The Basic Skills of Cooking: It’s Simple but Follow Directions
Last week I was humbled by a toaster oven!. I think of myself as a pretty good cook, but every now and then we all need a “comeuppance” as my Grandma would say!
It all started when I needed to show our SRVP’s how versatile Beer Bread really can be. We just had a meeting where I handed out the “21 Ways to Make Beer Bread” sheet, and now I really wanted to prove that no one should leave a party with just one box.
So I went to the store and bought ingredients to make 5 different varieties –sweet and savory. I happened to be in the Hampton Inn where they generously let me their convection oven in the kitchen so I could make them all at once. Well, convection ovens cook differently, of course. Faster, but not quite so thoroughly, and I was making so many at once……
After rotating them around, I finally got them the crust looking toasty brown, but they still looked a little wobbly and didn’t sound right. So I figured I bake a fresh one in a small aluminum pan at work the next morning in the toaster oven. I whipped it up (Yummy with chocolate chips) and went to do a few things. I just about burned the building down!.
My bread was in too small a pan, so it rose into the coils and burned! And SMELLLED! And looked AWFUL! Then I went to cut the loaves from the night before – the crust was like leather and the inside was still a little soggy. So I salvaged what I could and ….
This week I got a new large size toaster/convection oven. I have some new bread samples to try on my desk so I got to work. I am now on the 5th loaf
the first was a small aluminum pan that rose, but looked like pudding in the middle
the second was on convection and was almost as burned as the one that rose into the coils (and I accidentally left it on for hours!)
the third was a slight dark brown with a crust that tasted like more leather
So I bought a real loaf pan….
left it on convection, turned down the temperature and it was edible (in fact Chris Johnson, our meeting planner ate almost the whole loaf!)
I’m on number 5 now – and I ‘ll photograph it shortly.
The moral of the story:
1. Read the instructions – they were actually tested
2. Use the right equipment – if it says 9×5 metal pan, they mean it
3. Never leave your oven untended
4. Learn how your own oven works, some tend hot or cold
5. Expect Disasters – they are part of cooking and make you better
Believe it or not, the catalog to be released in August was shot a month ago. I spent a week tasting our new products and looking (and eating) comfort food, holiday desserts and other great treats! I thought it would be fun to show you a little of the behind the scenes effort.
We all know that you eat with your eyes as well as your mouth, so food styling for the catalog is very important. There can be a lot of “bad press” about how food stylists “cheat” the dishes to make it appropriate for a magazine shoot. Take for example ice cream, it’s impossible to get real ice cream not to melt under hot lights. But the attitude of companies, savvy consumers and digital photography have changed the issues in shooting food and allowed all of our photography to be much more “natural”.
When we prepare food for the catalog, we actually create and test recipes (that’s a popular day in the office because they get to taste finished dishes, not just product). At the shoot our fabulous stylist Catrine Kelty prepares each of the dishes (with leftovers) and then works with our great photographer Paul Saraceno to bring it to you in the best possible light.
It’s true that we do help out our dishes a little – after all they do have to sit on the table for hours at a time and need to keep looking fresh. We spritz the lettuce with water to make it glisten, hand arrange the leaves, stack berries just so, and melt our cheese with a gun that peels paint off walls so it gets perfectly brown.
Tips to Make Your Table Look Great
Here are the top tips that Katrine uses in preparing our food whether for photography or your family table.
Set the table beautifully – make sure you keep a nice centerpiece and candles ready to be lit every night.
Use fresh, high quality ingredients – there’s nothing more sad than wilted lettuce!
Like those quesadilla? Well here are two of our great recipes using the Two Sisters Gourmet Black Bean and Corn Salsa, but you can really add your f avorite ingredients and make them your own:
I’m cruising through the blogosphere looking for inspiration (my favorite hobby) and came across a blog with a title and claim I can relate to called, Working Girl’s Kitchen . The description went on to read, “a corporate girl finds balance and fulfillment through her culinary journeys.” I know what she’s talking about!
The Working Girl posted an article, “10 Things Cooking Taught Me About Life” by Kim O’Donnell that not only touched her, but resonates with the cook in all of us. BSVCZRN9VZA6
What Cooking Means to Me:
It made me reflect on what cooking means to me.
1. I find it therapeutic. If I’m cranky I will chop a little harder. If I’m moping around I can conjure up smells that take me to the happiest of times – a fresh apple pie to remember apple picking afternoons filled with smiling faces.
2. Cooking connects me with the cycles of nature. Think about the day-long pot of spaghetti sauce project necessary to soak up that whole case of tomatoes from the farmer’s market (what was I thinking!). The trip to the Farmer’s Market was a delight – a warm sunny Saturday, pouring over fresh produce, seeing friends and neighbors, and knowing that the piles of tomatoes will bring summer memories during a cold evening.
3. Cooking gives me time to step out of my daily routine and think. When I get to cook on one of these leisurely sessions, I turn on classical music and contemplate the more important things in life. I’m frequently thinking about the kids visiting for a holiday, when I can see my Mom 2,500 miles away and how lucky I am to have family who loves spending time together.
4. Cooking let’s me show I care. To me and to many, cooking is a universal display of love and concern. Sometimes words just aren’t enought. There’s always the “cheer you up from the lost game” dinner or a “friend hurt your feelings, so here’s comfort food” dinner. One of my favorites is “let me fix your favorite meal to bribe you to come home” dinner. The fact that they come and are cheered up are my greatest rewards.
What have you learned about life through cooking? Or describe whose life you have touched with your cooking. After all, cooking is all about bringing friends and family together!
Family Thoughts on Thanksgiving and Food Thoughts on Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving dinner is the one time no one in the family will ask me “What’s for dinner?” Like families all over the country, we have a ritual dinner. Every year I am tantalized by all the great and interesting recipes in the food magazines that find their way into my mailbox, but I am NEVER allowed to indulge in them. The only time I get to vary the menu is when we open our doors and include traveling waifs who can’t go “home” for Thanksgiving. We want everyone at our table to have something that reminds them of home, so I get to expand.
Thanksgiving may be officially the fourth Thursday of November, but in our house, and I believe many houses, it’s really at least a four day affair. This year, we will be having Thanksgiving at the beach, which sometimes means that all the Edwards gather and we have a large and noisy bunch. That’s when I get to try different things, we have multiples of everything, turkeys, stuffing , potatoes, pies – you name it.
Origins of Thanksgiving Dishes and Wishes
This year will be a smaller, quieter retreat. The older the family gets, the more connections we have to other families, and the more we share the people, the customs and the time. Traditionally, most Thanksgiving foods are those native to American soil. Turkey is ubiquitous – over 91% eat turkey on Thanksgiving. They say if you look at your Thanksgiving table you can tell where your family originates within the U.S.
Mole and Roasted Corn, - Hispanic Americans of Mexican heritage
Lefse and Green Beans – Midwesterners of Scandinavian heritage (lefse is Norwegian potato flatbread)
On our Table for Thanksgiving – In addition to the Cornucopia!
Shrimp Cocktail and Fresh Hot Rolls
Black Olives – lots!
Fresh whole Cranberry Sauce (is your family whole berry or strained?)
Turkey (don’t forget the Butterball Hotline!) link to other post.
Aunt Ida’s Sage and Sausage Stuffing (not sure who Aunt Ida was)
Giblet Gravy ( we had to wait till they were a little older for the giblets)
Mashed Potatoes
Pumpkin and Minced Pie
My Thanksgiving Wishes
What I love about Thanksgiving is that it is the most American of all holidays – everyone within our shores is invited to the table to celebrate. It’s a day of peace and promise as we gather to be thankful for the blessings we have. It’s a little island of calm before the holiday rush. Food is one of the most fundamental ways of connecting. I know at our table we will be thankful for family and friends (including those we don’t know yet). We wish the same for you at this time and hope you will share the season…
Of all the silly things, you know how when you pull out a long sheet of aluminum foil, the cardboard tube pops out of the box? Well apparently the company does too! There are instructions on the end of the box to push in a little tab that holds the roll in place so it doesn’t fall out and roll all over the kitchen floor!. While that makes the dogs happy, it doesn’t do too much for me – so problem solved! See the photo that led me to it.!
Cooking Your Turkey: Thanksgiving Help!
And while you’re getting ready for Thanksgiving – if you have a question or a crisis, don’t forget the Turkey Helpline from Butterball 1-800 –Butterball (1-800-288-8372) or check out their top ten questions. They answer more than 100,000 Questions every November and December – so I’m sure they can handle your as well!
Ok, I give up. My carefully laid plans ran aground again. We all had different schedules–my son had an afternoon crew practice, my daughter an evening ballet class and I had a late, late meeting. Thankfully, my husband was home to feed the dogs! Let’s face it, on a night like this it’s impossible to sit down together for dinner.
But there’s an easy solution! Make it a “scoop and nuke night.” What’s that?…. Here’s the easy recipe:
An easy, no fuss, semi–nutritious meal. It’s so quick that I had time to prepare it before the after school frenzy.
One pan cooking. After all, no matter what time I get home that pan will be waiting for me in the sink.
Make a lot. I always planned on leftovers, but never got any.
A meal that everyone will eat!
My family isn’t picky too about food, but like everyone their appetite depends on the day. My daughter couldn’t eat a heavy meal before dance, but my son was famished. My husband still thinks he plays college varsity soccer and I require just one dish–fast.
Ideas for What to Put on the Dining Room Table:
Soup with fresh bread – Make a pot of whatever is left in the refrigerator from the weekend – add broth.
Chicken stroganoff. A little heavy for the dancer, but one of her favorites and she could have some before and after class.
Spaghetti. If I boil the noodles and mix with sauce before leaving for my meeting (one pan remember?)
Tacos. Smorgasbord of cheese, lettuce, and tomatoes, except for the meat with sauce which can be “nuked” as needed.
Or ask friends! Our all time family favorite is an Indonesian spicy rice dish called Nasi Goreng (fried rice). You might think we picked this up when we lived in Asia, but no, we never do anything the easy way.
We first heard about this lifesaver on a ski trip with our best friends, who are Dutch. Apparently, Dutch cooking is replete with Indonesian and Malaysian influences, as they were a global trading power in the 1600’s. In fact, the rijstafel (rice table) is a frequent Malaysian occurrence – an assortment of Asian dishes, largely including or served over rice and named by the Dutch.
Anyways, we stayed in a rental apartment and everyone was tired from skiing all day. Yvette, my friend, was graciously in charge of feeding the troops that night. The pot filled with Nasi Goreng must have been as big as one of the best lobster pots, but 30 minutes later it was empty.
Nasi Goreng Recipe: Try it with your family!
Spice mix. I found the Dutch store and bought the Nasi Goreng by Conimex packets. For added interest you can also purchase Ketcap Manis (something like sweet soy sauce), to be truly authentic.
Cook rice. Mix with spice, add onion and chicken (optional). Then it’s ready to go!
Low and behold, a few years later my family was transferred to Asia. The first day there, my son saw Nasi Goreng on the menu and was thrilled to see something he both recognized and loved!
Well, let me tell you – the original native is not what comes out of the bag. After the first bite, and many tears of disappointment, I had to find the closest Dutch store and revert to our mix. We still horde it in our cupboards!
Share your scoop and nuke meals–and how they save your family!
Want some history on the Dutch East India Company? Makes for interesting dinner table conversation!
This is a great way to inaugurate a blog on a fun food day. I love my job, I get to cook, eat, learn fun facts and talk all about food. Plus, when food is involved there’s always something to celebrate.
Who doesn’t love Halloween and pumpkins? It gives us adults an excuse to pretend and have fun!
Scary Carved Pumpkins
What my Family Did for Halloween:
When my children were little, this season was all about the family trip to the pumpkin patch and finding that perfect Halloween costume.
As the kids became “too cool” for Trick or Treating, they turned their attention to scaring the neighborhood kids with our haunted hallway. The whole family got in on the fun. When the doorbell rang, the spooky music started, the hallway was foggy from a cauldron of dry ice and strobe lights flashed to complete the eerie feel. The children still got to dress up to hand out the goodies!
Then as the children grew even older and time more scarce, we planned one night together to carve an elaborate jack-o-lantern. Soon our pumpkins became the talk of the neighborhood.
Ideas to Celebrate Halloween and National Pumpkin Day:
Printable pumpkin carving stencils:Stencils help those of us who cannot really draw a scary face. We love black cats.For scary printable pumpkin carving stencils click here .
Child Friendly Pumpkin Decorating:For little ones, who you don’t want to arm with a knife or other carving implement –there’s an equally fun alternative. One of my favorite home movie moments is of my daughter, Laura, age 4, decorating the pumpkins, armed with toothpicks and a farmer’s market full of vegetables. With spinach hair, radish eyes, cucumber ears, a carrot nose and black olive teeth she learned about vegetables, ate and laughed for about an hour. Then that pumpkin was ready to turn heads! Show off their proud creation right on your front doorstep. These were done at a local fall fair.
Kid Friendly Pumpkin Decorations
3. Pumpkin Muffin Recipe:For a pre or post Trick or Treat pick–me–up, you can make some delicious pumpkin muffins. Check out how to make our great pumpkin muffin recipe from TSG Apple cake.
4. Pumpkin Roll Recipe:For those feeling more creative, prepare a delicious pumpkin roll
5.Heat up some cider laced with cinnamon and have a warm October evening full of memories that will be sure to give you goose bumps!
One of my favorite sources for quirky facts and the history of food is the Nibble, an online magazine, where I found today’s cause for celebration–National Pumpkin Day!
Ok, well that’s not really me, but it was my Mom when she was first married. I honestly think that between us, we would have made one great housewife – I cook and she cleans. My father-in-law would have shriveled up without a microwave, and some surprisingly astute business women I know claim kitchen disability as well. But I think the truth is that they don’t want to cook – not that they can’t.
Now I confess that learning to cook can have it’s ups and downs. (We will not talk about the inedible disasters that have graced my garbage can.) I know for a fact that my son learned how to cook before he left home, but the first time he prepared dinner in his college room, he turned the burner on high, threw in the chicken breast, and set off the fire alarm – then he didn’t try again for a year.
Dinner Disaster
Worst case, anyone can boil some water in the microwave, add instant rice and slice pre-cooked chicken on top, open a jar of apple sauce for a side – and voila!. Just don’t try to get me to eat it. That might count as instant dorm food, but not dinner.
How to Bake Like a Pro
Right out of the starting gate you can impress everyone by baking – dare I say with a little TSG beer bread (just add beverage). You can even go to the website and download one sheet with over 15 variations, and you’ll be a master chef right away. Branch out –steam some fresh vegetables and spring with Tearless Onion and Chives – then you can add the precooked chicken breast – and you’ve come a long way in one day.
Learn How to Cook
To learn to cook, I recommend you find a friend who knows you well and start simple – like spaghetti
1. For entertainment as well as ideas you can go to You tube and watch “how to cook for men” videos on a step by step to make ramen spaghetti
3. You can also bone up on you skills from online sites so you look like like a pro when your mother-in-law arrives.
4. There are lots of food shows on TV that can help, like Semi Home Made with Sandra Lee. This is sort of an updated Campbell’s soup approach mixing some cooking with already prepared foods for a polished look that will help you gain confidence .
Personally, I’d go buy a book, – but sooner or later you just have to take the plunge and start !
Most nights I think we all secretly wish that someone would come take over the kitchen detail for us. And then when it happens, I think we are all a little sorry, because…….
My husband loves to cook, and fortunately, he’s very good at it. He does have some specialties though – anything that can be cooked on top of a barbeque (yes, even in the winter). In the 30+years we’ve been married, I can probably count on two hands the number of times I have had to cook on a weekend. Not bad, you say, but it does come with some caveats:
It’s most frequently some form of beef and potatoes (although in the last few years with the advent of planks, we have a lot of fish too!)
Someone has to go to the store for some ingredient.
All dishes are in the sink at the end of the meal.
There’s a lot of crispy crust involved.
All in all, this isn’t a bad list of details, it’s just the result of what happens when someone enters what is typically “MY” domain, the kitchen. I am, after all, a creature of habit – mine not his.
1. Husbands can learn how to grill fish with planks.
Grilling Planked Salmon
Barbequing with a plank is a great way to tackle more delicate foods and add flavor. At almost any grocery store, or store that sells barbeque equipment will have them. Just soak the plank in water for a couple of hours, and place the fish (usually) on the plank to add flavor while it cooks. The fish won’t have to be touched until done – meaning it will stay in one piece. Here are some easy steps to follow. (more…)
Last weekend it was a familiar scene, Laura packed most of her worldly belongings in the car and headed back for her Junior year. By now I now longer have the early parent fears about her getting settled, studying, having a social life, but the older she gets, the smaller the meal program becomes and the more responsibility she has to feed herself.
Laura and Deb on Campus - before cooking
Just before Parent’s weekend, she sent me a text saying, “the H1N1 virus has hit my school!” After last spring’s media frenzy, she is worried about getting this virus. For my advice, I retreated to a standard “Mom formula” – eat healthy and get plenty of sleep. But who am I kidding? In college, no way!
If I’m lucky, she gets one nutritious meal per day in the dining hall usually consisting of salad or pasta. There’s a hefty amount of branded coffee in her diet too, which by the way means the same calorie content as milkshakes. Many schools are trying to prepare healthier dining hall meals, but that doesn’t affect the students eating habits!
How to Cook with Just a Microwave and a Refrigerator:
This got me thinking, how can you eat healthy with an electric kettle, a microwave and a refrigerator (without the freezer mind you)? Gratefully, food choices have improved since I was faced with the same problem years ago in my college days. I’m sure guys will resort to ramen noodles, but that gets old after a while. And I would say girls are more particular so I asked my daughter to brainstorm some ideas.
Dorm Room Cooking Essentials:
Here are my daughter’s staples:
Tuna packets (with salt, pepper, and olive oil)
Microwavable steamed vegetables (both frozen and non frozen brands)
Cereal
Oranges and bananas (no mess or dishes to clean up)
Smart-ones frozen dinners
Yogurts (The yogurts in the bottles are really good on the way to class because no spoon)
In the university dining hall, I’ll get a wrap and put a salad in it from the salad bar along with some deli meat, just as healthy but way more interesting than plain salad
Tea!
Easy Recipes:No Cooking
They can track down the pre-packaged and pre-cooked aisles in the grocery store. Get a bag of pre–packaged salad, followed by pre-cooked chicken. Sprinkle grated cheese on the chicken and top it all off with your favorite dressing. Voilá you have a great meal! (Add a dash of TSG Outrageously Garlic or Tearless Onion and Chives on everything!)
As for the rest of staying healthy, I suggest:
Bottle of hand sanitizer
Tea mixed with honey and lemon
Chicken noodle soup
Vitamin C
And if all else fails – call home to mom.
If you want a teen’s perspective on what’s healthy and what they like, check out this post from Radical Parenting
The Basic Skills of Cooking: It’s Simple but Follow Directions
Most nights I think we all secretly wish that someone would come take over the kitchen detail for us. And then when it happens, I think we are all a little sorry, because…….
