On my day off...11/29/11.

So yesterday you could have just called me little miss Susie homemaker.  Not only did I make a few things but I also started decorating for Christmas.  My poor little Christmas tree looks a little like Charlie Brown's, but it will have to do, for now anyway.

Something that made me laugh yesterday...Apparently my husband thinks that this cooking endeavour is solely for his enjoyment.  Which in part, he does benefit from.  He is technically my official taster. When I told him I was making a Lemon Angel Cake his response was, "Why are you baking a cake?  You know I don't like cake."  First of all, I don't understand not liking cake.  I mean, really, I don't get it, but whatever, they are in fact his taste buds.  I suppose taste buds are entitled to their own.  And second, he was extremely sincere when he said it.  No smile on his face whatsoever.  Needless to say, he didn't try the cake.

Lemon Angel Cake

Lemon Angel Cakepg15I'm not really sure what went wrong, all I know is wasn't quite right.  It came out kinda, well spongy.  So if you don't know how it's made, it only uses egg whites, not the yolks, that's what makes it so incredibly light and fluffy.  But my cake was not light and fluffy.  And I had a really hard time getting it out of the bunt pan.  The directions said "Bake at 375 for 40 minutes or until golden.  Invert pan onto rack; cool completely."  Well mine became "golden" at about  28 minutes.  So I went ahead and took it out, and I let it cool all the way but then the stupid thing wouldn't come out of the pan.  I mean, I was shaking the crap out of it like a crazy person and it wouldn't let loose at all.  So finally I took a knife to the edges and got it out.  Once I finally got it out it looked, well we'll just say it looked "rustic."  So this is definitely a do-over recipe.  Oopsy, my bad.  Turns out it's a good thing my husband doesn't like cake.  I would have hated to disappoint him.  Ha ha.  Which brings  me onto something else he doesn't like...

Ambrosia

 Ambrosiapg13This is a fruit salad made of oranges, pineapple, and coconut, and topped with whipped cream, minus the maraschino cherry, because I don't like them.  They stuck in my teeth and that's just gross.  I thought this was delicious and it's already almost all gone.  I snacked on it all day yesterday and had it for breakfast this morning.  I told Shawn (my husband) he had to try it, even though he doesn't like oranges or coconut for that matter.  His feedback?  "The whipped cream is pretty good!"  Well half of it was a winner with him.  He's such a trooper.  But in reality he probably only tasted the whipped cream and didn't even touch the other stuff.  Either way, he didn't completely poo poo it like the cake.  

I also made for the first time in my entire life (Do you like how I make myself sound oh so wise by saying "my entire life" like I've been around forever and know everything?) Creme Brulee.  I had all those egg yolks left over from the Angel Cake that I didn't want to waste  (it takes 7 egg yolks if you wondering) so I skipped to page 150 of the cookbook to make this oh so amazing creamy wonderfulness of a treat.  My mouth is literally watering thinking about it.  However I haven't taken any pictures of it yet and I'm way too tired to write about it tonight.  Plus it'll give me something to do tomorrow.  :-)  And besides, the jury is still out on how they were.  The jury being my husband.  There's no way he couldn't like it!

First official entry...

Grilled Acorn Squash with Rosemary

OK, so for my first EVER (I capitalize because I'm seriously that excited) adventure in what already appears to be quite the learning experience, I made Grilled Acorn Squash with Rosemarypg10 , which is the very first recipe in the book. Along with that I made Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Molasses Saucepg516.   Err...well it was actually more like pork loin chops.  I obviously misread the ingredient list before I went to the store today. (*Note to self:  Double check ingredient list before going to the store.)  So I made do with what I had because I sooo did not want to drive the very few miles back to Harvey's.  Oh, and I also want to mention that I may end up actually whipping up these concoctions  slightly out of the order they are printed in the book because, well I want to.  I'm gonna try to put two or more things with each other in a meal so I knock more of them out quicker...efficiency.  Where was I?  Oh, the the food, duh.  OK, the Grilled Acorn Squash with Rosemary.  The only way I ever made squash was roasted in the oven, so needles to say that grilling it was something new for me.  First off, let me tell you, it takes some serious muscle to slice through those little babies, and make sure you have an super sharp knife.  The directions didn't say to take the seed out, but I did anyway, because that would just be weird, and probably slimy.  Then I marinated the slices in oil, vinegar and rosemary.  Easy enough.  Grilling took a long time on my little pan.  Next time I'll use the actual grill (that's usually my husbands domain).  So, the taste?  OK I guess.  I'm not sure it's something I would cook often, but I'd make it again.  The texture was nice and leaving the skin on seemed to be fine.  It wasn't rubbery like I had expected.  There was the savoriness of the the squash and the sweetness from the rosemary that made for a really nice pairing, like they were BFF's.

Grill Pork Tenderloin(chop) with Molasses Sauce

And as for the Pork Tenderloin.  Mmm...it was good.  I could only imagine that it would be better as a whole tenderloin and not a chop (being that's what the recipe called for in the first place).  The molasses sauce was really good, although I think I might have reduced it a little too much, it was more like a gravy, but nevertheless a good gravy.  This was the first time in my entire life I didn't over cook the pork.  Pork is not my strong suite. It usually comes out really chewy and icky, and I end up feeding it to the dogs, but not this time!  It was good.  Again, I probably won't make it a whole lot.  Oooh, it would be great in a panini tho, with some pepper jack cheese and arugula.  Can you say lunch tomorrow?  Holla!

And so it begins...

So the other day I was looking for a recipe for beef stew.  I get sooo flipping tired of making the same recipes over and over and...well you get the point.  I go to my bakers rack and pull out a cookbook my Aunt Joan gave me last Christmas, "Secrets from the Southern Living Test Kitchens" and start thumbing through it.  In our family Joan is the "resindent executive chef."  I'm sure every family has one, Joan is ours and she is fabulous like that!  If you have a question about anything related to cooking and how to prepare things, she usually has the answer.  Now I've made one or two recipes from this book before, however I couldn't tell you what they were.  I started to discover how awesome this cookbook really is and how much I didn't already know about food.  Now I've been baking and cooking before I could even reach the kitchen counter.  My Grandmother, or better known as "Momzy" started teaching me family recipes at a very early age.  I believe Sweet Potato Pie was one of the very first things we made together.  My fondest memories are those in the kitchen with my mother, Momzy and Joan.  So in honor of the three most influential woman in my life, I am going to start my own test kitchen and work my way from A-Z of the this cookbook.  Hopefully by the end of this journey I may be able to teach them a thing or two.  Oh and as for the Beef Stew...oddly enough, there wasn't a recipe for that.  So I just used a good 'ol tried and true recipe I had, and of course, it was delicious!