To Thine Own Self, Be Food

SUBTITLE: I HAVE NEW TECHNOLOGY.  SEE THE BOTTOM OF THIS ENTRY! Remember this post ?  In which I complain about eating too much and feeling crummy?  In which I resolve to keep foods simple and close to the source? Yeah.  That lasted three days.  Less than that, actually.  But that's neither here nor there. I'm a hypocritical idealist.  Sue me.  I see the world in a certain, simple way...and figure that it's a matter of a practical course of action that will get me there.  But reality has its own ways and means as well. Aaah well, there's always tomorrow to get on board with the right kind of eating.  Whatever that means, really. So.  The husband took down the Christmas tree today and my kids began to clear out the holiday detritus.  And what's good for the (Ryan) goslings is good for the goose.  My kitchen pantries are in need of the same. Hence, these muffins I made today. With the holidays come holiday baking and cooking.  With all that come extra

A full 24+ hours has eclipsed since Christmas Day, and I am now ready to recap the Cratchit Christmas Dinner. I feel that post-holiday letdown moreso this year than any other...and it definitely has less to do with the lack of presents under the Christmas tree and more to do with no big holiday menus to plan for and execute. Anyway, pictures and commentary and highlights: It was a rather quiet Christmas, with the Nelson 5 and my parents.  Going off of context clues in Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol , the menu consisted of roast goose, mashed potatoes, applesauce, sage and onion stuffing, and a Christmas pudding.  The point was to keep it simple and sparse. Oh yeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaah. This is what a Christmas Pudding looks like.  I made it the Friday before Christmas day...but I read recipes that talked about keeping it in a cool, dry place for up to a year. Whaaaaaaaaa...?  That's a ServSafe violation if ever I saw one. But, that's why the recipes also say

Okay.  I know I've got a Cratchit Christmas Dinner to recap and illustrate for you here, and I have every intention of doing so. But, first...something that's on my mind: food. You're shocked, yes? I happen to be on a short hiatus from school and work, and I admit, I have the tiniest desire to be working or studying right now.  I mean, someone to crack the whip at my back.  It is all so easy to fall into a lifestyle of sloth during this holiday season. I spent last weekend at my in-laws house.  They live in the country + painful below-zero temps = no exercise.  There's a fair amount of sitting on the couch, watching hunting shows or basketball games.  I spent a lot of time in the kitchen, preparing the evening meals (and by golly, I was glad to do it).  Also, my husband's mom firmly believes in three hearty, plentiful meals a day...hard to get my crowd excited about stuffed pork loin when they've just gorged on ham balls and cheesy potatoes. Thus, comi

My thermometer reads -16.  That is staying-inside-the-house weather, people.  Today will be a day for cleaning house, catching up on laundry, prepping for tomorrow's dinner, and watching Christmas movies (today will be "Grinch" and "It's a Wonderful Life", tomorrow "A Christmas Carol"). And speaking of movies, I took my three kids to "The Hobbit" last night.  In 3D.  Watching movies "based on" books I absolutely love is usually painful for me.  For example, Keira Knightley's version of Pride and Prejudice was horrid, but the 1996 Colin Firth/Jennifer Ehle version is wonderfully spot-on.  The Harry Potter movies give me fits, and even the 'Lord of the Rings' series is missing key scenes from the books. However, I keep going to these movies, so the discrepancies must not be enough to ruin the experience. I am still trying to sort out how I feel about the certain "mistakes" in this film.  Usually, I n

Two days without my Internets.  While I was at the in-laws.  It was rough. The in-laws let me be in charge of menus for the Saturday and Sunday night dinners, and I had two very willing sous chefs at my disposal (my brother#1-in-law and his wife).  The challenge was to class it up a little, but keep the foods recognizable for my father and mother and brother#3-in-law. Enjoy. A Triple-Pork Pork Loin... pork stuffed with ground pork, spinach, apples, and mushrooms, and then wrapped in prosciutto. Standard Au Gratin potatoes (I was heavy-handed on the cayenne.  I won't apologize for it.) The Chocolate Silk Tart.  As you can see, I scored out eight slices.  I should have done 16.  Very rich.  Finished pork loin with its unsightly marks from its time in bondage. You can tell here that I didn't quite butterfly my loin right...the bottom is too thick.  But still...tasted delicious and not dry at all. All this above made up Saturday's dinner, which

Because I will ruin your dining experience, likely. Unless that's what you're looking for...in that case, I'm free most evenings of the week and willing to drive just about anywhere. You all know I'm in my 6th term (or, penultimate, if you're looking to boost vocab) of culinary school...and since week two of the entire program, people have been asking me if it's difficult to eat out because I can't helping critiquing.  And I've usually responded in the affirmative because yeah, knowing what I know about the foodservice industry...? I know all the shortcuts.  I know that lots of people around here aren't terribly discerning in their tastes...and lots of food-type products get passed off as 'gourmet'. Case in point, my husband's pork roast lunch. The pork slices were juicy, but otherwise rather flavorless, which made me wonder if it were pre-prepared or what.  The mashed potatoes, although they had green flecks of something in them,

I can hardly resist the magazine aisle at any grocery store/Walmart/gas station.  The explosion in culinary magazines available to everyday readers like me is pretty exciting stuff. Whole magazines devoted to wine.  To wine with food.  To cookies.  To healthy eating.  To gluten-free eating.  And on and on and on.  Invariably, I leaf through the pages, drool over the food photography, read the articles and tear out any recipes it was likely I'd try. Erm.  Let me clarify.  I BUY the magazine and take it home first...and then do all that I listed above.  I do not, as a habit, vandalize periodicals I have not paid for. Sometime earlier this summer, I'd purchased a magazine titled Eating Well.   And I'd clipped out this recipe: Strawberry-Rhubarb Quinoa Pudding I mean, I like strawberry and I like quinoa.  AND - I have a half-bag of it in the pantry that I need to use. What better time to try it, yes?  I knew you'd agree with me. It doesn't get much more si

November is over (okay, alright, you sticklers, it's been over for two days now), and I shall take today's blog opportunity to recap the month. Another NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) is in the books, and I wrote another novel.  Every year I try to write in a different genre (Mainstream, Chick Lit (x2), Young Adult) and for 2013, I tried my hand at a murder mystery.  Since I'm not much of a murder mystery reader, it was rather difficult to write.  However, it is done, and I think it came out a little like a Janet Evanovich hybrid or something.  I reckon I ought to begin editing it soon. It's also time to catch up on my reading as well.  Right now, I am working on A Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln , and I've got Bram Stoker's Dracula and Shelley's Frankenstein on the list next (I've just recently watched the movie Van Helsing , can you tell?). Food-wise, the Christmas menu planning is well underway.  For those tuni