Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Meal #31 Bluberry Cupcakes (muffins?)


So what is the difference between a cupcake and a muffin? After I did this recipe I was utterly confused. The recipe SAID Cupcakes but they sure looked like muffins to me. Plus they were not very good. I think the bran was a clue. Anyway they made quick snacks and I always feel better about offering my guests a Blueberry Muffin instead of a cupcake. They tend to believe I am healthier and more conscience of what I eat. Ha.

Muffin (wo)Man

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Meal # 30 Angel Food Berrie Layered Cake




The last couple of Fourth of Julys I have made a patriotic layered cake for my parents. They try to eat healthy and not eat to much sugar. So I like to do the fruit and cake mix for them. This one I kinda cheated on because I bought the cake from Pubix and cut it into pieces. Then I layered fruit and whipped topping on each one. I did take some time to make a creative top! It was so good and light with minimal sugar. It wasn't a recipe either so I am proud I am learning to improvise! Ice cream and cake topped with berries is always a winner!

Tiff

Meal # 29 Slow Cooked Chicken and Rice with Asparagus








I have a lot of dear friends. My friend Tamara fits in this category. She is a teacher like me and very ambitious like me too. We don't hang out as much as we would like but when we are together she just fits like a old shoe. Friends like that are hard to come by so I treasure our time together. Since it is summer and we are both twiddling our thumbs (ha) we invited them over for dinner. We invited them at 6:30 but Tamara is on CPT (Colored People Time) This is not offensive to her or me so now you don't go and be offended. So dinner started around 7:30. Tamara bought this amazing Blueberry Tart with a Wine Glaze on the top. Oh my, it was delicous! It totally stole the night. Even her husband (a very picky eater) said he would even have some more. Then we may have eaten a couple of crickets to Tamara's horror. But even those were tasty. The whole meal was a success and the company even better. Wouldn't be nice to share more meals with people you love? I think so. So thanks Tamara and Chris for sharing our meal.

Tiff

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Meal # 28 Asian Cooking Day







So not only do I cook copious amounts but so do most of my friends. Now we have these fun days called cooking days. We decided a theme, then we go shopping, then we prep and eat lunch and then we COOK, like all day. It may be my favorite thing to do yet. I enjoy the people I am cooking with. They never get mad or frustrated when I am in their way. They are very laid back people and are very funny. We cooked at my dearest friend Brittani's house, she has the biggest kitchen and the coolest gadgets. Jenny came from (God only knows where she lives) and drove us all around looking for our asian ingrediants. We must have gone to 4 stores looking for Lemon Grass. I was at the point of plucking some from the yard and squeezing some lemon juice on it. Then we have our male addition, Caleb. He is very helpful and knows many random facts. He is handy to have around to open jars too. We started the day off by brainstorming recipes and our grocery list. Jenny took detailed notes and all of the supplies we already had were set out. Finally, we loaded into the car and started out for the Oriental Market in Orlando. This is like an attration, everyone should go and experience it. It has many intresting smells and is not organized in a way that I can find anything but duck eggs which can be put in any aisle. Their are tiny turtles in the foyer that smell so bad that even Brittani passess them by without even blinking. We wander around searching for oyster sauce, noodles, lemon grass, celery, tuna, salmon, and other necessities. We pass some odd things like chicken feet, pickled intestines, roast ducks, a buffet of fresh fish (all parts included) escargot, live lobsters, crabs and shrimp, and a dozen different kinds of pastries that look sweet but have things like bean curd in them with lemon zest. Oh and don't forget the BoBo tea; tea with big black soft balls of tapioca in it. Very popular. Okay so we get our stuff and head to a couple more stores to get the rest of our list. I was making crab ragoon, shrimp egg rolls, and orange glazed cornish hens. I don't even remember what everyone else was making though I did help with it. But sheeze they can write their own blog, ya know. So we cooked and cooked and Jenny tried to make rice for something but it never cracked and it was super hard but wet all at the same time. We tried everything to save it, including adding sugar and milk to make a rice pudding thing but sadly we ended up chucking the whole thing. That was about the only problem the whole day! My crab rangoon came out crispy and creamy on the inside. My egg rolls where spectacular with the help of Jeff who worked with me on my wrapping skills. And my cornish hens where okay but really just tasted like chicken. Which I guess they are. But they were so tiny and cute, with their little wings and legs. Everything turned out edible and that means...Success! Tiff
Here is a video of Caleb and the Pudgy Pilgram ~ working together!

Meal #27 Squash and Feta Chicken


Let's just say I put too much EVOO when I sauteed the squash and they tasted horrible. The feta was a nice touch but it wasn't melty like I wanted it to be. The rice was the only thing I will write home about. Well, I guess that's a lie. Huff.

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Meal # 26 Hungarian Beef Goulash


I have never really wanted to make Goulash because it sounds...unappetizing. But I love my Anne Willans Meat Classics Cook and Look so I thought I would give it a try. I was shocked by how much paprika I had to put in and of course it cooks for like 2 days but it came out with a very distinct taste. I was really surprised. I also noted that most of my meals are starting to look the same. I don't know check out the blog and see what you think but Joel confirmed my suspicions. I think I need to branch out and cook things that don't sit in a pot for 3 hours in the oven. I mean, they taste great but presentation is becoming more important as my skills become better.

I think this one got 4's all around!

Hungry Tiff