August 7, 2008
Sugar and Spice Cookies
Have you ever seen two different recipes for the same thing and didn’t know which one to make? That happens to me all the time. Sometimes I don’t bother at all, thinking it’s too much pressure to pick the “right” recipe, but if it’s something that looks really good I might just make both and see what I like better. That is the case for these dueling snickerdoodle recipes that I found on two or my favorite sites: What Geeks Eat and Simply Recipes. The big difference between the recipes is the Shuna’s at Simply Recipes has cornstarch, while Vanessa’s has the more traditional cream of tartar. You can go read Shuna’s post about why cornstarch is special. Due to this different “secret” ingredient in the cookies, I found the outcome of both to be completely different tasting cookies.
If you are cookie dough connoisseur, the cornstarch recipe wins hands down. I LOVE cookie dough, but I could barely eat any of the other recipe because it was too flour-y. The problem comes after you bake them. The cornstarch cookies have a really nice …
August 1, 2008
Classic Pot Roast
I just rediscovered pot roast and I really like it. See what happened was, at some point in my childhood I decided I didn’t like beef. I don’t know why. There’s no rhyme or reason when you’re a kid, you just decide things like that. I wasn’t a vegetarian and it’s not like I never ate beef (I’d never turn down a hamburger), but I just refused to eat most dishes made with beef.
Slowly, I’ve been adding more beef back into my life. I like steak and I use ground beef for a lot of dishes. When I saw this recipe, it made me remember that my mom used to make Pot Roast all the time and I liked it. So why did I stop eating it? I guess maybe I thought it would be too complicated to make, but it’s really not. It’s quite easy to put together and then you just let it cook for a few hours. My mom made hers in a crockpot; I don’t have one, but it seems just as easy on the stove. I guess Pot Roast …
July 29, 2008
Maple Roasted Chicken with Sweet Potatoes
I was reading someone’s blog the other day and they mentioned sweet potatoes, insinuating that the majority of people don’t like them. Is this true? Because if it is, then I am making it my mission to spread the word about sweet potatoes. I love them so much I could eat them every single night. I guess when people think of sweet potatoes they mostly think of sweet potato casserole at Thanksgiving, and while I love me some yams, there is sooo much more you do with sweet potatoes.
This recipe is a new staple in my house as it combines my two favorite things into one dish and it is oh so yummy. I also love that this is a very simple, one-pot dish. I guess you could serve with it some rice or a vegetable, but chicken and sweet potatoes are always enough food to fill me up.
Now, I do understand if the idea of maple syrup on chicken makes your stomach crawl, but I assure that once the dish is cooked, you just get this wonderfully subtle maple-y flavoring to the …
July 24, 2008
Cheesecake Supreme with Oreo Cookie Crust
It was my boyfriend’s birthday last weekend and I wanted to make him something special despite the fact that he didn’t really want to celebrate his birthday. The problem is that he doesn’t like many traditional desserts, most especially cake. I can’t even conceive of disliking cake, but somehow he does. Thankfully, though, he does love cheesecake (which he vehemently insists is not really a cake, so much does the taint of the word “cake” bother him). But even having found a dessert he actually likes, he’s almost impossible to entirely please because every single cheesecake I’ve made for him in the past, though always praised as “good” comes with the disclaimer of “but not as good as the New York cheesecake I had that one time”. AAARRRRRRGGGGGGG! So I have made it my mission of find and make a real New York style cheesecake and this time I think I found it. I actually got a “I really like this” out of him, no disclaimers!
July 21, 2008
Garlic Roasted Chicken with Gravy
The idea of making a whole chicken for dinner used to scare me. But then I realized that I make a giant turkey every year on Thanksgiving and that’s never been a problem so why am I scared of a little chicken? In fact whole chicken is one of the simplest dinners to make. The thing I especially love about this recipe that it uses chicken broth instead of butter or oil, so you still get a perfectly tender and juicy chicken without all the fat.
And I’ve never been a big fan of gravy, but I think it compliments the chicken perfectly. It’s also great on top of rice or vegetables or stuffing or whatever else you are serving with your chicken. I found myself pouring gravy over my entire plate because I liked it so much.
July 17, 2008
On Failed Recipes
Is it is just me or is it really depressing when you spend a bunch of time to make a new recipe and then it tastes awful? I think this is one the main reasons I’ve never been a very adventurous eater. I find things I like and I eat them over and over. Maybe it gets a little boring to eat the same stuff, but at least I don’t have the disappointed (and hungry) feeling when I try something new and it turns out badly.
But the thing is I am trying to be a more adventurous eater, and I’ve actually been really lucky with all the new recipes I’ve tried since I started cooking. Until now. This week I’ve made two things that I just couldn’t finish eating. And it’s not that I cooked them wrong, it’s that I didn’t like the taste. Luckily, I think I can make some ingredient changes in both that would make them better. I guess that’s part of the fun of cooking, though? Trying new things, seeing what works and what doesn’t. And hopefully that disappointed feeling doesn’t stay long because instead of dwelling, I’m thinking of ways to make it better next …
July 14, 2008
Easy Enchiladas
Mexican and Italian are my favorite kinds of food. While I have a pretty good handle on cooking Italian food, I’ve always thought Mexican food to be beyond my reach. Until I found this recipe. Now, if you are looking for totally authentic Mexican food, then you need to be going to your nearest Mexican restaurant, because this recipe won’t be anywhere near as good as the food you get from there. But this recipe is easy and relatively low fat and despite those things it still very much fulfills my Mexican food cravings. It’s gotten to be a staple in my house and whereas we used to go out for Mexican regularly, we’re now more likely to stay in and have this instead, which is definitely better for our bank account and our diets.
