Food – weeknight quilting

Try, try, try

I no there is no try, only do. But you have to try and do to get better. I have ventured a couple toes back into the water of being a competent cook. DH and I have officially been indoctrinated into the world of America’s Test Kitchen. The recipes are tested – which speaks toContinue reading “Try, try, try”

The Seven Chickens!

I have actually gotten better at cooking over the last 3 months. Truly. Focusing has helped me a lot. I cook almost solely from the Bonne Femme cookbook by Winnie Moranville. I read some great reviews about this book – and the reviews ended up being absolutely right. My favorite section (like many of theContinue reading “The Seven Chickens!”

Italian French Chicken

OK YUM! DH and I made Chicken Francese – chicken that the Italians make that they credit to the French, basically, I think. This was so yummy. The sauce is pretty simple – lemon, white wine, garlic. It had such an impact though – absolutely wonderful tasting. I cheated by using chicken thighs instead ofContinue reading “Italian French Chicken”

It is December. It is cold. It is Monday. This is dinner.

I am trying to make cooking interesting, tasty, simple, easy meals a normal occurrence around here. I am challenging myself to cook on Monday nights. Most Monday nights I would like to crawl under a blanket and eat a cheeseburger. But I have been finding that once I start to cook, it isn’t that bad.Continue reading “It is December. It is cold. It is Monday. This is dinner.”

Diable!!

Another successful recipe from Bonne Femme – Chicken a la Diable. DH would have liked it a bit more spicy – I think the devil in the diable was overpromised by me. When I poured in the wine for this recipe, it set off the smoke alarm – so there was some devil there. This calledContinue reading “Diable!!”

I love you, Fakin’ Bacon

When we have the kids for the weekend, I have to abandon my meat-based cooking because my SD is a vegetarian. Which is good for me and good for us. Last weekend I made a bacon and gruyere pasta from the Bonne Femme cookbook. This weekend I made the same pasta, but had to replaceContinue reading “I love you, Fakin’ Bacon”

In 24 Hours….

I have had a really great 24 hours. Last night DH and I made Coq Au Vin. Seriously. LIke for real. And it was wonderful… truly wonderful. Not perfect, the amount of sauce we ended up with wasn’t quite right. But the chicken tasted like the chicken you would get at a good french restaurant.Continue reading “In 24 Hours….”

Really Bad Pictures of Food

My favorite recipe-giver, Winne Moranville recently posted a request for a great picture of her Any Night Baked Rice recipe, lamenting the fact that taking good pictures of food is hard and boring. True dat. I feel the same way. If she were going to have a contest for the WORST picture of her recipe,Continue reading “Really Bad Pictures of Food”

To Dream, Perchance to Braise

This arrived via Sunday (!!?!?!) postal service today. It makes me swoon. I hope to get a break from work long enough to braise a meal. Oh, it will be heaven.

Wine and Cherry Filets + Arugula Salad

Another one of my recent cooking adventures. Unfortunately I can not get a good picture of food in my house. Maybe I need to cook dinner at 8 AM to catch the right light. This meal was wonderful. All from my new cooking bible, the Bonne Femme cookbook. We splashed out on some good filets,Continue reading “Wine and Cherry Filets + Arugula Salad”