Every year, my parents, my godmother, the Jordan, and I go to Ligonier Days. We buy cha-cha knick knacks, eat lots of food, and visit this gi-normous antique store. Something we buy every year are these little dip packets. It's powdered spices that you then mix into a mixture of sour cream and mayo. There is only one downside, and that is that you have to use the whole packet, which makes a considerable amount of dip. I have discovered an alternative.
Penzey's Spice Company (seriously, people; check them out) makes dip mixes that make smaller batches. Because I'm a spaz, I like to doctor mine. Here is my favorite:
Make one batch of Penzey's Horseradish Dip the way it says to on the bottle. Then add about 2 teaspoons of dried dill, a tablespoon of dried minced onion, and a splash of Worcestershire sauce. Let it sit in the fridge for an hour or so to let the onions soften. Delicious on veggies, crackers, pretzels, and chips alike!
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Hello, again.
Well, dear readers (all three of you), I'm sorry I haven't written anything. I've had a few family emergencies in the last week or so, but I promise I'll get a new recipe or something up here soon.
On a culinary note, Jefferson Regional Medical Center has a surprisingly decent cafeteria.
Peace, love, and salty hospital food,
Kim
On a culinary note, Jefferson Regional Medical Center has a surprisingly decent cafeteria.
Peace, love, and salty hospital food,
Kim
Monday, May 19, 2008
Someone actually requested a recipe...
And I feel special!
This recipe, which I call "Slaw Stew," is cheap, easy, and delicious (if my Jordan were writing this, he might say, "Sounds like my ex-wife," a joke which will never get old). Slaw Stew comes from my boss at the flower shop, Claire. Claire and I tell people she's my aunt, because that's 84,000 times easier than our real relation, which is that she is my mum's ex-husband's step-cousin. So, Aunt Claire it is! Anyway, when it's slow at the shop, Claire tells me recipes that her hella-Italian grandma used to make. This, apparently, is very similar to one. I hope you like it!
Take about a pound of lean ground beef. Brown and crumble it in your soup pot and drain it.
Throw in an onion, chopped (I used Vidalia) and 3 or 4 cloves of garlic.
Add some EVOO (that's Extra Virgin Olive Oil to those of you who don't know Rachel. As in Ray.) so it doesn't scorch.
Now cook that stuff until everything gets a little soft looking.
Now you'll want 1 or 2 of those small bags of broccoli slaw mix; throw those in the pot too.
Take two cans of stewed tomatoes (I used one big and one regular sized) and dump those in, juice and all. Fill each can halfway with water and add that, too.
I mixed up 3 cups of beef bullion and added those, too, because my stew was super dry, but just eyeball yours.
Now put the lid on and turn down the heat. Let it simmer until everything is soft - about 2 hours.
I served this with some garlic bread and fried zucchini and also passed grated Parmesan to sprinkle in the soup. DELICIOUS!
And for you crazy vegetarians or *gasp* vegans, I feel confident that this would be equally kickass with tofu meat.
This makes wonderful leftovers, so it's totally cool if you live by yourself or if you're the only one that eats this kind of stuff. Make a pot on Sunday, and you'll have lunch all week!
This recipe, which I call "Slaw Stew," is cheap, easy, and delicious (if my Jordan were writing this, he might say, "Sounds like my ex-wife," a joke which will never get old). Slaw Stew comes from my boss at the flower shop, Claire. Claire and I tell people she's my aunt, because that's 84,000 times easier than our real relation, which is that she is my mum's ex-husband's step-cousin. So, Aunt Claire it is! Anyway, when it's slow at the shop, Claire tells me recipes that her hella-Italian grandma used to make. This, apparently, is very similar to one. I hope you like it!
Take about a pound of lean ground beef. Brown and crumble it in your soup pot and drain it.
Throw in an onion, chopped (I used Vidalia) and 3 or 4 cloves of garlic.
Add some EVOO (that's Extra Virgin Olive Oil to those of you who don't know Rachel. As in Ray.) so it doesn't scorch.
Now cook that stuff until everything gets a little soft looking.
Now you'll want 1 or 2 of those small bags of broccoli slaw mix; throw those in the pot too.
Take two cans of stewed tomatoes (I used one big and one regular sized) and dump those in, juice and all. Fill each can halfway with water and add that, too.
I mixed up 3 cups of beef bullion and added those, too, because my stew was super dry, but just eyeball yours.
Now put the lid on and turn down the heat. Let it simmer until everything is soft - about 2 hours.
I served this with some garlic bread and fried zucchini and also passed grated Parmesan to sprinkle in the soup. DELICIOUS!
And for you crazy vegetarians or *gasp* vegans, I feel confident that this would be equally kickass with tofu meat.
This makes wonderful leftovers, so it's totally cool if you live by yourself or if you're the only one that eats this kind of stuff. Make a pot on Sunday, and you'll have lunch all week!
Thursday, May 15, 2008
A little bit sappy...
Alright, this blogging thing is addictive. Or just a novelty, but either way, here I am. Again.
I just had a post-class dinner and drink with some of the most wonderful people anyone will ever meet, and I decided that good food tastes 84,000 times better when you are eating it with good people. So, wonderful people, you know who you are. Thank you. I know I can never eat anything bad when you are around.
Peace, love, and sappy moments,
Kim
I just had a post-class dinner and drink with some of the most wonderful people anyone will ever meet, and I decided that good food tastes 84,000 times better when you are eating it with good people. So, wonderful people, you know who you are. Thank you. I know I can never eat anything bad when you are around.
Peace, love, and sappy moments,
Kim
Rather than pay my Citi bill...
I thought I'd throw another blog out. Because, really, who wants to pay a credit card bill when they could talk about food?
So at Cosco they sell these rotisserie chickens, which are something like three pounds, for $6, I think? Anyway, they're super cheap and super good and we get them all the time. The only thing is, you can only eat chicken with cream sauce over toast (another favorite from my mum's childhood) so many times. So I have developed a mean chicken salad to use up some of the chicken. It's all very approximate and customizable.
Homemade Chicken Salad
Take some chicken and cut it up into itty bitty pieces (or if you like chunky chicken salad leave it bigger). Then take some onion and celery (to taste) and cut them up even smaller. Throw that stuff in a bowl along with some Worcestershire sauce . I happen to love mayo (it is clearly the best condiment), so I throw in a lot of it. If you like dryer chicken salad, use less. I also throw in about a tablespoon of sour cream. It gives a little extra something to the taste.
Now for seasoning: I like to put in some dried dill and a few shakes of salt and pepper. Penzey's makes these great spice blends, so I use those a lot (for everything - check them out sometime!). My current favorite for chicken salad is called Sandwich Sprinkle. Stir it all together, add more mayo or seasonings, and put it on some bread or Triscuts. And that's it! It keeps well in a tightly sealed container, but I don't know for how long. Sorry, kids. But it will probably be gone before you need to worry about that anyway!
Also, my mom bought this AMAZING pineapple (also at Cosco), so I thought I'd also give you a super easy pineapple recipe that you can take to picnics and parties that looks fancy, tastes delicious, and takes pretty much no time to make.
Red Pineapple
Take a pineapple. Cut the core out and clean it all up, then cut it into chunks. Put it into a container that you can seal. Now take a packet of Jell-o powder and sprinkle it over the top of the pineapple. Put on the lid and stick the whole thing in the fridge for a few hours. Before you take it to wherever you are going, stir it around. The Jell-o should be evenly distributed and syrupy. Enjoy! We generally use cherry or strawberry Jell-o because it looks pretty and tastes YUMMY, but lime is also okay. If you try any other flavors, let me know!
Peace, love, and happy picnicking,
Kim
So at Cosco they sell these rotisserie chickens, which are something like three pounds, for $6, I think? Anyway, they're super cheap and super good and we get them all the time. The only thing is, you can only eat chicken with cream sauce over toast (another favorite from my mum's childhood) so many times. So I have developed a mean chicken salad to use up some of the chicken. It's all very approximate and customizable.
Homemade Chicken Salad
Take some chicken and cut it up into itty bitty pieces (or if you like chunky chicken salad leave it bigger). Then take some onion and celery (to taste) and cut them up even smaller. Throw that stuff in a bowl along with some Worcestershire sauce . I happen to love mayo (it is clearly the best condiment), so I throw in a lot of it. If you like dryer chicken salad, use less. I also throw in about a tablespoon of sour cream. It gives a little extra something to the taste.
Now for seasoning: I like to put in some dried dill and a few shakes of salt and pepper. Penzey's makes these great spice blends, so I use those a lot (for everything - check them out sometime!). My current favorite for chicken salad is called Sandwich Sprinkle. Stir it all together, add more mayo or seasonings, and put it on some bread or Triscuts. And that's it! It keeps well in a tightly sealed container, but I don't know for how long. Sorry, kids. But it will probably be gone before you need to worry about that anyway!
Also, my mom bought this AMAZING pineapple (also at Cosco), so I thought I'd also give you a super easy pineapple recipe that you can take to picnics and parties that looks fancy, tastes delicious, and takes pretty much no time to make.
Red Pineapple
Take a pineapple. Cut the core out and clean it all up, then cut it into chunks. Put it into a container that you can seal. Now take a packet of Jell-o powder and sprinkle it over the top of the pineapple. Put on the lid and stick the whole thing in the fridge for a few hours. Before you take it to wherever you are going, stir it around. The Jell-o should be evenly distributed and syrupy. Enjoy! We generally use cherry or strawberry Jell-o because it looks pretty and tastes YUMMY, but lime is also okay. If you try any other flavors, let me know!
Peace, love, and happy picnicking,
Kim
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
And a recipe...
I realized after sending the link for this blog to my mum that I hadn't posted anything really about cooking. So, anyone who knows anything about growing up Polish and Slovak knows that cabbage is a main ingredient in, oh, everything. We boil it, fry it, stuff it, dress it. It's cheap and pretty much always available and very versatile. And I love it! Halushki is an ethnic food that has tons of variations, but here's how we make it (which is how my grandma made it, which is how my great-grandma from Prague made it).
Shred a head of cabbage and a small onion or two. Melt a stick of butter and a stick of Promise in a ginormous skillet and toss in the shredded veggies. It will look like a lot, but it will cook down, I promise.
Forget the cabbage for a few, and get a bag of noodles. My grandma used either those teeny squares or the itty-bitty bowties, so that's what we use. Cook them like the package says to.
Give the cabbage and onion a stir every so often and make sure it's not sticking. If it starts to look too dry, add some more butter and Promise (always in equal amounts - I didn't say this was figure friendly, people.).
Add some salt and pepper to taste. Keep cooking the cabbage over medium heat so it's making noise without popping too much or burning. Cook it down until it's sort of a tan color and soft - about a half hour, I guess.
Drain your noodles and add them to the skillet. I like my halushki really cabbage-y, so I usually have some leftover noodles. But if you're a first-timer or not a huge fan of cabbage or you used a hu-u-u-u-uge head of cabbage, you'll want to use the whole bag of noodles. A really yummy thing to do with the leftover noodles (or any leftover noodles) is to mix them with some cottage cheese and a little butter. It sounds weird, I know, but I don't eat cottage cheese any other way! These are both staples for any family picnic for me. Enjoy!
Peace, love, and cabbage,
Kim
Shred a head of cabbage and a small onion or two. Melt a stick of butter and a stick of Promise in a ginormous skillet and toss in the shredded veggies. It will look like a lot, but it will cook down, I promise.
Forget the cabbage for a few, and get a bag of noodles. My grandma used either those teeny squares or the itty-bitty bowties, so that's what we use. Cook them like the package says to.
Give the cabbage and onion a stir every so often and make sure it's not sticking. If it starts to look too dry, add some more butter and Promise (always in equal amounts - I didn't say this was figure friendly, people.).
Add some salt and pepper to taste. Keep cooking the cabbage over medium heat so it's making noise without popping too much or burning. Cook it down until it's sort of a tan color and soft - about a half hour, I guess.
Drain your noodles and add them to the skillet. I like my halushki really cabbage-y, so I usually have some leftover noodles. But if you're a first-timer or not a huge fan of cabbage or you used a hu-u-u-u-uge head of cabbage, you'll want to use the whole bag of noodles. A really yummy thing to do with the leftover noodles (or any leftover noodles) is to mix them with some cottage cheese and a little butter. It sounds weird, I know, but I don't eat cottage cheese any other way! These are both staples for any family picnic for me. Enjoy!
Peace, love, and cabbage,
Kim
The First Post
Dear friends, classmates, and anyone else looking at this little blog,
I have never blogged before, not even on LiveJournal (although I do have an account, I only use it for stalking other people), so bear with me as I get used to this form of communication. Although this is for a class, I really wanted to blog about something I genuinely care about without being too sappy. I thought of Julia and Me, this great book about a woman who, during a life crisis, decides to cook every one of the recipes in Julia Childs's Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume 1, and decided that I would write about food. I love cooking, and when I think of cooking, I can't help but think of my mother, hence the title of this blog.
Growing up, I was always allowed in the kitchen. While my mother always kept (and still does keep) an impeccably clean house, all bets were off when we were in the kitchen together. We would share secrets and tell stories; my godmother was also often there as well. Perhaps because of this, many of my favorite memories revolve around food.
Anyway, all this food and cooking has made me a brave eater and a brave cooker, if there are such things. I have never been to culinary school of any kind; I claim no expertise or real knowledge. I just read a lot - cookbooks and culinary essays. If I seem pretentious, please ignore it. I mess up a lot, as you will see, but I hope you enjoy reading about my cooking and eating as much as I enjoy talking about it.
Humbly yours,
Kim
I have never blogged before, not even on LiveJournal (although I do have an account, I only use it for stalking other people), so bear with me as I get used to this form of communication. Although this is for a class, I really wanted to blog about something I genuinely care about without being too sappy. I thought of Julia and Me, this great book about a woman who, during a life crisis, decides to cook every one of the recipes in Julia Childs's Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume 1, and decided that I would write about food. I love cooking, and when I think of cooking, I can't help but think of my mother, hence the title of this blog.
Growing up, I was always allowed in the kitchen. While my mother always kept (and still does keep) an impeccably clean house, all bets were off when we were in the kitchen together. We would share secrets and tell stories; my godmother was also often there as well. Perhaps because of this, many of my favorite memories revolve around food.
Anyway, all this food and cooking has made me a brave eater and a brave cooker, if there are such things. I have never been to culinary school of any kind; I claim no expertise or real knowledge. I just read a lot - cookbooks and culinary essays. If I seem pretentious, please ignore it. I mess up a lot, as you will see, but I hope you enjoy reading about my cooking and eating as much as I enjoy talking about it.
Humbly yours,
Kim
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