I'm sorry, Food Network, I just don't agree

The great debate...red or russet potatoes for mashing??? Food Network stars consistently extol the virtues of russet but every time I use russet for mashing I get a grainy, mealy texture. I am a red potato fan all the way. My mashed potatoes are always creamy and delicious. I pride myself on putting enough seasoning in that you don't need gravy but, if you do use it, you'll be in heaven. :) Plus, reds have a nice thin skin so peeling is optional. I would love to hear other opinions on this great potato debate. But, for me on Thanksgiving I am serving my family mashed red potatoes.

Thanksgiving won't be pretty...literally

I may have mentioned this in the past but my skill set is not plating and presentation. My friend, Linda, can take a recipe and produce something that looks and tastes like it came out of a magazine. I simply can't and, for the most part, that's O.K. I look at plates on Food Network (or from Linda LOL) that I envy, but I know mine should taste just as good. I say should because I always have to put my spin on food. Unless I am baking, I never follow a recipe. Baking requires me to follow a recipe because of the chemistry involved but cooking doesn't. If I don't like an herb or spice or even a cut of meat I change it up. Normally with good results. I am not a fan of fennel seed so I usually leave it out or replace it. If I'm out of a liquor that a recipe calls for I'll substitute. Veal or venison...beef works for me. You get the idea.

So my Thanksgiving menu looks like this:
turkey
drippings for gravy
mashed potatoes
dressing
sweet potatoes (my pride and joy since my marital family swore they didn't like them until the met me)
brussel sprouts with shallots and pancetta
creamy green beans with bacon
Parker House rolls
honey wheat rolls
deviled eggs
celery stuffed with herbed cream cheese and smoked salmon
pumpkin pie
sugar-free pecan pie for my diabetic mother-in-law

And I won't lie...those pies will have a frozen crust because I'm hopeless at making pie crust. My serving dishes will match, drink will flow, flavor will be there but I can guarantee no one will take a picture of my presentation. Hopefully everyone will be too busy filling their plates and eating to care.

Wow! It's been a while

It seems like late-summer and early-fall activities completely consumed us for a while. They still are really. But, alas, food fans I'm going to do my best to get back in the swing of things. My dilemma at the moment is fall cooking. I love it. I love the flavors and the comfort and the cozy feel of a hot and rich meal. The problem...it's been hot. Not sweltering hot but near 80 hot which does not make for very good chili or beef stew weather. My other problem are veggies. The summer veggies are no more. I made the mistake of buying a tomato the other night and it was a sad sad tomato. Yet, the male counterparts in my household are not big fans of squash which I could go crazy with if they let me. So this weekend I'm defying the weather and cooking what I want. What's on the menu?

Friday is usually a fun meal and often involves pizza delivery. Fortunately on this particular Friday I am off work and will have more energy for cooking. And since it is nearing Halloween, tonight we will dine on monster eyes and finger bread sticks. Our monster eyes will involve cheese filled pasta shells with a meatball and sliced olive for the "eyes". The fingers are breadsticks with an olive "nail". I'm sure this will be a popular meal for the 5 year old in the house.

Saturday I'm ignoring the forecast of 82 degrees and throwing beef stew in the crockpot in the morning. Normally I would simply make some refrigerator biscuits to go along with that but now that I'm blessed with a bread machine I'm going to try homemade rolls. I found a recipe for Housewarming Rolls that involves dough dipped in butter seasoned with parsley, marjoram, sage, and rosemary. They sound like the quintessential fall roll to me. I'll let you know how they turn out.

My other quest into the experimental world this weekend will come Sunday. I got inspired by latkes and decided to try a fall version so the plan is to combined shredded potato, carrots, parsnips, and beets. Yes, beets. Just don't tell anyone. Again, I will let you know if they are a success. Mental note: pick up some rubber gloves before shredding the beets.

If I get really energized this weekend I have a layered pumpkin cheesecake I'm dying to try but that will be a wait and see recipe.

I hope everyone is enjoying fall so far. We have been but I'm very grateful that, as of this moment, we really have no plans for the weekend. It's been a while and I'm looking forward to a quiet weekend with my boys and cats.

Kids belong in the kitchen

I learned to cook at an early age though it was mostly from necessity. My mom started working full-time and had odd hours so my sister and I had to learn to cook for the family. Our meals mostly involved the meat and potatoes type but even then I tried to make them unique if I could. But it rarely seemed fun. I decided when I had a child that I wanted time in the kitchen to be fun as well as functional. Even before William could walk I bought him his own set of measuring spoons, cups, and wooden utensils. While I made dinner, he would sit in his highchair and play with his kitchen tools.

When he got a little more coordinated he started to help me pour ingredients into a bowl. I found that just a little bit of participation really gave him an investment in what we were eating and he tended to eat more. Fortunately, William has always been a good eater but watching his enthusiasm for eating what he "prepared" has always been cool to watch. One of my favorite memories was a night when William got to choose and help prepare our dinner. He chose boxed mac 'n cheese and hot dogs. He was still pretty small so we went along with it. The only problem was he got a little too possessive and would barely let us eat anything.

But we pressed on. William's favorite meal to prepare is pizza. And I love the Chef Boyardee pizza kits to help with this venture. It allows us to mix the dough and for him to press out his own dough. At first we had to be a little more ready made though.

This is the first time William made pizza. He wasn't even 2 1/2 yet in this pic but he was already a pizza fiend.

He's a little more adept these days and pats out his own crust though, these days, he will only eat cheese pizza but it's more about the process than the product.

Good thing too because things aren't always pretty but do him it's delicious and he's so proud.

And baking, my goodness baking. What kid doesn't like a nice baked good. I rarely have to twist William's arm to get him to help bake something.

On his 2nd birthday he helped bake his birthday cake.

When he was almost 2 1/2 we surprised his Daddy at work on Good Friday with Easter cookies.

Now that he's a little older and more discerning I'm working on teaching him about healthy choices. It's so satisfying to see him at the grocery store smelling and choosing fresh fruit and vegetables. To this mom it seem like we're on the right track.

Welcome to the island mon

First of all, I have some awesome cooking experiences to share from the 4th of July but haven't had a chance to post about them yet. But stay tuned because our holiday was too delicious to ignore. For now I'll share what's cookin' on the stove right now.

One of my interests is cooking from other countries and even regions in our own U.S.A. On tonight's menu is my own take on Caribbean cooking. This is clearly a region I need to explore more but sometimes it's nice to wing it. I wanted to grill but we were drenched in rain storms this p.m. so into the kitchen I go. On tonight's menu is mustard and citrus marinated pork loin, black bean salad, and rice.

The rice is a no brainer. It's a boxed mix. William loves rice and it happened to be on sale so boxed it is. Though I do have a fabulous Mexican rice I'll share another time. ;)

My black bean salad is also easy:
1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed
a handful (0r so) of frozen corn
1 medium tomato, diced
1 T. finely diced red onion or 1 green onion finely chopped
lime juice or red wine vinegar to taste
Southwest Seasoning to taste

I am SO lucky to live close to Penzeys. If you don't, I highly recommend checking out their website. Anywho...

Combine all of the ingredients while you start your food prep to give the flavors time to meld and to give the corn time to thaw.

For my family a 1-1 1/2 pound pork loin is plenty. Pork loin is the most under appreciated meat. Properly cooked it's a juicy and lean protein. For mine I used:

1 pork loin
mustard
lime juice
horseradish
jerk seasoning
salt and pepper to taste

Sorry, I don't measure but it looked something like this:

Combine a good squeeze of mustard, a couple of table spoons of lime juice, and about a tablespoon of horseradish in a resealable plastic bag. Smoosh to combine. Add the pork loin and let it marinate for at least 30 minutes.

When you remove the loin from the bag, either put it on a plate (if you grill it) or in a baking dish (if you roast it in the oven). I can't lecture on grills. Or at least I won't in this post. ;) I'm a tried and true charcoal girl but I know there are many gas users out there. I do try to make my grill moderate and cook the pork for about 30 minutes flipping one time. In the oven, I preheat to 400 degrees and, again cook for about 30 minutes. But check after 25. I like my pork medium. Yes it's safe that way! If you have a meat thermometer it should read 160 degrees.

Yum yum yum. Dinner should be ready in about 20 minutes and I can't wait.

Lazy night warning

Here was the plan -

Put a roast in the crockpot then make steam and mash potatoes after visiting the gym tonight.

Reality -

The dishwasher delivery guys came at the last end of their window and Matt took William out to buy shoes...Mama made a martini and was sitting outside when all was said and done. And Daddy wasn't very hungry. Such is life. William was content to eat leftover spaghetti and meatballs and some peas. Mom and Dad decided the roast will wait until tomorrow. But, roast, an under appreciated slab of meat needs its due. When I was a kid roast meant an under-seasoned cut of meat cooked in a pressure cooker with potatoes and watery sauce plus over-cooked carrots. Sorry mom!

At my wedding Matt and I had roast to die for and I've tried to recreate it ever since. This is what I came up with:

Rump roast (whatever size feeds your family)
1 pkg brown gravy mix
1 10 1/2 can lower sodium, lower fat cream of mushroom soup
1 pkg dry onion soup mix

Mix the gravy mix, soup, and soup mix. Place the roast in a crockpot. Pour the soup mix over the top. Cover and cook on low 8 hours or high 6 hours. Use the liquid as gravy and thicken with equal parts flour and water as needed.

We will have this tomorrow. ;o)

I would have never eaten that when I was 5

We have pretty much raised our son, William, to eat whatever we eat. As I have mentioned before he does eat the typical kid fair except hot dogs. He hates hot dogs. Go figure. But tonight I was thoroughly impressed. It was not a gourmet night. I am in desperate need of a trip to the grocery store but I found a box of black beans and rice in the cupboard, a chicken breast in the freezer as well as a turkey smoked sausage link. Viola dinner! And a one-dish one at that. As I type my dish washer is sitting in the kitchen dead so the fewer dirty pot and pans the better. But before I could get everything together William was asking for shrimp. Make that begging. Shrimp cocktail to be exact. Yep, I would not have eaten shrimp cocktail at that age for anything. So I make a few shrimp for him which he ate along with the rest of his dinner - all two helpings. Rice is also one of his favorites. He wasn't crazy about my cocktail sauce but I wasn't going to complain.

After dinner he asked for dessert. I had a peach that was starting to shrivel and some strawberries that needed a stomach to call home so I got inspired to make a smoothie. But when I make a smoothie I make the nutrition count. Instead of yogurt I use low-fat tofu and throw in some flax seed for fiber and good fats. So, again let me remind you, my child is 5 and happily slurped down a tofu, flax seed, and fruit smoothie and with ever sip told me how delicious it was. William often tells me he likes my dinners which is not uncommon for a child to think his mom's food is the best. I just hope that along with teaching him variety I am instilling the health benefits of food to him as well.