



My spice cabinet is always a mess. I straightened it up again, and grouped spices according to type, and especially how often I use them. The odd spices I rarely use are now at the back of the line. All hot sauces and vinegars are on the second shelf.



For dinner one night I made a pizza with Italian sausages. I made my own sauce, which was so easy and tastes so good I will never buy jar sauce again. After prebaking the crust, I topped it with some sauce...



A slice of fresh mozzarella with an italian sausage on top of it, plus onions and sweet red peppers...



Mounds of shredded mozzarella, fontinella, and parmesan cheeses...




All baked to perfection.





Pizza anyone???



The Queen Cat would like to wish you all good health and happiness in 2013...not really. Have a great day!!

Last of Summer - Two New Recipes

When I wrote my last post, Blogspot would not let me complete it. I may be finding a new home for my blog. The garden this summer was a dismal failure. What started out with such promise, quickly became a disaster. Here the garden was thriving...

Here is what it looked like several weeks later. Last year I had a bumper crop of cucumbers, and this year I only got one. All the vines died and these cukes rotted on what vine was left.

The garden did not yield one zucchini, green pepper, or eggplant. My grape tomatoes were the size of dimes. I think the two weeks we were on vacation in June did most of the damage. It never rained and was also unbelievably hot. The second week the garden was watered every three days, but by the time I got home, it was apparent I was going to lose this year's garden.

We lost a large part of the second Bradford Pear Tree. I now have one and a half trees left. While in Myrtle Beach during June, there was an epic trememdous storm that toppled several of the trees in the neighborhood. Fortunately, the largest part of the tree is still there, so I will keep it till another storm claims the rest of it. A large branch that gave a fourth of the tree it's shape fell during the storm. We can now see the middle of the tree on the left side.

I wasn't sure the trunk would survive with such an injury, but so far it has healed itself. The other branches appear healthy.

I made a new pizza recently. The recipe was sent to me by my daughter. It is a taco pizza. You start with a crust, spread refried beans on it, then top with taco seasoned hamburger, chopped tomatoes, onions, black olives, and cheese. Bake until crust is done and cheese is melted. (I always prebake my crust for a few minutes).

I let it rest after baking for five minutes, then I topped my slice with lettuce, salsa, sour cream, and guacamole. It was delicious!

My husband has been on The Atkins Diet for over 4 years. I've been trying different low carb recipes recently. Yesterday I made fried turnips. First of all, you have to like turnips to try this dish. If you do, it was good, but darn time consuming! Start with sliced onions and turnips. I used my food processor to slice these. I am not one of those cooks who finds it therapeutic to chop and slice...

Heat up olive oil in a pan, add onions, and cook until golden, moving them constantly.

Add turnips to pan and cook, flipping constantly so they don't burn.

They will begin to turn a more golden color. Sprinkle with about 1/2 tsp of cumin, and cook till turnips are soft and golden. (You have time for a glass of wine waiting for the turnips to turn soft...)

I must admit towards the end I plopped some butter in there because I like butter and turnips, but you don't have too. Salt and pepper to taste. I paired the turnips with oven-fried boneless pork chops and asparagus. The turnips were very flavorful.

Have a great day!

This Past Summer at My House

I cannot believe it's been so long since I wrote a blog. After the trip to Boston, it seems the summer just flew by... We went to Myrtle Beach in June, and were joined by Miss Cassidy and her lovely parents. They stayed for a week, and it was so fun to watch Cassidy on the beach. She was just a toddler last time she was there. She was quite awed by the sight of the ocean. However she was not scared. She walked right in, clothes and all!

In July I went to North Carolina for one last visit to the house. It has been sold, and soon everyone will be moving on. The house was lonely without my mom there.

It was fun to visit with family members. I was only there a few days because we headed back to Myrtle Beach for one last trip before school started again. This time Susan joined us for a few days.

Billy hates the beach, but Susan managed to get him out there for awhile. I usually feel like I'm vacationing with a vampire who only comes out after dark.

It was a nice week with beautiful weather. Unfortunately, we were there two weeks. The first week the weather looked like this...

The last week it looked like this...(It is not evening, that is a dark storm cloud)

And this...

But as the saying goes, a bad day at the beach, is better than a good day anywhere else. Plus, the RV NEVER LEAKED, so Bill was quite pleased with that. It was the first time rainy weather at the beach didn't send him to bed early. Have a great day!!!

A Short Trip to Beantown....

We had the opportunity last week to take a short trip to Boston, Massachusetts. I've watched the John Adams mini-series a million times, plus I've read three biographies on both him, and his wife Abigail. So I was intrigued enough to want NEED to see the homes they have there. This is the home where John Adams was born and raised. It sits right next to a busy road. Even when he lived there, it was the main road to Boston. Here is the home he shared with Abigail and where all his children were born. His son, John Quincy was born there, so the 2nd and the 6th Presidents of the United states were born right next door to each other. Look how close to the road the house is... After he returned from his government service in Europe, The Adamses bought this house they named "Peacefield." You are not allowed to take any photography inside the homes. Peacefield was really interesting. It was owned by family until the 1920's. All of the furnishings are original to the family. There are portraits, books, and sculptures there. There is even a dining room table that John and Abigail bought in Philadelphia. It was as if the family just left one day, and the Park Service started doing tours the next... I would love to have this front entrance. There are beautiful gardens and even a library that holds thousands of books belonging to the Adams family, built by John Quincy's son, Charles. The library was built in 1870. The most memorable part of the tour was the crypt of both John and Abigail, and John Quincy and Louisa, his wife. They are buried under a church, and their crypt was sealed until the early 1900's. It was eerie being there, knowing that when their graves were placed there, it wasn't intended to be a tourist attraction. Bill standing at the foot of Abigail Adams final resting place. John Quincy and his wife's graves are in the distance. Afterwards we walked the Boston Freedom Trail. It outlines the city's important places as this country began it's independence from Great Britain. The Granary has thousands of people buried there, including those murdered during the Boston Massacre, Paul Revere, and Benjamin Franklin's parents. This was the site of the Boston Massacre. Centuries later, there is a Chipotle's next door. There was much more to the Trail, but I also just loved the look and feel to the city. It was so clean and pretty. It had a mixture of old buildings and new. There are pretty parks and fountains dotted throughout the city. On the way home, it rained as New York City became the world's longest parking lot for 3 looong hours. But by the time we crossed the George Washington Bridge, the clouds were gone and the sun was shining. The sunset over the Delaware river was beautiful. Though I had to say goodbye to John Adams and his beloved home, I hope to visit again someday and spend more time getting to know the beautiful State of Massachusetts. Bye for now, President Adams!