Tag: cooking

  • Self-Care September – Foody Friday! (Yes, I Know, It’s Sunday…) – Menu Plans!

    Sorry for falling out of flow with my schedule, but Friday turned out much busier than planned. I\’m back to share some ideas about menu planning with you.

    It\’s very easy to get into a rut with our weekly shopping and making meals. Instead of letting that determine our reality, it\’s helpful to get intentional about our daily round. What we eat daily is what becomes our body. We know that, but putting it into practice can be challenging.

    What works for me is to use my favorite cookbooks and pick meals from them that I\’m familiar with. I use those as a generic palette to choose my weekly meals around, and then plug in other things like vegetables and pre-biotic foods.

    If you need a good starting point, I hope you find this useful: Menu Plan. It\’s a word document that uses tables, and I print it out weekly and put it up on the fridge.

    Here\’s how I make it work for me, though: I don\’t just plan the week, I make notes about what worked and what didn\’t. This is how, for example, I figure out when particular meals take too long to prep on nights when I have other commitments. For those nights, we\’ll put in, say, tuna salad instead of roast pork.

    We also plan large meals once a week for Sundays, typically, depending on our hiking schedule. That lets us drag out all the old favorites: roast chicken, pork loin, mashed potatoes, and all sorts of goodies. Don\’t forget desert – with a little planning ahead, pies and fruit crumbles aren\’t difficult to make.

    What\’s your secret for your daily round? What works for you?

  • The Noonhour – In The Kitchen with Michael of Wolfshead Photography, and a Prize Basket

    Happy Saturday! Today\’s Noonhour features none other than my husband Michael, of Wolfshead Photography. We collaborated on this post, which is part of a feature over at my group\’s page, Nice Girls Writing Naughty. You should click over there and leave a comment, because each commenter during our event is entered to win a truly awesome basket of prizes. Check it out!

  • M Is For… Midsummer!

    \"2015-04-15Midsummer is coming in June, the solstice when the day is longest and night shortest.  To many, this is a special time – if for nothing else than to enjoy the sun.

    Of course, this is just for us Northern Hemisphere types.  If you\’re below the equator, it\’s Midwinter.

    My favorite way to celebrate Midsummer is with a barbecue.  I like going to a beach, and here in Chicago my favorite one is Lunt Street Beach.  In researching it for a link to show you, I just discovered it\’s called Leone Beach.  It\’s a lovely place, where you can relax, play in the water and, of course, barbecue.

    My favorite side dish for barbecue is potato salad, and my favorite recipe for it has apples and sweet onions.

     Ingredients

    3 lbs red new potatoes

    1 large sweet onion (Vidalia or Maui are best)

    1 large green apple (Granny Smith are yummy)

    12 green olives, sliced

    1.5 C mayonnaise

    1 tsp Dijon-style mustard

    2 T distilled white vinegar

    1 t steak or soy sauce (HP Sauce is good too)

    salt and pepper to taste

    Directions

    Cut potatoes in half or quarters and boil.  Cover pan and cook until tender, about 25 to 30 minutes).

    Drain and let cool.

    Dice into bite-sized pieces and put in a large mixing bowl.

    Slice onion thinly and add to potatoes with the cubed apple and olives.

    In a small bowl, whisk mayonnaise, mustard, vinegar and steak or soy sauce.

    Pour sauce over potatoes and toss gently (I find a wooden spoon works best).

    Add salt and pepper to taste.

    Cover and refrigerate for up to one day.

    Makes 10 to 12 servings.

     

    What about you, Dear Reader?
    What\’s your favorite barbecue or potluck dish?

  • Work In Progress Wednesday

    Work In Progress Wednesday

    Attempt the First

    It\’s Wednesday.  I figured I\’d share what I\’ve been crafting around with.

    My first item to share is the Emerald Keep Scarf, which will be a giveaway in the forthcoming Keepsake Tour starting March 8th, to celebrate the release of Book 2 in the Persis Chronicles, Emerald Keep.

    It didn\’t work.

    I mean, yeah, it\’s fabric, and it\’s knitted.  But that\’s about it. For one thing, the stitch said WS (wrong side) for both pieces, but either I misread it or it\’s a typo because clearly, it\’s incorrect – the edge stitches clearly are backward from the main lace stitches.

    Attempt the First, Backside

    This is a view where you can see the edge stitches are right-side up, while the lace is wrong side.

    Grr.

    Attempt the Second, Front and Frustration Both Start with F.
    So does my favorite swear word.
    Jus\’ sayin\’.

    Started over.

    And… I don\’t like my idea of the border.  You can\’t really see it well in this shot, but the edges pull in too much and make it look sloppy.  The reason I wanted a border to begin with is that this stitch has quite a bit of bias curl; however, the edging I picked (mistake-stitch rib) isn\’t working.

    I think either I\’ll throw an extra yarn over in to create a sort of gutter, or eliminate the edges entirely.

    Mancooking.
    Why move stuff outta the way when you can stand over it?

    I mentioned to a friend that we made candles last weekend and realized I neglected to take photos.  I planned to take pics of the cold pots, but we have to cook in our kitchen so they had to come off the stove.

    And, apparently, my kid thinks it\’s no big deal to stand over them rather than move them out of the way.  He\’s cooking a very lovely taco salad at the moment, (well, cooking the sausage that will go in the taco salad).  Yum.

    Soap! Curing!

    Our batch of soap that we made a couple weeks ago is curing very well.  It\’s a lovely creamy ivory color now.  We cut it this weekend to allow each of the bars exposure to air, so they can continue the curing process.

    In case you\’re wondering, curing is letting the chemical reaction between the fat and lye to finish.

    This is raw soap and not milled soap, so it\’s not made in a mold.  You can use it as is, once it\’s cured, or mill it again and then pour it into pretty molds for a nice appearance.

    Candles, Dipped 2015

    I only made a half-dozen this year so far; I may fire up the pots once more before I put everything away.  I like the way these came out; they are nice and uniform.  They\’re also really long, which is my favorite (I have four different heights I can make).

    Basket-o-Candles, Bad Lighting.

    This isn\’t a very good shot, but it\’s of my candle stock.  I\’ll see if I can get a better one for you one of these days – but for now, it\’s off to eat dinnah.

    Yum.

    What are you making?

  • Sometimes, Only a Quickie Will Do! (In the kitchen, that is…)

    Sometimes, Only a Quickie Will Do! (In the kitchen, that is…)

    Join me over at the Romance Cooks today for a quickie recipe – because, after all, sometimes only a quickie will do!

  • Saturday Showcase – Sitting with Selena Robins

    Saturday Showcase – Sitting with Selena Robins

    Selena Robins is a kindred spirit. We met through shared writing acquaintances and have become fast friends through Facebook and similar passions – writing, food, craft, and family. I\’m excited to bring you an interview with Selena in which she discusses her pursuit of culinary perfection. Please held me welcome Selena to Knoontime Knitting!

    KK: Tell me a little more about your passion for your craft. What do you like to make?

    SR: My craft is the oldest profession in the world—cooking. I’m a big time foodie, so I watch a lot of cooking shows. I love Iron Chef. I then try (the operative word here is try) to replicate what the Iron Chefs made. However, I won’t attempt anything that involves organ meats or gooey duck. My favorite things to cook is anything Italian.

    Italian food is food inspired from the soul, simple to make, delicious, nutritious and shared with family and friends with pride. Italian recipes are handed down from generations of great cooks from the mother country.

    Disclaimer: When I say recipes handed down, I’m not talking about the traditional cook book, detailing ingredients and exact measurements.

    KK: When did you learn to cook?

    SR: I learned how to cook at a young age from my mom, who was the best cook in the world. I know we all say that about our moms, but in my case it’s true. She could produce a seven course meal without ever turning a page in a recipe book or having state-of-the-art kitchen appliances or gadgets.

    It was a rite of passage in our family (daughters and sons) to learn how to make homemade pasta and tomato sauce. Emphasis on homemade. Heaven forbid an Italian is caught with store-bought sauce or worse have a can of Spaghettio’s in the cupboard. Open one of those babies and your FBI status (Full Bloodied Italian) would be taken away.

    My mom taught me to cook using my senses; sight, touch, taste, smell, listen. The latter was ultra important in our household. Always, listen to mamma.

    KK: Have you ever given your love of cooking to a character?

    SR: With my published novels, both my heroines do not like to cook, not only do they not like it, they can’t be bothered learning. However, I did give the skill to the hero’s. So sexy to see a man in the kitchen. With my two works in progress, the heroines do love cooking as much as I do.

    KK: What effect does your writing have on your cooking and vice-versa? Does one fall off when the other is stronger, or do they synergize?

    SR: The same techniques I use in cooking I also apply when writing, adding a lot of love into my writing craft. Using all the senses: touch, taste, sight and smell, creating characters, dialogue and plots that will give the reader not only a visual experience of what’s happening, but hopefully they can taste what the characters are tasting, smell the scents of the scenery, close their eyes and hear the voices (not the ones in our heads, that’s another story), but the tone of the characters, and most importantly feel the passion I (and other writer’s) have put into creating a wonderful story to draw the reader into a comical, suspenseful, mysterious and romantic world.

    KK: What do you dream of making when you have the time or skills?

    SR: The perfect pie crust recipe. I cannot master a pie crust. I can make homemade bread, cakes, pastas, pizza, but that perfect pie crust still haunts me.

    KK: Those of you who have been following the Saturday Showcase know that I include pictures of the authors\’ art. Selena has taken that one step further and included a recipe that we can try ourselves! If you try it, we\’d love to hear how you liked it in the Comments.

    Pasta e Fagioli

    This recipe can be made and eaten the same day, but it tastes even better if you make it a day ahead of time and serve it the next day, as all the ingredients and goodness marinate together.

    Ingredients:

    • olive oil
    • 5 chopped tomatoes (or a can of plum tomatoes)
    • 1 cup onion (finely chopped)
    • 2 cloves garlic (minced)
    • 6 cups beef broth (or vegetable stock)
    • 1 can red kidney beans (drained and well rinsed)
    • 1 can white kidney beans (drained and well rinsed)
    • 1 can chick peas (drained and well rinsed)
    • ½ cup fresh basil (chopped)
    • **3 cups meatballs (use your favorite meatball recipe and make them tiny bite sized)
    • Pinch red pepper flakes, optional
    • Freshly grated Parmesan Cheese
    • Pasta (your choice: penne, elbow, tubetti)

    **Note: If you don’t want to make meatballs, you can use ground beef, or skip the meat all together.

    Directions:

    • Coat soup pot with olive oil and heat oil on medium. Once oil is heated, add onion and cook until onion is transparent, then add garlic and keep stirring until garlic is infused with the onion.
    • Add tomatoes and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring.
    • Add broth and let cook (uncovered) for 45 minutes.
    • Add red beans, white beans, chick peas, meatballs or sautéed ground beef if you are using meat, and let cook for 15 minutes
    • In a separate pot, boil water and make pasta according to package directions
    • While the pasta is cooking, add the chopped basil, red pepper flakes and salt and pepper to taste and let the soup keep cooking.
    • Once pasta is cooked, drain it and add it to the soup pot.
    • Ladle the soup into bowls. Sprinkle with freshly grated Parmesan cheese and drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil just before serving.

    Note: If making soup the day ahead, then don’t add any pasta, make the pasta the day you will be serving the soup.

    Buon appetito!

    Biography

    Genre-defying, witty, humorous, suspenseful, romantic and sexy — words used to describe Selena’s novels. A self-professed foodie and chocolate guru, Selena loves to dance with her dog, sing into her hairbrush and write in her PJ\’s. In love with her family, friends, books, laughter, hockey, lively discussions and red wine, (sometimes all at the same time). Selena is a dragon slayer who enjoys reading and writing sassy heroines and hot heroes (the ones your mamma warned you about, but secretly wished she’d dated a few in her life).