Spices!
Penzey's is great, as is Spice House. I'm a bit partial to the latter just because their home base was in my hometown. The people are just wonderful and their spices are fantastic.
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The Ten Most Recent Comments By orangemiles
Peanut Butter and Jelly: A Serious Eats Special Report
I'm shocked no one has mentioned peanut butter and fluff! What could be better than cheap-o wonder bread, crunchy Skippy, and an equally thick layer of marshmallow fluff? My favorite!
Paula Dean.
I don't mind her too much, but I did gasp when I saw the Ladies' Brunch Burger this week. Burger, fried egg, bacon, on two donuts instead of a bun. Even she looked like she thought it was ridiculous.
Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer - Ideas for first dish to make
Nthing bread. You'll want to kiss your machine. I like the Dinner Roll recipe from my red-and-white-checked Better Homes cookbook. I microwave the milk and butter instead of warming it on the stovetop, which makes it a tad easier. Then the rest of the recipe is just a cinch in that Kitchenaid. Congratulations on your gift! You will love it!
Julienne and Paper Thin Slices... I've always wanted a mandoline
Call me cheapy cheapy, but I bought the $10 Martha Stewart mandolin from Kmart almost 7 years go, and I like it plenty. After an unfortunate incident in which I was rapidly slicing potatoes for a casserole, I learned to always use the included plastic hand-guard. No, the blade is not sharpen-able. No, it isn't fancy. But there are three thicknesses and two julienne sizes, and it works as a casual introduction to mandolines.
Foodie Christmas List!
Must haves (or things I would take if the house was burning down):
Pampered Chef pizza stone
silpats
silicone spatulas
Scanpan pans
silicone-dipped tongs
sea salt in the grinder
good olive oil
good spices not from the grocery store, but mail ordered from Penzey's or Spice House
cookbooks (we got a wonderful themed gift for our wedding-- waffle iron, pancake mix from Williams Sonoma, and a cookbook with a variety of sweet and savory waffles recipes. just delightful.)
Operation: Small dinner party
One of my favorite casual dinner party meals is grilled chicken, veggies, and rice with a variety of sauces. Marinate some half-chicken breasts in either a 50/50 soy/water marinade or italian salad dressing for 30 min. Grill up or bake and keep warm under foil until you're ready to eat. (I make half-breasts so that if folks want seconds, they don't feel piggy to get a second or third portion. If they're watching their waistline, they don't have a monstrous chicken breast to stuff in.)
Steam some white rice or bake up some Alton Brown brown rice with chicken broth instead of water. Delish, and easy in the oven. (Be creative here, too-- do a pilaf, or throw some craisins and slivered almonds in the rice. Or peas and diced carrots. Whatever you like.)
Then for sauces, be creative! I bought a bottle of thai peanut sauce, put out some soy sauce, kung pao, I made a killer tortilla sauce from a recipe I found online, and also put out teriyaki, honey mustard, barbecue, etc. (Top secret: I even cheated and picked up a few packets of polynesian sauce from Chik Fil A. So naughty, I know. But I can admit that I like it.)
My soiree was ultra casual so I used juice glasses as I didn't have small bowls, but you could use a variety of containers and put them all on a lazy susan in the middle of the table. Put little spoons in each one and experiment away!
Then, for dessert, I often make an apple galette. The easy version is to use a frozen pie crust, throw some sliced apples, sugar, cinnamon, flour, and lemon juice on top, and fold the edges over for a rustic apple pie. I put that in to bake about an hour before folks come over so the house smells amazing. Serve with vanilla ice cream for a lovely ending to a fun meal!
Easy meals during kitchen renovation
Congrats on the kitchen makeover!
The waffle iron can be a wondrous thing. Try grilled cheese in there-- butter the outside of the bread and put cheese and deli meat inside. You can also make sweet waffles for breakfast or dessert (chocolate waffles with ice cream!), or for that matter, have breakfast for dinner with bacon in the micro and homemade waffles. Or you can make savory waffles to have on the side instead of mashed potatoes-- don't add much sugar or any vanilla; instead add a few herbs and salt and pepper (or look up some recipes online for savory waffles).
I love my mom's creole pot roast recipe: dump a bunch of beef into the crock pot-- I use a half pound of cubed beef for stew for two people, or an arm roast for lots of leftovers, or whatever, along with a small can of diced tomatoes and a diced onion. Cover with water and throw in a little salt, pepper, and beef Better Than Bouillon or the like. Let it cook on low all day, then about an hour before eating, taste the gravy and adjust to your liking. Turn up to high, throw in a bunch of rotini or ziti noodles (up to a whole box) and let sit for a half hour or until noodles are cooked. Then top with - gasp- a few large chunks of velveeta and let it melt. Stir all together and enjoy. Soo good.
Or super easy stew is a bunch of cubed beef, quartered potatoes (I prefer red or yukon gold), a bag of baby carrots, and a quartered onion. Cover with water and add some beef bouillon or a can or package of french onion soup mix. Let cook all day. Or make it without the potatoes and make mashed potatoes from flakes and add seasonings to your liking. I assemble my pot roast like this: layer of mashed potatoes, a little shredded cheese, then meat and veggies, then gravy, then french fried onions crisped up in the micro for a minute.
I've been enjoying the new(?) boxed frozen veggies from Green Giant-- they have their own sauce and are pretty good, especially for a dollar! The veggies cook up just right. Bake potatoes in your toaster oven at 450 for an hour, microwave some broccoli in white cheddar sauce, and pour on top for a yummy meal.
While my kitchen is not under renovation, I'm at a new job this fall and have been really exhausted. I'm all about convenient meals. Please don't hate me, friends, for the velveeta recommendation.
When you have a lot of cream cheese, you should make ____.
If you go on the Kraft website they have a bunch of recipes featuring cream cheese as part of a pan sauce. Most look pretty yummy!
I eat _____ with my fingers
So glad to hear there's another salad eater. I like to eat it like a bowl of chips (ha, as if it was that tasty), leaf by leaf, carrot shred by carrot shred. I'm not a big fan of dressing so this isn't too messy.
Responses to Comments by orangemiles
Peanut Butter and Jelly: A Serious Eats Special Report
I keep tellin you guys...Jif, Hellman's, Romaine lettuce on rye. Someone once dared me to try it and I've never been the same.
Peanut Butter and Jelly: A Serious Eats Special Report
I miss Fluffernutters! It was a college staple of mine.
Peanut Butter and Jelly: A Serious Eats Special Report
Crunchy PB (preferably all-natural with no hydrogenated oils), sliced banana and honey between slices of seven-grain or whole wheat bread.
Has anyone ever tried/made/know where to purchase peanut butter-banana ice cream?
Peanut Butter and Jelly: A Serious Eats Special Report
Peanut butter and butter is good.
Peanut butter and honey is best with a sprinkle of wheat germ, especially when toasted in a skillet like grilled cheese.
Peanut butter and cream cheese is good too.
Peanut butter and Nutella...oooohhhh...
Peanut Butter and Jelly: A Serious Eats Special Report
Even with "scientific ratios", we all have our favorite ways of doing PBJ! To toast or not to toast? ... depends on my mood. Rye bread is my favorite with apricot preserves. Ooohhhh! I had forgotten all about using marshmallow fluff. Yum. I never understood the use of butter with peanut butter. For those of you who did, or still do, eat PB accompanied by butter, I hope there is a cardiologist in your family!
Paula Dean.
I love Paula Deen. She cooks the way I do, and she has fun doing it.
There seems to be a lot of food-snobbery backlash against most of the Food Network hosts and it's just Paula turn as a target.
Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer - Ideas for first dish to make
first thing you should do with your new KA? hmm let me borrow it? (wink)
Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer - Ideas for first dish to make
All of these ideas sound amazing... I think I might start with bread and then move on from there...
I had no idea you could get so many different attachments... *rubs hands greedily*
Julienne and Paper Thin Slices... I've always wanted a mandoline
I have a beautiful stainless steel Bron mandoline which I love. I didn't buy it. An XMIL gave it to me because it butchered her manicures. She always did have a skewed sense of priorities...
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