Proud Cooking Moments
Last night I made a pie to take with me to work today (cherry-apple, to be exact), and I tried out a new crust recipe. Pie crust has always been a puzzle I've never quite solved, and being a pie-lover, it is something I have always wanted to master. Well, ladies and gentlemen, last night I tried out a new crust recipe and it turned out perfectly, every step of the way! It was tender, flaky, and pretty. I even wove a lattice top. Hoorah!
Point is, this is easily one of my proudest culinary moments so far. So what about you? What are some of your proudest moments as a cook?
Add a comment:
Previewing your comment:
HTML Hints
Some HTML is OK: <a href="URL">link</a>, <strong>strong</strong>, <em>em</em>
Comment Guidelines
Post whatever you want, just keep it seriously about eats, seriously. We reserve the right to delete off-topic or inflammatory comments. Learn more at our Comment Policy page.
If you see something not so nice, please, report an inappropriate comment.
Start Talking!
Need a question answered? Have advice to share? Start a Talk topic now!
Sign up to get your questions answered and share advice.
30 Comments:
my most memorable moment was when I roasted my first turkey, I was 11 yrs old and so proud of myself I took pictures of the stuipid thing. I was also very proud one time when my brother asked me to make his birthday cake and let his MIL decorate it, she was a professional decorater but he said I made much better cakes. I think I was 14. It's been downhill ever since ;)
huneybumper at 2:06PM on 09/10/08
when i first learned how to make an omelet. just this year.
evilchefmom at 2:19PM on 09/10/08
My first cheesecake that came out perfect.
finsbigfan at 2:42PM on 09/10/08
I've started learning how to cook this year and have had a few successes thanks to recipe and food blogs: pork chili verde made entirely from scratch, chicken enchiladas, shrimp cakes, the list goes on. Thank God for the internet food world for helping me to feed myself!
porkified at 3:14PM on 09/10/08
When I moved out of my parents house and into my very first apartment the first time that I made myself a real meal out of real ingredients instead of something take out or pre-prepared, I called my mom to tell her because I was so proud of myself.
agk685 at 4:17PM on 09/10/08
It took me 3 tries to make caramel that tasted and looked good. I've been cooking forever but have always been scared of making caramel, I was very proud when it finally happened.
allakarasik at 4:35PM on 09/10/08
I think it was my 2nd or 3rd time making homemade croissants. They just turned out perfectly and looked like something you would get out of a bakery and were even light and airy. Haven't been able to replicate it since then, but that's okay.
Sarahrm at 5:11PM on 09/10/08
I know this is corny - but my proudest culinary moment was watching my 36 year old daughter make her very first beurre blanc perfectly! Talk about proud!!! It was so good on the pecan crusted basa! I could have eaten it with a spoon.
Fanciesmom at 5:38PM on 09/10/08
Because of the fact that I only started cooking "seriously" this past year, every time I make a meal that turns out well and is tasty I feel very proud. In terms of specifics, the first time I roasted a whole chicken that was not only delicious, but juicy and moist made for a pretty proud culinary moment.
PumpkinBear at 5:42PM on 09/10/08
As an amateur baker, I can honestly say it was a proud moment in my life when the first macarons I made came out flawlessly. Crackless, shiny and with feet and everything! With all the hype online I was pretty much convinced that the first time I'd screw everything up.
jazzinx at 6:33PM on 09/10/08
When I cooked an entire Thanksgiving dinner by myself. It was just my husband and me that year, but I still wanted to do a whole turkey with all the trimmings, and everything was delicious.
buffy at 6:41PM on 09/10/08
Mine is a pie crust, too! A few months ago I made a bunch of crostati for a party; I usually suck at making pie crust but I just went for it - used icy ice cold water, left sort of honking-sized chunks of butter in it. When people tried it, they raved - and a few asked me if I had make puff pastry for it, it was so flaky and tender. Yay!
BangieB at 7:01PM on 09/10/08
roasted a giant turkey for our first thanksgiving in new york - as a vegetarian for the past i-don't-know-how-many-years, it was a daunting task (one DH didn't quite trust me to take on until he saw the raw bloody turkey and realized he wanted no part of it). two years later, i have friends who still talk about how good it was, which always makes me feel good :)
billyburgwife at 8:51PM on 09/10/08
If I can pull this very important event off this Saturday then that will be a memorable moment for me, I will let you know the results Sat. night.
pjracz10 at 6:58AM on 09/11/08
I love making bread, but I have serious cooking ADD. I tend to check recipes, temps, ingredients over and over again.
So the kneading process for bread usually goes until you have dough that's somewhere around 77-81 degrees. One time, I just started to be able to feel when the dough was ready. I double checked the temp and it was perfect...78. For some reason, it feels good to go on instincts now.
lawofmurphy at 10:28AM on 09/11/08
My proudest moment, like huneybumper, also happened when I was pretty young. I baked a ham for my family and very conscientiously glazed it throughout the hour. I still swear it was the best ham I've ever eaten to this day. My family was suitably impressed too, which felt great.
gastronomeg at 12:06PM on 09/11/08
About the second date with my wife to be of 30 years now, I cooked a whole,fresh caught Oregon steelead, tossed salad from the garden, and baked a blueberry pie from berries picked that day. It worked!!
Fred Rickson at 1:44PM on 09/11/08
my proudest moment was probably when I successfully canned 24 jars of hot pepper relish. I was young -- 21 or so. It was quite a feat and the results were tasty and well received by all. I loved seeing all of those beautiful jars lined up and hearing their little lids pop as they sealed. I still feel proud every time I can something.
lakeloverhh at 2:56PM on 09/11/08
anytime my friends or family take a bite of what i have made and say "shut up, i'm eating."
supersu75 at 10:15PM on 09/11/08
Well, you "old timers" who know me will probably recall my many posts about my major pie crust hangup... decades of multiple and consistent failures resulting in severe paranoia, etc.
So, count me among those previous posters whose proudest kitchen moments involved a perfect pie crust. Mine were relatively recent -- within the past year. One on a chicken pot pie, one on a fruit pie. And I managed to do it twice in a row, even!!! Woo-hoo!!!
I'm sure there have been others, but those pie crust successes are what really stand out in my mind.
Now. If I can only join the ranks of those who've successfully canned stuff, I can die a happy woman.
;-)
LoCo at 10:42PM on 09/11/08
@jazzinx-- what was the recipe you used? I'm yet to find a good one.
beth1 at 12:15AM on 09/12/08
I get a lot of feelgoods from cooking which is why I do it so often. If I had to single out only ONE glorious moment it would be this...
Years ago, my brother would get a turkey as a gift from his job - right at T-Giving. I had a source I liked for T-Giving turkey so into the freezer it would go and every year I'd make it for New Year's Day.
I didn't want to do traditional roasted turkey so I'd glove bone the sucker and fill it with various goodies like veggie pate or some other firm pate mixture. After having performed this miracle of surgery the first time, my mom was especially impressed. I explained that the only bones left in the bird were the drumsticks and wings.
Mom looked down at the turkey and said, "Well I'll be damned."
I know this doesn't sound like a shining accomplishment but it's a very fond memory.
chiff0nade at 5:01AM on 09/12/08
I been cooking and baking so long I cannot recall when I did not.
I get much pleasure from making bread and cakes. When the bread is awesome it is a great thing. Bread is life.
My mother said at easter last year that the cake I made was the best cake she ever had in her whole life. Then my mother in law asked for the recipe.
How much better could it get?
JerzeeTomato at 5:20AM on 09/12/08
I was actually going to start a thread like this, because I just recently received my first ribbon in the State Fair! I got third place for my peanut butter cookies, and apparently, there were over 1000 entries! It was my third year entering, so I guess that the third time is the charm. I never have to win anything again, this was great.
Besides, I never enter to win. I just like getting the judges feedback and advice. Plus, I love it when people enjoy my food - winning entries or otherwise. :)
Traveller at 9:18AM on 09/12/08
Oh! And a big congratulations to everyone that has had a proud moment or two! Some of us (ahem, me) don't experience them all that often, so it's nice to gives a little shout out sometimes. :)
Traveller at 9:22AM on 09/12/08
congrats on your ribbon, Traveller! :)
Laurel E at 9:56AM on 09/12/08
@LoCo - you really should try your hand at canning! I started again this year, after a nearly 20-year break (yup, last time I canned something was with my Mum, when I was 15 or so), and it's amazingly gratifying. And yes, every time I look at my cupboard full of pretty jars I feel ever so proud! Besides, everything I've preserved/pickled/jammed this year we picked ourselves (for the last several weeks, we've been taking a trip to a U-pick farm down in South Jersey every Friday morning, including one today - which means more canning ahead), so it makes me even happier, even if it's silly.
@Chiff - it actually does sound like a shining accomplishment! Made me jealous:-)
@Traveller - congratulations on your ribbon!
brooke29 at 2:36PM on 09/12/08
@Chiff---never heard of a glove-boned bird, but it sounds just delicious.
I think one of my favorite cooking moments was cooking up a pot of sauerkraut using this traditional old-world style recipe and then simmering that along with authentic Polish smoked sausage from one of those Polish specialty markets, served it for a New Year's Eve dinner to one of my dearest friends and they absolutely adored it, in fact we had kraut leftover even after the sausage was gone, and threw hot dogs in; cooked them in there too. Btw, we also made kraut sandwiches w/mustard when we ran out of meat (think I made just a bit too much kraut that time)
iamon02 at 4:56PM on 09/12/08
My favourite was this past weekend.
I made those New York Times chocolate chip cookies and brought them to my friends house for dinner. Her little 2 yr old son who had been shy with me until then took a bite, looked up with this unforgettable look in his eyes, got up out of his booster chair, walked around the table, and climbed up in my lap to give me a big hug and a chocolaty kiss.
I'm definitely making those cookies again!
PeanutButter at 5:06PM on 09/12/08
okay I pulled it off, it was a success on Sat.
pjracz10 at 2:37AM on 09/16/08