Get into that cooking groove

I've never been much of a cook, I think mainly because I don't take the time to plan, shop, or actually cook the meals!

My big sis is my inspiration for cooking. She has a stack of recipes she wants to make and sets aside Sundays to cook up a storm. I often call her to catch up and she's making a giant batch of chili.

During my last visit in January, things were a bit different as she is a new mom - isn't my nephew John cute? He will be three months old this week!

So this time, she made her stack of recipes, 6 in all some tried and true, some new. She ordered groceries from a delivery service. And then I took over the kitchen and set to work. I made two quiches, chocolate chip cookies, meatloaf, green bean casserole, and plowed through the prep of ingredients for a few other things. It was great cooking in her kitchen with so much counter space, a big oven and room to move around. I felt accomplished in my day, even if we polished off a quiche a few hours after the making.

I really want to start this practice in my own life. Make time for cooking, and maybe set aside one evening, or a weekend day, to cook healthy recipes in preparation for the week.

Last week Boston was expecting another snow storm and I prepped by ordering groceries from Peapod.com, only this time I based my order on three recipes I want to try, not on past orders or whatever I had a craving to eat.

Lat night during The Oscars I managed to cook a Kale and Butternut Squash Saute. Yum! I halved the oil, and I would leave out the lemon entirely - it eliminated the sweetness of the squash. I ate it with some apple chicken sausages and it was a great winter meal. I have a few others saved in my Pinterest that I hope to try by the end of next weekend.

Source: fitnessmagazine.com via Ingrid on Pinterest

And here, a parting shot of Adela performing Skyfall at The Oscars last night. Beautiful!

Source: blog.newsok.com via Ingrid on Pinterest

Parmesan-Cauliflower Fritters

***I found this post sitting in my draft posts, but it's all done as far as I can tell, and I've made this recipe a lot. I think it will be a good staple for fall.***

Sitting at work this afternoon I started thinking about what the heck I was going to make for dinner. It's dreadfully hot, I am sort of out of anything fresh (veg, fruit, meat, dairy, yep, all of it) and I'm NOT going to grocery store and walking my purchases home when it's 90 degrees out and sunny. Perish the thought, or perish myself, right?

I was going to walk through the harvard Square farmer's market on the way home, so I picked up some tomatoes, Narragansett Creamery cheese, local handmade chocolate, etc, but I had already decided to make a recipe that I made for the first time last week, which uses the oven. How crazy is that?

I found myself mentioning this recipe to my sister, to friends, it was that good!

Parmesan-Cauliflower Fritters

Busy Sunday

Oops. I think I went a bit overboard. I meant to roast some chicken breasts and veggies, but I ended up with 2 roasting pans full of veggies. See what happens when you're busy watching Superbowl commercials?

Roasting Vegetables - 375 degrees, potatoes, sweet potatoes, sweet tomatoes, red pepper, carrots, parsnips, onion, salt, black pepper, basil, rosemary, thyme, garlic powder (didn't have any real garlic). I had intended to roast chicken breasts, but I wasn't really sure how to cook them roasted since they're boneless, skinless chicken breasts. I think I'll end up subbing the parmesan salmon recipe I use a lot.

I've been knitting a lot lately - working on a lace scarf that's slowly growing, starting a new lace scarf, and finally, starting on my first sweater. It's the Top-Down Raglan Cardigan by Laura Chau. Two of my knitting group friends made this sweater last fall and I've been gathering my nerve to start. I only have 12 rows so far, but I'm still figuring out how the pattern is written. I am using Caron Simply Soft in Charcoal Gray Heather. I bought 7 skeins, and I know that's overkill but I don't want to run out, and you can always find a use for Simply Soft.

Speaking of Simply Soft, for the Ravelympics I'm going to use that yarn in Orchid to make the Little Sister's Dress for my friend's daughter. Her 1st birthday is in June and I want to make sure I have something ready. This dress has been on my list since I first learned to knit and I think it's something I can manage to knit during the Olympics. I know for most knitters this wouldn't be a challenge, but I am very slow!

I've been reading a lot too, the Uglies series. I'm on book #2 Pretties. It's a fast read.

I also post weekly updates on my big cross stitch project, Soul of the Rose, on the 2010 Weekly SAL blog. Go over and check it out!

6.365.2009 Checking the curd

6.365.2009 Checking the curd
Originally uploaded by bareblueskin

I'm checking to see if the curd is set for the mozzarella cheese I'm making. I would have liked to post a shot where I'm stretching the curd, but it was too hard to get a decent shot and stretch the curd at the same time. This is my third try at making mozzarella, and made pizza with it.