Yesterday I had a picnic with a good friend I haven't seen in a couple of years. I made chicken salad sandwiches and chocolate chip cookies. There are two recipes for chicken salad in the cookbook. The one I made was just like a standart tuna salad recipe, except with chicken. It tasted really good, but like the deviled eggs, it was pretty watery because I used relish instead of actually dicing up a pickle.
I made a double batch of chocolate chip cookies because I had inteded to give some to my friend at the picnic. I'm not sure what happened, but somehow my cookie dough turned out very dry and crumbly. My only guess is that my brown sugar was getting old, so it was hard and stale. That's the only thing I can think of that may have caused the crumbly-ness. The cookies still taste pretty good, but they're crunchier than I would have liked. Adam says it's ok though because they're prefect for dipping in milk.
Tonight I made one of about 5 recipes for enchilladas that are in the cookbook. Sonoran style favorite enchilladas are beef enchilladas with a red sauce. I have been trying to get started on dinner as soon as I get home from work so we don't end up eating dinner at 9:00 like we have been. I had to pick up some things from the grocery store after work, so I didn't get home until after 6:00 and I forgot to pull out the ground beef to thaw, so dinner didn't get started until about 7:00. I didn't realize until I got started making the sauce that the recipe calls for tomato juice and not tomato sauce. Since I didn't have any tomato juice, I improvised with tomato sauce and water. I finally got the enchilladas in the oven around 8:15, they were done at 8:45, and we ate at, you guessed it, 9:00. Luckily, the enchilladas were very good and my lateness was forgiven.
Monday, June 14, 2010
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Cherry Cream Pie, Deviled Eggs, Baked Fish in Sour Cream, and Fettuccini Alfredo
I know I haven't updated this Blog in a long time, but I've re-resolved myself to cooking and finishing this project by November. It will be a lot of work, considering I still have about 319 recipes to go, but I think I can do it.
A few months ago, I made a Cherry Cream Pie. It is a pretty easy pie to make, and it went well, except that I didn't notice the note at the end of the recipe that said the filling should be used for two pies. So my Cherry Cream Pie was very thick and the cherries didn't quite cover the cream filling, but it still tasted great!
On Tuesday, I made deviled eggs at my mom's house. She had a lot of eggs already boiled and peeled because she had planned to make deviled eggs for a party, but didn't have time to make them. My deviled eggs were a little runny because I used a bottle of sweet relish that was near its end. According to the recipe, I was also supposed to use dill relish, so I was a little concerned about how they would taste, but I actually really enjoyed the flavor of the sweet relish.
Wednesday, I made Baked Fish in Sour Cream. Super Wal-Mart in Benson had Tilapia fillets on sale, so I bought about 4lbs. The recipe calls for 2lbs of white fish, but 2lbs is a lot for just two people, so I cut the recipe in half. I wasn't very excited about this recipe at first, but Adam and I were both pleasantly surprised with how good it was. We ate it with leftover potato salad and deviled eggs.
Thursday night, I made Fettuccini Alfredo. I didn't have any Fettuccini noodles at home, so I used Rotini instead. There were several steps in the recipe, but I was surprised at how quickly it all came together. Normally I'm not a big fan of mushrooms, but surprisingly, the mushrooms mixed with everything else were pretty good. It made a lot of food, so I still have leftovers in my fridge.
Stay tuned...there's gonna be a lot more cooking going on at my house...
A few months ago, I made a Cherry Cream Pie. It is a pretty easy pie to make, and it went well, except that I didn't notice the note at the end of the recipe that said the filling should be used for two pies. So my Cherry Cream Pie was very thick and the cherries didn't quite cover the cream filling, but it still tasted great!
On Tuesday, I made deviled eggs at my mom's house. She had a lot of eggs already boiled and peeled because she had planned to make deviled eggs for a party, but didn't have time to make them. My deviled eggs were a little runny because I used a bottle of sweet relish that was near its end. According to the recipe, I was also supposed to use dill relish, so I was a little concerned about how they would taste, but I actually really enjoyed the flavor of the sweet relish.
Wednesday, I made Baked Fish in Sour Cream. Super Wal-Mart in Benson had Tilapia fillets on sale, so I bought about 4lbs. The recipe calls for 2lbs of white fish, but 2lbs is a lot for just two people, so I cut the recipe in half. I wasn't very excited about this recipe at first, but Adam and I were both pleasantly surprised with how good it was. We ate it with leftover potato salad and deviled eggs.
Thursday night, I made Fettuccini Alfredo. I didn't have any Fettuccini noodles at home, so I used Rotini instead. There were several steps in the recipe, but I was surprised at how quickly it all came together. Normally I'm not a big fan of mushrooms, but surprisingly, the mushrooms mixed with everything else were pretty good. It made a lot of food, so I still have leftovers in my fridge.
Stay tuned...there's gonna be a lot more cooking going on at my house...
Monday, March 8, 2010
Chicken Wings, Enroladas, and Lemon Pound Cake
I have been cooking a little bit lately, but I haven't blogged about it in a while. A few weeks ago, I made Chicken wings and Enroladas. They are both in the "appetizers" section of the cookbook, but I made them together and called it dinner. The chicken wings were very good. Adam wasn't too excited about them because normally he doesn't like the vinegary flavor of wings, but we couldn't even taste the vinegar in this recipe.
Enroladas are basically cream cheese, hard boiled eggs, and bell peppers all mixed together, rolled in half a corn tortilla and fried. They tasted great, but my corn tortillas were getting old and several of them split open before I could fry them. I tried to fry them, but they popped and splattered grease everywhere, so I ended up throwing out most of the split ones.
Two Sunday's ago, my sister in law made a really nice family dinner, so I offered to make dessert. I made Lemon pound cake. It was a pretty simple recipe, but I was a little nervous because the last time I made a pound cake, a big chunk of it stuck in the bundt pan when I tried to turn it out onto a plate. I was very pleased with myself when this one came out perfectly. The cake didn't seem quite as heavy as pound cake usually is, but everyone really enjoyed it.
Enroladas are basically cream cheese, hard boiled eggs, and bell peppers all mixed together, rolled in half a corn tortilla and fried. They tasted great, but my corn tortillas were getting old and several of them split open before I could fry them. I tried to fry them, but they popped and splattered grease everywhere, so I ended up throwing out most of the split ones.
Two Sunday's ago, my sister in law made a really nice family dinner, so I offered to make dessert. I made Lemon pound cake. It was a pretty simple recipe, but I was a little nervous because the last time I made a pound cake, a big chunk of it stuck in the bundt pan when I tried to turn it out onto a plate. I was very pleased with myself when this one came out perfectly. The cake didn't seem quite as heavy as pound cake usually is, but everyone really enjoyed it.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Tacos
I was going to make tacos last night, but Adam wanted pizza, so we ordered Domino's. Domino's has recently changed their recipe to something that is supposed to be better than what it was before. I found it to be quite disgusting and wished that I had made tacos instead. So I made tacos tonight.
I have attmepted making my Grandma's tacos before, but never in my brief taco-making history have the gods of Mexican food blessed me with such perfect results. Everything went so smoothly. In my past attempts, the tortillas have split open or folded wrong, resulting in meat being lost to the oil, grease splattering everywhere, and very oddly shaped and difficult to eat tacos. Tonight, I somehow managed to use exactly the right amount of oil at exactly the right temperature and the tortillas had exactly the right amount of "springy-ness" so that they folded nicely without splitting or tearing at all. There wasn't even any popping oil.
I thought that Cathcart's were the only people in the world who eat ketchup on their tacos, but I was wrong. Although Adam had never had "real" tacos before he met me, he grew up putting ketchup on his family's version of tacos. Usually, now that I'm "grown up", I use salsa instead of ketchup, but this time, we enjoyed our tacos with just ketchup and cheese.
When I got home and began making the tacos, I was hungry, so I ate some of the leftover Chocolate Chip Cake. The cake is very good, so I ate more than I should have. When the tacos were done, I was almost too full to eat them. I was disappointed that I could only eat two. Adam said that was probably the only time in history anyone was ever really sad that they ate too much cake.
I have attmepted making my Grandma's tacos before, but never in my brief taco-making history have the gods of Mexican food blessed me with such perfect results. Everything went so smoothly. In my past attempts, the tortillas have split open or folded wrong, resulting in meat being lost to the oil, grease splattering everywhere, and very oddly shaped and difficult to eat tacos. Tonight, I somehow managed to use exactly the right amount of oil at exactly the right temperature and the tortillas had exactly the right amount of "springy-ness" so that they folded nicely without splitting or tearing at all. There wasn't even any popping oil.
I thought that Cathcart's were the only people in the world who eat ketchup on their tacos, but I was wrong. Although Adam had never had "real" tacos before he met me, he grew up putting ketchup on his family's version of tacos. Usually, now that I'm "grown up", I use salsa instead of ketchup, but this time, we enjoyed our tacos with just ketchup and cheese.
When I got home and began making the tacos, I was hungry, so I ate some of the leftover Chocolate Chip Cake. The cake is very good, so I ate more than I should have. When the tacos were done, I was almost too full to eat them. I was disappointed that I could only eat two. Adam said that was probably the only time in history anyone was ever really sad that they ate too much cake.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Baked Chicken and Chocolate Chip Cake
I spent all day Saturday cleaning the house and doing laundry, so I wanted something easy for dinner. I made Baked Chicken, which is just chicken pieces rolled in butter and then in crushed cheez-it crackers. I don't think there is one correct way of doing this, so I did it "Shake 'n Bake" style. I rolled the chicken in butter, and then put the pieces in a ziplock bag with the crushed crackers and shook it up until the chicken was coated. It was very good.
We are horrible at buying fresh vegetables and eating them before they go bad. I didn't have the right ingredients to make any of the side dishes from the cookbook, but Super Wal-Mart sells bags of frozen vegetables that can be steamed in the bag in the microwave. They're the perfect size for two people, and they only cost a dollar! The chicken and vegetables was a perfect easy dinner, and Adam was glad to have dinner ready when he got home from work.
I intended to make the Chocolate Chip Cake on Saturday too, but after I was done with everything, I didn't want to do anything else. Last night, we just had sandwiches for dinner, but I made the cake for dessert. It was getting late, and by the time the cake was done, Adam had fallen asleep on the couch. I cut him a piece, put it in front of his nose, and he woke right up! Needless to say, it was a delicious cake.
We are horrible at buying fresh vegetables and eating them before they go bad. I didn't have the right ingredients to make any of the side dishes from the cookbook, but Super Wal-Mart sells bags of frozen vegetables that can be steamed in the bag in the microwave. They're the perfect size for two people, and they only cost a dollar! The chicken and vegetables was a perfect easy dinner, and Adam was glad to have dinner ready when he got home from work.
I intended to make the Chocolate Chip Cake on Saturday too, but after I was done with everything, I didn't want to do anything else. Last night, we just had sandwiches for dinner, but I made the cake for dessert. It was getting late, and by the time the cake was done, Adam had fallen asleep on the couch. I cut him a piece, put it in front of his nose, and he woke right up! Needless to say, it was a delicious cake.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Potatoes and Kielbasa and Albers Corn Bread
I had some potatoes left over from the Scalloped Potatoes with Hot dogs, and I had some Kielbasa left over from the Egg Spaghetti, so I made Potatoes and Kielbasa for dinner last night. This is another easy one; literally just sliced potatoes and kielbasa sauteed in butter with some salt and pepper. Adam was working late, so I ate without him. He likes to tamper with recipes, so when he got home, he decided to dice everything up smaller and scramble it with some eggs and eat it with sour cream and salsa. I gave him a hard time about tampering with the recipe, but his version tasted really good too. We ate the rest of the leftovers for breakfast this morning.
I also made Albers Corn Bread to go with the Potatoes and Kielbasa. It turned out pretty good. I'm always a little confused by recipes that require you to make a well in the dry ingredients, pour the wet ingredients into the well, and then mix it up. I don't know what the well does, but mine was a little too small to hold all the wet ingredients. This didn't really seem to matter, because it turned out just fine.
I also made Albers Corn Bread to go with the Potatoes and Kielbasa. It turned out pretty good. I'm always a little confused by recipes that require you to make a well in the dry ingredients, pour the wet ingredients into the well, and then mix it up. I don't know what the well does, but mine was a little too small to hold all the wet ingredients. This didn't really seem to matter, because it turned out just fine.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Funnel Cakes
I made Funnel Cakes on Saturday morning, and that was the only thing I cooked all weekend. The recipe was actually very simple. The only problems I had were that they were a little difficult to flip, and they weren't as pretty as the Funnel Cakes you get at the fair. I imagine that just takes some practice, but they were very yummy!
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