Wishlist

There are some kitchen gadgets/appliances that have made my life a lot easier. And some that are a waste of space and money, but I’m much better about determining what is what. I have a few appliances/tools, expensive ones, that I’d like to purchase but can’t quite make the leap.  I’m thinking that if I stick to Culinary Therapy I may gift myself one of these toys. Are there any kitchen tools that you’d like but have held off purchasing?

1. At the top of my list is a food processor. Probably Cuisineart or KitchenAid–these are the brands that are in the homes of people I know and they love them. We have a really nice set of knives and an acceptable blender for pureeing, but there are some things that are just a pain in the arse to do by hand, particularly on a weeknight. I am also terribly sensitive to onion fumes and would be so relieved to give that task up to a machine.
2. A mandoline. Not an appliance (and not terribly expensive), but I am very much enamored of the idea. It would make composed salads so elegant and fun. And perhaps add a bit of risk to my cooking.
3. A rice cooker. I am sometimes seized with a fierce desire for one of these machines, particularly when I am on a vegan/asian/indian kick. At other times I wonder what the attraction is–I can make a very good  pot of rice on the stove, if I do say so myself.
4. A better stick blender. The one we have is kind of crappy, plus the plastic is cracked. But I actually prefer soups pureed in a regular blender, so this one is a moderate desire, not fierce and overwhelming.
5. A Vitamix. I find these machines fascinating and horrifying all at once.
6. A grain mill. I have fantasies of 50lb bags of wheat and freshly baked bread several times a week. Definitely unrealistic. But fun!
7. An espresso machine. I like the brightly colored Francis Francis machines much more than the stainless steel behemoths (I think I am quite over stainless). I have a moderate coffee habit, though, as opposed to a raging one, and don’t know if I could really do the machine justice. I would probably also need to upgrade my coffee grinder, too.
8. While I am dreaming, it would be nice to jump up a level or two in cookware. AllClad is pretty, but I’m ambivalent. I love LeCreuset but don’t know that I would want to be tied to a specific color of enamel for the rest of my life. Maybe for a Dutch oven, but not for an entire set of pots and pans.

Menu Plan Monday

Menu planning is not currently a CT activity/task, but I do think it is one area of cooking where I am moderately successful. Moderately because with just the two of us, I am not usually motivated to cook all of the meals in my line-up.

We’ll be out of town this weekend again, so this menu plan is only through Thursday.

• Spicy Eggplant & Tofu Curry, Brown Rice
• Edamame Salad, Broiled Fish
• Mushroom Risotto, Savory Carrot Slaw
• Spaghetti w/Marinara, Green Veg.

Thinking about this in terms of Culinary Therapy, I would say that this menu is relatively on target. The curry will probably be the most involved recipe because there will be a lot of prep. and I will be winging it as far as a recipe is concerned. But the edamame salad I will make ahead, mushroom risotto is time consuming but not hard (even relaxing as I can read a book while I stir in the broth), and the spaghetti takes zero effort or thought. If only I could plan my breakfasts and lunches with the realistic hope of sticking to the plan…

More menus here.

Kitchen-y Questionnaire

And so I’m off to Culinary Therapy. Since this little blog has devolved into semi-weekly menu planning posts and little else, CT seems well timed. As usual, I’m struggling with putting together meals that are healthy, quick, and appealing. These meals need to fit into my lately busy schedule and somehow incorporate regular long-distance car trips. I prefer that we don’t eat too many pre-packaged foods and I’d love to focus on mostly local, seasonal items. This is hit or miss with so much traveling–local food tends to not be as keep-able in my experience. I also want to enjoy cooking again and not be stressed over every little detail. Too much to ask?

Breath:

• I actually went through my food stores not too long ago in a recent health kick, so I am pretty well set in this area. My freezer can always use an inventory and toss, since I am apt to toss food I’m not really interested in but feel guilty about discarding in there as a stop-gap measure.

Bones:

• Hmmm…I should clean my oven and replace the bulb in the refrigerator. Also have the apartment complex check on a leak in our faucet.

Heart:

• Books! I’m going to shop my own cookbood collection in addition to wandering about the library, but want to devote a separate post to this later on in the week.
• Vegetables or protein–these do not seem like typical “treat” areas, but perhaps I will buy a bag or two of Rancho Gordo beans.

Head:

Favorites (or not)

1. Is there a chef/cook, real or fictional, whom you admire? If so, what’s the appeal of this person?
   1. I like Laura Calder, Jaime Oliver and Jacques Pepin for their enthusiasm and their focus on real whole foods and fresh ingredients. I particularly enjoyed the old Naked Chef episodes that showed Jaime Oliver incorporating his cooking into “real life” circumstances (as much as it’s real life in a televised cooking show). I like Deborah Madison’s cooking style and approach a lot as well, particularly her focus on vegetarian food in a way that isn’t boring or fantastical, just simple and tasty.
2. Is there a chef/cook, real or fictional, whom you find annoying? If so, what’s the offense by this person?
   1. I can’t think of any specific person, but I dislike a lot of emphasis on meals/recipes that require special ingredients, equipment or an advanced degree.

Personal history

1. What’s your earliest memory of cooking–or assisting with cooking–yourself?
   1. I actually can’t remember when I wasn’t helping my mother with cooking, but I do remember my first year of 4-H Cooking and being taught with a lot of other nine year olds how to bake surprise muffins and peanut butter balls. Most of us already knew how to make most of these things, but we were following the 4-H curriculum, so surprise muffins and peanut butter balls it was.
2. What do you consider to be comfort food?
   1. When I am sick, I want rice pudding, vanilla custard, cream of wheat.
   2. When I am sad or mildly angry I like ice cream, hot chocolate or chocolate chip cookies.
   3. When I am really annoyed I like pretzels or something I can really SNAP.
   4. Rice Crispie Treats remind me of childhood and are restorative in that way.
   5. I also like to make my grandmother’s molasses cookies or my mom’s crumb cake when I am feeling homesick.
3. What piece of cooking advice would you never take again?
   1. Baking a cake with plastic wrap in the pan is just as idiotic as you might expect.
4. What do you enjoy about cooking?
   1. I like the creativity of just throwing something together and having it taste great.
   2. I also like the comfort provided by making an old favorite.
   3. And I am often soothed by the action of cooking—chopping, stirring, etc.
5. What do you dislike about cooking?
   1. I don’t really dislike anything about the actual cooking, but I dislike figuring out how to fit it into my evenings without it taking over.
   2. I also could do without the messes I make.
6. What animal best summarizes your current cooking and/or eating habits?
   1. A chattering squirrel—lots of noise, lots of stuff stored away, little variety and too often forgetting what I already have.

Goals

1. What is bothering you about your current eating/cooking habits?
   1. I have internalized the idea that I must cook a very nice meal every evening for my husband and myself, and I am disappointed when I don’t meet this expectation. I also get worn down by the constant prep and overwhelmed by the leftovers—we can’t eat enough for me to cook like this every night, but I feel like I have to.
   2. Not enough vegetables or lean protein.
   3. Too many rich foods/sweets.
2. What do you want to be able to say about your eating/cooking habits at the end of eight weeks?
   1. That was fast!
   2. I should make that again.
   3. I ate six different vegetables today!
   4. Hey, I only used one pot!

Food, Sewing, and Other Things

Tilapia in foil packet before being baked.

Weekly Menu (More menus HERE.):

• Monday–Grilled Cheese Sandwiches, Broccoli Slaw
• Tuesday–Fish in a Packet (I use a Moosewood recipe, but this is close), Brown Rice, Peas
• Wednesday–Springy Shells, Green Salad
• Thursday–BBQ Tofu, Green Bean & Potato Salad
• Friday–on the road

After baking, with rice and cauliflower

WIPS

I’ve decided to take the plunge and commit to making myself a few articles of clothing for the remainder of the summer (which lasts a long time down here in Florida). Nothing too complicated, a couple of tops, a skirt, a dress and some nightgowns. I tried to avoid the dreaded zipper, but it seems inevitable that at least one pattern requires one. That pattern, the dress, will be last! The night gown is the easiest and should be finished by the middle of the week. I’m actually VERY excited about the nightgowns as I have nothing really suitable for the HOT, HOT, HUMID nights that we’ve been having and will have probably through October. The patterns are listed, plus my fabric choices:

• Nightgown, Simplicity 3636 (out of print), v. similar to Simplicity 3573, in a random polka-dot from JoAnn
• Tops, Butterick B5217 (Fast & Easy), two sleeveless,  one will feature Michael Miller’s Petal Party in pink with a contrasting chocolate brown yoke, the other Amy Butler’s Optic Blossom in Olive with a contrasting pale pink yoke
• Skirt, A-line based on technique in Sew What Skirts, I picked up a really awesome floral at my local quilt/apparel store Saturday, but forgot to write down the designer/line. It’s very pretty, a little outside my normal choice & has a little lycra, which scares me.
• Dress, Simplicity 3745, print w/contrasting band, no bow, Anna Maria Horner’s small gathering print (citrus) from her Good Folks line with contrasting hem, collar in chocolate brown.

Other things

Beach vacation coming up!

• We’re taking an actual vacation in August with my family–we’ll be in the Outer Banks and I’m so excited! Haven’t been in years and never with Michael, who I think will love it. We’ve had these plans for a while, but it was only this weekend that I realized that I’d need a bathing suit for this trip. It was a sad and startling revelation.

Fat blurry lump of a beast

• Cat hair is taking over the apartment. I’m a little at a loss on how to handle it. Our cat is not super fluffy, but she has a ton of thick, dense fur that is constantly shedding. It’s especially bad right now, as she tries to acclimate to the extra-warm season we’re in. We brush her regularly, vacuum, dust, have those silicone brushes to get the hair off the sofa, have the little lint rollers for our clothes and do all of these things regularly. And still, her hair is EVERYWHERE. Not a gross film of  cat hair, just random follicles where you least expect or want to see them. Lately this has been bothering me.
• I HATE mopping, but it is one chore that always needs to be done. Our kitchen is rather old and worn looking to begin with (they never updated our apartment), so if I let the floor go, it looks really sad. Unfortunately I tend to put it off because I dislike it so much. Sigh…
• We are really not dirty people, just have these things on my mind lately.

One of my mother's flower plots

• I long for a small garden plot. I’ve not heard from the community garden folks about when/if a plot will be available for me, and I’m guessing that in the current economy no one is going to let go of their plot unless they absolutely have to. It’s probably for the best this year, what with us going back and forth between two states so frequently, but still…fresh tomatoes! squash! potatoes! onions!

Meals and such

Summer is lovely because cooking is so minimal. Just loads of lovely salads and fresh fruit and fresh vegetables. We stopped by a produce stand on our way back into Florida yesterday and picked up a watermelon and some peaches. The peaches are excellent–we haven’t cut into the watermelon yet. They had a TON of different watermelon, and we were intrigued. It would have been fun to bring home something a little different, but many watermelons are just too big for the two of us. However, next weekend is the Watermelon Festival, and if we’re up for another road trip, I think we’ll head west again.

Monday: leftovers/fend for yourself

Tuesday: Baked Eggs & Asparagus, Biscuits

Wednesday: Wine & Cheese night

Thursday: Simple Pasta w/Sauteed Spinach

Friday: Stuffed Red Peppers, Edamame Salad

For more menus, check out OrgJunkie.