Memories

I was thinking the other day about topics for this blog and nada. Last night, however, when I was supposed to be sleeping before work, I had a bunch of ideas. Somehow today, they have all seem to have disappeared. It's the story of my life. I guess that's what the memo pad on my smart phone is for.

Moving on...

Did you ever think that when you eat a meal it brings back a memory? Whether it be a memory for a specific taste or a memory for a time and place or a memory for a certain person? The smells alone can trigger memories. You may be eating something you have never had before in your life at a restaurant in a city that you have never been at in your life. Something in that meal...one of those flavors will trigger something for you. That's how we decide what we like...my theory anyway. Screw taste buds. I think this also molds how we cook for ourselves. 

I love my mother. Don't get me wrong. She is a good example of  good intentions/bad ideas when it comes to food and cooking. She taught me the basics of cooking and a lot about baking. BUT...and that being the operative word, her options for dinners when I was growing up, left something to be desired. Our typical week of dinners up until I could cook or when I didn't cook, consisted of fish sticks with bland, sticky white rice; broiled, chewy steak with Worcestershire Sauce and buttered egg noodles; macaroni and cheese with some kind of leftover meat (usually done after she has made a ham roast the weekend before); spaghetti with some poor store bought sauce; and then the best part yet...what my mother defines as "hash." I'm not talking about the ground ham with little potatoes hash. I'm talking about taking some kind of leftover meat, and adding the leftover noodles or rice from another meal, some random frozen vegetable, and adding either tomato sauce or a brown gravy. When I was younger she would call it her homemade hamburger helper, but now that I'm older she has been calling it "hash." Either way, these "innovative" meals where the very reason I couldn't eat frozen vegetables (especially lima beans!), white rice, buttered noodles, store bought spaghetti sauce, steak in any form (was horrible for me when I had braces...I couldn't chew it),and  fish sticks (still won't eat today). Eating any of these foods within a meal would make me gag inside. In addition, I have NEVER in my life bought fish sticks or any kind of a steak at a restaurant in my life. I have reaffirmed my appreciation for rice and noodles though. I also make my own spaghetti sauce. I rarely ever buy pre-made.

My father rarely cooked, but when he did, he cooked everything that my mother didn't. He taught me the value of sauteed mushrooms and  fried onions. He taught me how to make my first lasagna. He taught me how to make omelets and encouraged me to put a variety of ingredients in them. My father used seasonings and likes flavor. So, in a way, together they shaped my cooking and encouraged my need to branch out. To this day I use mushrooms and onions in whatever I can. I make phenomenal omelets and experiment with them, and according to most who have had it, my lasagna is the best they have ever had. I also take my father portions of my dinners...I guess out of pity for the blandness he is being served at home.

So I guess the questions of the day are... What kind of memories does food serve for you? Where are your roots with food? What has shaped your food choices of today?

cheesy rice concoction

Oh the things you can do with Rice-A-Roni. I'm sure I'm not the only one who has been inventive with it. I saw a pound of boneless/skinless chicken breast and was planning to marinate it. Instead I cut it up into little bits and added a quarter yellow onion chopped, a half a spoonful of minced garlic, some olive oil, Adobo, black pepper, and celery seed. I sauteed this mess til it was cooked and set it aside. Then I prepared a box of the Cheesy Rice-A-Roni til almost all the liquid was soaked up. I added the chicken and onion mixture back in and stirred thoroughly. I added a mixture of shredded cheeses over top and then topped with French Fried Onions (should be a staple in everyone's cabinets). I put the lid on and let it sit for 5 minutes on the burner with the heat turned off. It came out so well...a little salty with all the cheeses, Adobo, and fried onions added. But delicious none-the-less.

a blog?

I am so new to this so please bare with me as I make a fool of myself for a while. The goal of this blog is to share my "creations" (recipe creations) that will eventually be put into a cookbook of my creation. I've been reading a book on publishing recipes and cookbooks and it was suggested that the writer attempt a blog first for suggestions,etc.

I've been baking since before the age of 10 and steadily cooking and creating since about 10 years old. I had two working parents who did not want to cook when they got home and since I was there or on my way out to one of many evening activities, the cooking was left to me the majority of the time. The downfall is that I was left with creating from the horrible selection of foods my father would pick out. It never made sense to me. If he wasn't doing the cooking, then why should he choose the ingredients? Hell...give me a budget and let me free in the grocery store and my concoctions probably would have been a lot better.

Over the years I have learned and refined. Now I have a three year old that has taken an interest in foods and what mommy is doing at the counters and stove. I want to leave a legacy for her and teach her at a young age how to enjoy food and not be scared of it...like I was when my mother actually cooked. Her idea of "hash" is nothing near what traditional hash it like. I'll explain later. It's scary.

I love sharing. I share with my co-workers. I share with my parents. I share with my friends on an occasional Friday night. I rarely get a nose turned up at me and often get asked for my recipe. So...that's why I'm actually working towards putting together a cookbook. I have a concept and a bunch of recipes that need testing a few more times. Now just to organize and finalize. Please bare with me as this blog takes shape. I consider myself internet savvy, but this is a whole new realm for me. Now off to make my daughter some Fried Ice Cream...except mine isn't fried. Go figure that one out....