The Smells in My Kitchen

Postby **Dr. Mobius** » Sun Apr 24, 2011 8:30 pm

But isn't EL a guy?
=]

<3

Young Val · Postby **Young Val** » Sun May 01, 2011 5:28 pm

Made homemade Girl Scout cookies (Samoas) for my sister's birthday.

The whole kitchen is COVERED in caramel and the smell of melted chocolate makes my stomach turn (due, I think, to 15 straight hours of Hot Chocolate on a Stick making this winter) but I succeeded!

Now I just need to put them in the mail...

steph · Postby **steph** » Sat May 07, 2011 11:36 am

I'm eating spinach ricotta ravioli with a lemon garlic butter sauce. It's tasty. I made it for the fam the other night when I had book club, but I didn't eat any, since we were having a gourmet pot-luck (book was Garlic and Sapphires). I decided to claim the leftovers and I'm glad I did!

Postby **Eaquae Legit** » Fri May 13, 2011 11:06 am

Bread, bread, delicious bread!

Postby **Eaquae Legit** » Fri May 13, 2011 5:17 pm

And cheddar and ale soup, which I can totally have because it boils off!

Rei · Postby **Rei** » Fri May 13, 2011 6:12 pm

Also, it is super tasty.

Postby **Eaquae Legit** » Fri May 20, 2011 12:49 pm

Minestrone soup tonight. Delicious vegetables and more vegetables!

steph · Postby **steph** » Fri May 20, 2011 1:55 pm

It's most definitely NOT cooking in my kitchen, but every few months over the last couple of years, I go back and watch this video. Brian and I quote it and laugh about it all the time. We've been quoting it a lot the last couple of days, so I went back to watch the video again. I love it! And I love Alton Brown!

Alton Brown does Haggis

Postby **Eaquae Legit** » Mon May 23, 2011 1:03 pm

Polpette al sugo, and I'd add a tsp of sugar to the recipe, but that's about it. Next time I will use a chopper to get the parsley really fine, though. It smells and tastes delicious!

Caspian · Postby **Caspian** » Mon May 23, 2011 5:47 pm

Looooooooobbbbbbbbsteeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrr.

steph · Postby **steph** » Tue May 24, 2011 8:14 pm

Mmmm. Beef stew that simmered for 8 hours yesterday with fresh, homemade rolls schmeared with honey butter. The taste and smell were both a little knee-weakening.

That was, by far, the biggest pot of stew I have ever made. I'm making beef pot pie on my night to cook this weekend in the mountains. I figured I'd make the stew ahead of time and then just have to add crust and dutch oven it over the coals up there. I found a huge package of stew meat for a fairly cheap price and so I ended up with about 3 gallons of stew. Dinner for 2 night's worth ended up in the fridge, 4 more dinner's worth in the freezer, plus a super healthy portion for the pot pies frozen, ready to pack in the cooler.

Mich · Postby **Mich** » Tue May 24, 2011 8:18 pm

Chocolate chip cookies.

I have honestly never made them on my own before. It's always been with someone who knows the recipe or brings all of the ingredients themselves or something. They look tasty! Time to empty the stone and put more on.

I love my baking stone.

Rei · Postby **Rei** » Thu May 26, 2011 2:57 pm

Cheese biscuits!

They make me so very happy, especially as I've been craving them for days. And then yesterday I started craving banana bread. My body seems to be crying out for carbs.

steph · Postby **steph** » Thu May 26, 2011 3:24 pm

Brian craved hot dogs all throughout my last pregnancy. It was kinda funny that HE was having a craving!

Postby **Eaquae Legit** » Thu May 26, 2011 3:26 pm

I'm craving cheetos like there's no tomorrow. Also Tuna Helper and mac and cheese from a box.

But I think that's more to do with being in England than being pregnant.

steph · Postby **steph** » Wed Jun 08, 2011 4:47 pm

Spinach and ricotta ravioli tossed with sauteed farm fresh tomatoes, garlic and aged irish cheddar. The chunks of warm, fresh tomatoes look so tasty!

Petra456 · Postby **Petra456** » Sat Jun 11, 2011 9:39 pm

I got a bunch of strawberries today and I have a mixture for strawberry ice cream chilling in the fridge.

First time breaking out the ice cream maker this year!

steph · Postby **steph** » Sat Jun 11, 2011 9:49 pm

Yum!!!

I am NOT doing well in my first attempt at yogurt making. First, I scorched the milk. I tried a double boiler next. That stupid milk sat on there for 2 hours and NEVER crept above 155*. (It's supposed to sit at 180* for 10-20 min.) I finally threw my hands up and decided that sitting at 155* for close to 2 hours probably killed all the bad bacteria that might be lurking. I finally have it incubating in my bread maker/toaster oven, since it heats as low at I need it to for culturing yogurt. It will be done incubating at about 1:30 am. I'm trying to decide whether to just leave it in there until morning and risk to tart of yogurt or to drag myself out of bed in the middle of the night when I'm this tired and frustrated.

I just wanted homemade yogurt and granola for breakfast in the morning. The granola should be good, at least. It will be done in 1/2 an hour.

Claire · Postby **Claire** » Sun Jun 12, 2011 10:37 am

Home made, oven roasted salsa!

Postby **Eaquae Legit** » Sun Jun 12, 2011 11:03 am

I've heard yoghurt is hard, Steph. Sorry it's being so inconvenient to you. Did you get it to work, in the end?

Yesterday I made barbeque sauce, since England doesn't really have that much, either, and I have a pretty awesome recipe. I couldn't find liquid smoke, so I used a chipotle in it, and then let it keep warm over the charcoal barbeque, so it would pick up a bit of the smokiness. Consensus around the house was that it was pretty awesome, but I wonder how much of that is just deprivation!

Today is Italian bread and tzatziki. Simple, no fuss dinner.

steph · Postby **steph** » Sun Jun 12, 2011 11:30 am

Yogurt was a big fat fail. I'm trying to muster the courage to try another method.

Can I come eat at everyone else's houses today? Your food all sounds awesome and my confidence is currently shattered.

Postby **Eaquae Legit** » Sun Jun 12, 2011 11:32 am

Bring the whole family. I'm sure by the time you get here, I'll have had time to whip up a bigger meal.

Young Val · Postby **Young Val** » Sun Jun 12, 2011 12:46 pm

Steph, I've been meaning to try making yogurt for ages, but haven't gathered up the courage yet. I hear it can be pretty horrific the first couple of tries. I have complete faith in you, though. And of course, you and your family are welcome to eat at my house any time.

Petra456 · Postby **Petra456** » Sun Jun 12, 2011 5:04 pm

The ice cream turned out great, I would totally share!

Edit:

Today was also my first time making an omlette. I was a little freaked out about folding it when Will just walked over, grabbed the pan and flipped it almost perfectly (no spatula or anything!). He then did it even better on the second one.

It was awesome!

steph · Postby **steph** » Sun Jun 12, 2011 6:36 pm

Thanks for all the offers! I'm putting my itinerary together now!

It's frustrating how one failure can make all my successes melt away. I guess that's a totally different issue i need to work on.

LilBee91 · Postby **LilBee91** » Mon Jun 13, 2011 12:45 pm

We made yogurt in my intro to microbiology class. My professor had one of those fancy yogurt incubator things and it still came out too runny and tart. It's definitely tricky and I don't have much desire to try it again. I'm sure you'll figure it out, steph. And adding raspberry jam makes it much more delicious.

The whole cooking challenge thing you guys keep tossing around seems like a great idea until I realize that you all are super pro chefs. I don't make granola. Or omelets. And definitely not croissants.

Petra456 · Postby **Petra456** » Mon Jun 13, 2011 12:51 pm

Ah, I forgot I never posted about my croissants! They were amazing, and I can't remember the last time i've ever been that proud of something I made!

I am not even close to anything considered a pro chef, I just love to cook and I have fun with it.

Believe me, there are disasters, but i'm ok with that : )

steph · Postby **steph** » Mon Jun 13, 2011 8:42 pm

Ah, I forgot I never posted about my croissants! They were amazing, and I can't remember the last time i've ever been that proud of something I made!

Yay! Congrats! I've been trying to plan a day when a couple of friends and I can get together and make them. It's hard coordinating with young moms who are spread out over 60 miles!

I am not even close to anything considered a pro chef, I just love to cook and I have fun with it.

I would never call myself a chef. Trust me, I'm no pro!

Believe me, there are disasters, but i'm ok with that : )

I wish I could have that attitude. It's hard for me, because there is only ONE thing in the entire world that I actually think I'm good at, and it's cooking. Each failure is like a message from the universe saying "haha! You can't even be good at the one thing you've got going for you!"

Anyways, I'm making cream puff for the first time tonight. It's my mom's birthday tomorrow and there is a good deal on blueberries right now, so I'm making the cream puffs with my super fabulous lemon cream and blueberries. The lemon cream is done and tasty! I love that stuff. I may eat a ton of it for breakfast. (Except I'm avoiding sugar right now. Dang it! This may be a terrible idea.)

Cream puffs, here I come! Wish me luck!

LilBee91 · Postby **LilBee91** » Mon Jun 13, 2011 8:50 pm

Good luck!

steph · Postby **steph** » Mon Jun 13, 2011 10:34 pm

Success! Oh, delicious success!

They were easy, too.

Young Val · Postby **Young Val** » Tue Jun 14, 2011 5:32 am

The whole cooking challenge thing you guys keep tossing around seems like a great idea until I realize that you all are super pro chefs. I don't make granola. Or omelets. And definitely not croissants.

Please don't be intimidated by my super pro chef status! The fact of the matter is I have kitchen failures rather regularly--I just don't brag about them. I cannot, CANNOT make a decent baguette to save my life. I've started posting pictures of all my failed loaves on Facebook because it's become a running joke at this point. Nor can I deglaze a pan properly without much stress and swearing. I have, on rare occasion, baked a runny pie. And plenty of stuff just doesn't taste that great. I'm lucky to have more successes than failures under my belt at this time, but I'm still sort of a mess. People tell me I should open a bakery all the time but, hello, I can't frost or level a cake. At ALL.

If a little cooking group on pweb ever got off the ground (and I guess the onus is on me to make that happen, since I came up with the idea?) the point would be to try to recipes, gain exposure to different cooking methods and types of food, to get lifts over the hard parts with advice from other pwebbers, and basically, just to have a ton of fun. Not to be a super pro chef (though all are welcome!)

ETA: YAY FRED! I'm so glad the croissants turned out well for you! Isn't it an amazing feeling of accomplishment when they're done?!

Young Val · Postby **Young Val** » Tue Jun 14, 2011 10:07 am

*Double post*

Steph, if you're willing to share, I'd looooooooove your cream puff recipe/technique. Cream puffs are delicious! Do you use a pÃ¢te Ã choux? Also: lemon cream? I'm DYING!

steph · Postby **steph** » Tue Jun 14, 2011 11:22 am

Kel, I followed the directions on Mel's Kitchen Cafe, since it had pictures. It is a pÃ¢te Ã choux, used to make cream puffs, eclairs and french cruellers. I knew I could use any recipe, since they are all pretty much the same, but Mel had pictures, which was comforting, since I was feeling defeated from the yogurt. It's the post for the heart-shaped one. I didn't make them heart shaped, though. For the lemon cream, I posted the recipe for another friend just this morning on my food blog that hasn't been used for entirely too long: spottsandpans.blogspot.com.

Young Val · Postby **Young Val** » Wed Jun 15, 2011 7:45 am

Thank you! (PS. Spotts and Pans? ADORABLE).

Postby **Eaquae Legit** » Wed Jun 15, 2011 10:11 am

I am trying one last effort and producing edible seitan. So far, all my attempts have failed, but they have been from the same recipe, and this is a totally different beast. Fingers crossed, because I have a kilo of gluten flour from my "optimistic" phase still yet to use!

The Smells in My Kitchen

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