someone's in the kitchen with dina...

So tonight as my meatloaf bakes, I bring you kitchen tips. Yes, I'm also wearing heels and pearls while I cook and my hair is sprayed within an inch of its life. Think June Cleaver.

Tip #1: Make sure dish scrubby is not in drain before running garbage disposal. Otherwise you may learn what a dish scrubby is actually made of. I'll just tell you and save you ruining your scrubby -- that plastic stuff that you scrub dishes with and weird little pieces of sponge. Rats.

Tip #2: There is a right way and a not right way to load the dishwasher. I am fairly sure dessert/salad plates do not go on the top rack. I think that is for glasses, coffee mugs, bowls, etc. I could be wrong...

Tip #3: If you are designing your own kitchen and don't know what to put in that large empty space, may I suggest cabinets. Always more cabinets. Maybe even add on a kitchen annex for more cabinets. Nothing is worse than a lack of cabinet space. Come to my house and you will see every appliance I own stored on top of my cabinets. And a bag of flour on top of the drier.

Tip #4: Always smell the milk to make sure it's good. Because rotten milk is super nasty. I seriously smell it everytime I open the milk to use it. Even if I've already used some that day. It may have turned....

Tip #5: Seal up the brown sugar. Why, you ask. Oh, let me tell you. I had to dump out a 1/4 of my lovely pink Tupperware canister of brown sugar because I failed to put the lid on all the way. Know what happens to brown sugar when exposed to air? Yup, you guessed it. It becomes a giant rock of brown sugar.

Tip #6: The crisper drawer is not the beer drawer. I know, it seems like a really good idea. And in theory it is. However, think about it -- opening and closing the drawer causes the beer to roll back and forth. And what happens when you shake a can of beer (or soda for that matter)? You got it, it explodes everywhere. I suggest keeping it in the door. And then you can open the fridge and smile at all the lovely bottles of Boulevard there to greet you.

Tip #7: When expecting company for dinner, always set the table ahead of time. It will make you look more ready than you may actually be. *I learned that from my mother.

Tip #8: Do not put knives in the oven. If say, you are heating up wings and for some reason you were using a knife in your dinner preparation (???), make sure you do not leave it on the baking sheet. The handle will melt. Yes, the knife may still be usable but it will be a little special.

Tip #9: Tupperware is the greatest invention ever. Okay, that's not a tip. That's just me admitting I love Tupperware. I really truly do. It's a little embarassing. I may need help.

Tip #10: When in doubt, ask someone older and wiser.

awesomeness

So I just finished baking approximately 5 dozen cookies. Half butterscotch chip and half chocolate chip. Whew. And a loaf of beer bread. I broke my diet (terrible, I know) just long enough for one tiny fresh out of the oven chocolate chip cookie and a mug of skim milk (I always drink milk like that in a mug, weird). It was delicious. That is always the perfect cookie. Now I have to clean my kitchen. Yuck. I plan on just throwing everything in the dishwasher. After I unload it first.

Beer bread, did that intrigue you? Would you like the recipe? I bet you would. It's delicious and oh so easy. Here we go.
3 cups all purpose flour (sifted)
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup sugar
12 oz. beer (I use Busch light usually because that is what we frequently have)

Mix ingredients together (you can even do this in the pan). Bake in a greased loaf pan for 1 hour at 350 degrees.

I am so unbelievably excited. There was a necklace on etsy that I desperately wanted. I waited too long and it sold out. I posted a comment on the store owners (?) blog telling her how much I loved the necklace and wanted one of my very own. Well, today I happened by her store and noticed she had one for sale. I immediately purchased it. Eek! I'm so excited. I literally cannot wait for it to show up in my mailbox.

movin' on

I am officially moved! Well, my stuff is moved. I still have to finish the week at my current job. So for now I am sleeping on my sister’s couch. The first night wasn’t bad. I have a week packed full of last dinners with all of my friends. Or at least as many as I could cram in. Last night I had dinner with one of my oldest friends (not in age, but in how long we’ve known each other). I’m so thrilled that I’m moving but I think I’m really going to miss my friends down here.

I can’t wait to be up there for good. We’re already talking about people to invite over for dinner and to play cards or watch sports on my gigantic TV. I’m more excited about cooking for people. Others are more excited about my TV. I finally broke down and bought the giant man-sized TV. I’m pretty sure most girls would not purchase this thing – but one of my co-workers had a 56” TV she was selling for insanely cheap. We talked about it and decided it was too good of a deal to pass up. So now it’s sitting in the middle of my living room – it’s huge! We tried it out Sunday night and I actually really like it.

It’s driving me a little nuts that all of my stuff is so far away right now. I have all of this great work I could be getting done and organizing my apartment but it will have to wait for the weekend. It’s going to be so great though. I’m so excited! I’m excited that I’ve made this move, excited to make my apartment cute, excited for grad school. Yeah, pretty much just a big dorky bubble of excitement.

I can’t wait to start baking cookies and decorating. To make it really feel like home. Most of my stuff has been in boxes since October so I’m really ready to pull it out and make my apartment feel like home. I’ve missed my white dishes and my polka dot towels. And I’m really looking forward to organizing my giant closet. We hung curtains on Sunday night, that helped it look more homey already.

peppermint bark

It’s official, it’s winter. There was ice, there was snow, I sat on my couch and ate Taco Bell. I don’t like winter, not one bit. I think it’s the worst season. Of course it has its redeeming qualities – Christmas, wearing sweaters and fuzzy boots, cuddling up on the couch with someone you love, and drinking hot beverages. Other than that, I could do without winter.

Winter does cause me to want to bake and be even more domestic. I told the boy last night to think about what he wants to eat when he comes over and I’ll fix extra for him to take home. I always love cooking for him. He’ll always try new things and likes pretty much whatever I fix him. It’s fantastic.

So I’ve been tossing around the idea of starting a shop on etsy.com, I’m quite crafty and it would be fantastic to make some extra money doing something I really like. So we’ll see. Probably after Christmas. I still have 2 presents to entirely make, I need to finish a baby blanket, and figure out what else to get the boy for Christmas.

banana cake

My next big baking adventure is going to be a banana cake. We (the boy and I) went to a wedding over the Thanksgiving weekend. His table (no, we were not seated together, as he was in the wedding party) had a banana cake. Each table had its own individual cake which I thought was rather clever, my table had spice cake. Anyway, now it has been requested than I make a banana cake in an attempt to duplicate the deliciousness he enjoyed at the wedding.

I’ve never made a banana cake. I don’t really like bananas. But because he asked, I will make it. When I think about baking it though, I keep singing the Jack Johnson song Banana Pancakes, I hate that song. But I will banish the annoying song from my head and make my best attempt at a banana cake, probably while singing along to the Nitty Gritty Dirt band or something else similar. Maybe Alabama Christmas.

So I’ve started thinking about why I’ve become so willing to cook. When I was in college I was happy to eat a bowl of cereal for every meal of the day. I rarely cooked and when I did it was always the same thing – pasta with chicken or butterscotch brownies. I haven’t made that pasta with chicken in years. I still make the butterscotch brownies occasionally for my dad, usually as payment for changing my oil.

I think the cooking change occurred when I had someone who actually wanted to eat my cooking. Someone who had actual opinions on what we should have for dinner and liked whatever I cooked. If something is requested, I try to figure out how to make it. And I love it. I love scouring websites and cookbooks for what I think will be just the right thing. I ask about a million questions, trying to find out what the desired outcome is. I always want it to be perfect. Even if it looks ugly, it always gets eaten and is appreciated.

Now I have a couple of banana cake recipes. I doubt I will do all the trials like I did with my chocolate pie. I think I’ll just pick the one I think sounds best and hope it turns out well. I need to work on my frosting skills though. I make good icing but when it comes to actually getting it on the cake…. That works less well. I’ve been reading tips though. I’m working on getting better.

It’s almost time to start holiday baking. I’m really excited! I’m still thinking about what I’m going to make. I think I’ll probably have to go to my parents house because my kitchen currently is not very large and does not have all the things I’m used to having. This year I’m thinking peanut butter fudge, chocolate covered marshmallows, chocolate covered orange slices, sugar cookies (maybe) and possibly something else. My work Christmas party is Friday and I need to figure out what I’m taking. I just don’t know.

Play-Do Cookies

Before I started school my mom used to babysit while she stayed at home with my sister and me. One of the kids she baby sat was the son of one of her high school friends. There were usually fun things for us to do during the day. Aside from having extra kids to play with, we would make cookies or play dough or paint with water colors.

This particular afternoon we had been allowed to make cookies. Sugar cookies. Somehow we talked her into letting us color the cookies. Blue. Bright Cookie Monster blue. I remember them being delicious. Well, when the dad came to pick up the previously mentioned son he thought my mom was letting us eat blue play dough. We were sitting at the table rolling out cookies and eating the leftovers from the shapes.

In hindsight it probably did really look like blue play dough and my mom probably looked a little crazy. But really, who hasn't eaten some play dough as a child? Especially the homemade kind. It was always so soft and looked like it should taste good.

I've since (for the most part) grown out of making crayon colored food. However, my mom turned 60 this year and we had a tea party inspired theme. I baked 60 pink cupcakes. No, not strawberry, just pink. With pink icing. They were thing of beauty. I piped swirl designs and flowers, in pink of course, on to the top. So I guess I learned some food coloring is good, some.... well makes food look like play dough.

Where it all began

I'm the youngest of four sisters. That meant I was last in line to learn to cook. Read, I never really cooked much until I went off to college and had to. For family dinners I am usually expected to bring some sort of Jell-O salad. Watergate salad is my favorite. The first person I ever cooked much for was what we shall call "an unadventurous eater" I made the same pasta most nights.

Now as I've hit my mid 20s, I'm striving to be more like the 20 something that my mother was. When she was in high school she was Betty Crocker Homemaker of Tomorrow. This meant she received her very own Betty Crocker cookbook. A cookbook that was used in our family almost non-stop. Don't know how to make something? Check with Betty. It was almost like she was the aunt with all the delicious recipes.

A former co-worker gave me a used version of the very same cookbook. It's hardback and from the early 60s, probably slightly older than the one I grew up using. But every time I set out to make something, I pull out Betty. A smile comes across my face as I flip through the pages looking for the right recipe. Tonight that recipe is coffee cake, my sister requested it.

My baking may not be done for a large family or a fancy luncheon. It is however made in the same dishes that my mother and grandmother have used. I love my dusty rose Tupperware canisters. I have secret aspirations of becoming a Tupperware lady. I love my brown Pyrex mixing bowls. A wooden spoon, well I'm not sure that I know how to cook without one.

I pull Betty out of the cabinet more frequently these days. I have people in my life who are willing to try something new. I've learned that just because my sisters never expected that I would cook doesn't mean I can't. I actually like to cook. Baking is still my favorite. In my own personal recipe file (a blue argyle binder) there are far more desserts than anything else. Around holidays I love making candy and goodies for everyone I know.

So welcome to my "culinary blog" Pictures of whatever deliciousness I've whipped up. Stories of my successes and probably some failures too. Last weekend I happened to make some super ugly (but delicious) lasagna with my mom's best friend's recipe. I also pulled out Betty to make some oatmeal raisin cookies.