It has to deal with cooking stuff so I decided to post it up.
This is what he wrote.
Thu, Jan 6, 2011 at 5:01 PM
So, my dear, you seem to be on a new journey yourself with your cooking blog. I love it! I'll send along some fun recipes I hope you take a crack at. Do you have a food processor? It will be your best friend someday. Also a good set of cooking knives, makes a huge difference.
You'll get the hang of what spices you like and the chemistry they have with different foods, just cook, cook, cook. Mistakes are good learning. My worst experiment was a pork roast that called for Thyme and I swapped out for oregano since I didn't have thyme. I almost killed three friends that night, yuk. Just buy one spice every month and build your spice rack. Also be careful of Tumeric, I made a near-poison pasta one night by using way too much of that stuff.
When are you at Cheers the next few days? I'll drop by for a drink and a hug.
XXOO
Kurt
This is what I wrote back.
Friday, January 07, 2011 12:09 AM
Yes the cooking thing is a new obstacle of enjoyment at this point of my journey in life. I am excited and scared to death! Thank you for your input, words of wisdom, and encouragement! I'm glad you love the blog! And if you don't and you were just being kind, thank you anyways! Lol.
I think I have a kind of cheapo food processor. I think that's what I picked up at "Home Goods" for $16. It was advertised as some sort of electronic chopper/mixer or something. I haven't taken it out of the box yet. Scarlett has a food processor though, she busted it out when I tried to buy her one and yes it is pretty cool.
She also has a good set of cooking knives. I was on the market for mine and did a lot of research, but she gave me 1 big and 1 small Santoku type knives from her set to start with and told me that she mainly uses her chef knife, so having a whole set might not be necessary for a beginner. It's one of the popular expensive German brands or something. Henkels, I believe. She said she had a better set before, a more expensive brand, but to me what she has is the best I've ever worked with. "Kitchen Aid" cooking supplies are top of the line to my family. Scarlett's into cooking and baking big time, really good at it too. I've coached her on how to make some of the dishes I grew up with.
A lot of the more sophisticated 'adult foods', cooking techniques, and so forth are new to me. Mostly because of my up bringing. At the same time, because of my upbringing, I could coach Scarlett on how to make dishes she did not know how to make. She was amazed to find out that of the two dishes I 'taught' her to make, I only made one of them once and it actually turned out edible, but no where near being the delicious creations she makes.
Of the 'sophisticated adult foods' I did not know what a Tender Loin was until Scarlett cooked one or a Rudabeger, or that roasting meant oven cooking, etc. And Turmeric? Sounds like a really bad tumor. Is it really poisonous?
I had no idea that a damn pan was worth buying only if it was in the past $50 range.
There seems to be A LOT I don't know, so I'm finding that I need to learn about new foods too. That is probably what makes things difficult. I'm not well versed on food in general.
You know what? Using Scarlett's cooking stuff, I seem to be doing better than when I was using the cheapo stuff I tried cooking on previous. All of that is perhaps making a huge difference... The right tools are necessary for some to do a good job I suppose. But man what an expensive investment!
You know what was really nice? Making a meal for Scarlett and Kimi (my ex, now platonic partner). They've made many for me for years and it was surreal and nice to be on the other side for once. I'm a b!tch in the kitchen now and want everyone out of my way, but they both still can't believe I made a meal that was not only edible but delicious!
So can I copy and paste what you wrote me in reguards to cooking for my blog? And give you credit for it?
Oh and also what I wrote you?
I'll be at Cheers Friday night, but not until 9pm.
9pm - however long it takes us to clean up after closing @ 2am.
Hugs and Best Wishes again,
Mickey
I think I have a kind of cheapo food processor. I think that's what I picked up at "Home Goods" for $16. It was advertised as some sort of electronic chopper/mixer or something. I haven't taken it out of the box yet. Scarlett has a food processor though, she busted it out when I tried to buy her one and yes it is pretty cool.
She also has a good set of cooking knives. I was on the market for mine and did a lot of research, but she gave me 1 big and 1 small Santoku type knives from her set to start with and told me that she mainly uses her chef knife, so having a whole set might not be necessary for a beginner. It's one of the popular expensive German brands or something. Henkels, I believe. She said she had a better set before, a more expensive brand, but to me what she has is the best I've ever worked with. "Kitchen Aid" cooking supplies are top of the line to my family. Scarlett's into cooking and baking big time, really good at it too. I've coached her on how to make some of the dishes I grew up with.
A lot of the more sophisticated 'adult foods', cooking techniques, and so forth are new to me. Mostly because of my up bringing. At the same time, because of my upbringing, I could coach Scarlett on how to make dishes she did not know how to make. She was amazed to find out that of the two dishes I 'taught' her to make, I only made one of them once and it actually turned out edible, but no where near being the delicious creations she makes.
Of the 'sophisticated adult foods' I did not know what a Tender Loin was until Scarlett cooked one or a Rudabeger, or that roasting meant oven cooking, etc. And Turmeric? Sounds like a really bad tumor. Is it really poisonous?
I had no idea that a damn pan was worth buying only if it was in the past $50 range.
There seems to be A LOT I don't know, so I'm finding that I need to learn about new foods too. That is probably what makes things difficult. I'm not well versed on food in general.
You know what? Using Scarlett's cooking stuff, I seem to be doing better than when I was using the cheapo stuff I tried cooking on previous. All of that is perhaps making a huge difference... The right tools are necessary for some to do a good job I suppose. But man what an expensive investment!
You know what was really nice? Making a meal for Scarlett and Kimi (my ex, now platonic partner). They've made many for me for years and it was surreal and nice to be on the other side for once. I'm a b!tch in the kitchen now and want everyone out of my way, but they both still can't believe I made a meal that was not only edible but delicious!
So can I copy and paste what you wrote me in reguards to cooking for my blog? And give you credit for it?
Oh and also what I wrote you?
I'll be at Cheers Friday night, but not until 9pm.
9pm - however long it takes us to clean up after closing @ 2am.
Hugs and Best Wishes again,
Mickey
I have yet to find out about Tumeric, but I did find out about how and why having a set of good knives does make a huge difference.
I cut myself with a butter knife attempting to make breakfast last Sunday... You'll find out all about it in my next blog.
I found out a lot about myself in context to food and cooking when I wrote back to Kurt.
On top of not being 'well versed with food,' I am not well versed in cooking techniques. I have probably used a stove or oven cumulatively only 40 times in my life time, if that. That's almost equivalent to how many movies I might have seen in my life time. I might had seen more movies than cooked or baked. Although I might despise sitting to watch a movie for hours as much as I despise prepping to cook and cooking, prepping to watch a movie and watching it is far easier than the whole cooking thing. I just have to sit there to watch a movie and that is not as frustrating as cooking can be.
I think I'm changing though. I feel that cooking might be much like when I was learning to drive. When learning it was scary at first. Once I understood how to operate a vehicle, I wanted to master doing it so I wanted to do the driving anytime driving was needed and I was present.
That's how cooking seems to be for me now.
I think I'm changing though. I feel that cooking might be much like when I was learning to drive. When learning it was scary at first. Once I understood how to operate a vehicle, I wanted to master doing it so I wanted to do the driving anytime driving was needed and I was present.
That's how cooking seems to be for me now.
So Kurt and Ben came by Cheers Friday night.
Yes, Cheers is a Bar, but not the bar in the TV Series Cheers. Usually I Barback for a good friend of mine and the Senior Bartender at Cheers, Josh. Josh enjoys cooking and in my opinion he's a pretty good home chef, but he won't accept the title of Chef. Josh prefers I call him "Sir". Lol. He claims that Rachel Ray taught him how to cook. It was actually reasuring to know that considering that Rachel Ray has not been around a while, so Josh learned how to cook later in his life, much like me. Knowing that gives me hope. But I digress.
Accompanying Kurt and Ben Friday night was a Snowman Holiday Gift Bag, amusing white tissue wrapping paper with black polka dots sticking out the top of the bag. It was a gift, for me!
After a bit of debating with Kurt, I opened the gift at Cheers to discover he had gifted me a book, "The 1997 Joy of Cooking" by Irma S Rombauer, Marion Rombauer Becker, and Ethan Becker! Josh and many of the patrons noticed right away chiming in about how great the book is and claiming that the book is perhaps the bible of cooking. Between the patrons and staff at Cheers, there are a few cooking groups that gather together taking turns at who cooks for the group on a particular night. Many 'regulars' bring food to the bar to share and we serve food almost every day at Cheers for free! When I think about it, food, good food that is, cooking and company with meals is perhaps just as important to Cheers as a good drink. I don't know if any other bar does potlucks at all let alone as often as Cheers does.
Back to the book! Jeanne, a fill in Barteder at Cheers, was just as excited as I was that the book has a red ribbon place holder. Josh told me that he uses his roommates book as a reference guide. I understand that as I have mostly looked up recipes online. In the book are techniques that recipes do not include such as how to fillet a fish or butcher a whole chicken, how to dice vegetables, etc. Although many of the recipes in the book require I read them first in order to make a list of ingredients, I appreciate that the recipes are written in a step by step manner much similar to how I blogged about making the Fettuccine. Kurt told me that he was gifted with the book himself, has used it time and time again making the book invaluable, and that the pages of his book pretty much wear food particles as much as ink. I am very touched by this gift, not only that because the book is expensive, but because of the time and care he puts into my life. Kurt is one of the favorite people in my life and I hope to make him a scrumptious meal someday!
Kurt wrote in the book,
" 1-7-11 Mickey- Cook, Cook, Cook! I hope this brings you joy & memories of meals you've prepared for friends & loved ones. Love, Kurt."
Kurt also gave me a great Salad recipe which was enjoyed by many at Friends Christmas 2010. [Friends Christmas is an annual tradition created by Randy Vidal, a close friend and beloved Leather Man well known in San Diego and Los Angeles. No longer with us, the tradition that Randy started carried on and hopefully will continue for a very long time. Randy Bartended at the San Diego Eagle for, I believe, over 13 years. He started the tradition of Friends Christmas as a way to ensure that friends still spent time with each other in the months when most were too busy to hit the bars to check in with each other... And now I'm getting emotional again... So here is the Recipe]
I'm not sure what the Salad is called... I just call it Gooood. It seemed like not many ate much of it, but a few people asked me for the recipe, so here it is! I myself do not favor rabbit food, but I enjoyed it and wanted seconds but there was so much else I had to try. Maybe my palate is changing...
Recipe below for 12, cut in half for small group. I skipped the cheddar and substituted ¾ to 1 cup Feta and I also added about ½ - ¾ cup sunflower seeds for crunch. I used Ken's Steakhouse Raspberry-Pomegranate vinaigrette.
Ingredients
- 1 (10 ounce) package Italian-blend salad greens
- 1 (5 ounce) package spring mix salad greens
- 2 (11 ounce) cans mandarin oranges, drained, dried in a paper towel
- 1 1/2 cups dried cranberries
- 1 medium red apple, cored and diced
- 1 cup chopped walnuts
- 1/3 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
- ½ bottle (8 oz) raspberry vinaigrette or less to taste (can sub Balsamic Vinaigrette to make it less sweet)
Directions: In a large salad bowl, toss the greens, oranges, cranberries, apple, walnuts and cheese. Drizzle with vinaigrette just before serving; toss to coat.
Scarlett and I made it Saturday for a dinner, but it wasn't exactly the same. The thing is the store only had the dressing in Lite, we had to use Cashew's instead of Walnut's, and Dried Cherries instead of Cranberries because Scarlett thought the recipe called for Cherries.
Separately, I enjoy Cashew's more than Walnut's, and Cherries more than Cranberries, but despite that our salad substituted ingredients that I usually I prefer, I think I liked Kurt's version at Friends Christmas over the salad Scarlett and I made Saturday.
Scarlett's told me once that food is more enjoyable when someone else makes it... Considering that she ate all the pancakes I made from scratch Sunday after I ate only one, there might be some truth to that. For me personally I think I'll eat more of and enjoy what I like, no matter who makes it. I just hope that I will like what I make more often than not.
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