A bit of flour

I have been looking at the way I make omelets. Two eggs, half a cup of milk, a bit of salt, a bit of pepper. Allow the eggs to set then add meat and cheese. Give it another minute or two, then flip one side over, never mind the tear. Slide on the plate and devour.

Its been working for me, but I wanted very much to be able to make an omelet that looked like the ones I order at restaurants.

So, I shimmied over to youtube to see how Julia Child made hers. Very insightful, but … I needed more information, so I got her dvd.

After watching her technique a few times, I felt confident enough to give it a try. I wanted a really good omelet to go with the toast from my homemade bread.

It was hard at first; I can’t tell you how much I wanted to add milk to my two eggs. Or at the very least lots of water. But I followed her advice to the letter. I even worked on flipping the omelet. It was quite enjoyable. 

The end result: perfection. Absolutely delicious.

Definitely restaurant quality if not better.

Quick, easy, incredible.

I’m so glad I tried something new.

Posted on September 18th, 2008 under Breakfast. Comments: None

Let’s look at some other reasons for why homemade won against store bought in our little fight yesterday. Reasons that might not be as obvious as the ones we previously noted.

One is that homemade foods are easily tailored to fit your particular needs. Whether you have food allergies or special dietary needs or just picky eaters, making food at home is often your safest and wisest choice.

Speaking of choice, those of us with no special food needs like to think we have many choices when we shop; and, in some stores we do. But with the option of making it at home, we open up another world to ourselves.

In addition, preparing a homemade something is a wonderful way to spend time with children, creating memories and passing a wholesome tradition on to the next generation. Plus, they’ll be able to use their new found knowledge to whip up masterpieces for you.

And finally, for those of us who like to pour ourselves into the gifts we give, homemade fare makes it possible for us to offer truly unique and elegant presents. Memorable treasures that will make the recipient feel very special indeed.

So yes, it was right for homemade to win.

Don’t you agree?

Posted on September 17th, 2008 under General. Comments: None

The crowd is telling Homemade he’s toast. He’s exhausted and about to give in. He looks out and sees his wife and little boy. They’re holding a sign that says something poignant and sweet and it gives him hope to come back big time.

Homemade stands up tall. He walks over to Store Bought and delivers a 1-2 upper cut. Store Bought is caught completely off guard. He falls to the ground. A silence settles over the crowd. You could hear a pin drop as Homemade picks Store Bought up and gives one final little howdy dodee. The referee begins to count. But Homemade knows he could count ‘til he’s blue in the face; Store Bought’s out cold. Sweet dreams S. B., until next time.

Nice story, huh? But lets look at this closely. Why did homemade win? Well for a few obvious and maybe some not so obvious reasons.

One obvious reason is that homemade food is generally a lot cheaper than store bought food. And that’s good news, no matter where you are on the financial ladder.

Also, homemade food tastes so much better than store bought food. Dishes made with fresh ingredients are fragrant and bursting with flavor.

And homemade foods are higher quality. Because you will be eating it, you’ll be sure to choose items based on appearance and aroma.

We’ll look at the not so obvious reasons for why homemade wins over store bought tomorrow.

Posted on September 16th, 2008 under General. Comments: None

Two prize fightin champs come out of their corners. They make their way to the center of the ring. Throwing punches in the air. Snarling, giving each other ‘stink eye.’ Who will win? Well, we all know who’s going to win.

Homemade!

Yep the fights fixed folks. (Ain’t that always the way?) But you paid your money, so let’s at least try to make it look like a real fight. Now lets get back to the ring.

Store Bought makes contact first. He spells out ‘Convenience’ all over Homemade’s face. Ouch! The crowd roars.

Homemade is down. It’s not looking good. The referee starts counting 1-2-3-4-5. Is the fight over already? No way. Homemade begins to rise. He leans on the referee but gets pushed off. He stumbles, the crowd tells him its over and to give up.

“Homemade is for people with no lives.” They say, “Store Bought is for interesting people who have better things to do than to be trapped in the kitchen all day slaving over a hot stove.”

 “Death to Homemade,” they chant “death to Homemade.” It echoes in his ears. He looks out at the crowd. Everyone’s against him, individuals, businesses. He begins to lose hope. Maybe he’ll be defeated after all.

What happens next, tune in tomorrow for the rest of the story.

Posted on September 15th, 2008 under General. Comments: None

Over the years, I’ve discarded pounds and pounds of what should have been cake. Try as I might, none of the zillions of cake recipes out there ever worked for me. Ok I didn’t try zillions, but I did give it ‘the old college try.’ One day I decided it was time for a break; it was just too disappointing.

        Then I found Culinary Concoctions by Peabody. I read about her chocolate cake memories and felt so inspired. I started at once, very excited about the possibilities. But little by little doubt crept in and right before it was time to remove the cakes from the oven, only a trace amount of hope remained. I readied myself for yet another disappointment as I tested the cakes for doneness with a toothpick. The toothpick came out clean. That’s odd, I thought. Then I removed the cakes from the oven and allowed them to cool a bit before removing them from the pans. They looked like, well like cakes are supposed to look. It was beautiful. After removing them from the pans, and allowing them to cool completely, I frosted them with store bought frosting because I can not make homemade frosting, not yet anyways.

        So there it was, a delicious two layer chocolate cake, minus one slice, adorned my table.

It really was a beautiful thing.

Chocolate Cake

1 ½  cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
¾  teaspoon baking soda
¾  teaspoon salt
11 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 ½  cups sugar
2/3 cup cocoa powder
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/3 cups warm water

My journey began with me trying to make a simple yellow cake and midway through I find that I’ve learned to create an elegant and super moist chocolate cake.

I’m pretty happy.

p.s. Sunday is a day of rest around here, so I’ll see you Monday.

Posted on September 13th, 2008 under Desserts. Tags: Recipe. Comments: None

     Remember waking up to the smell of pancakes when you were little. That sweet aroma could just about lift you out of bed, carry you down the hall, and seat you ever so gingerly at the kitchen table. No cold cereal today, no sirree bob. Mom was making a hot breakfast; and, pancakes were on the menu. Two please with extra butter and drown ’em in syrup. You stuffed your napkin in your jammies, thanked God and then you ‘went to town’ on those pancakes.    

       Afterwards, your stomach stuck out and you couldn’t eat another bite if you wanted to. You hugged mom and headed back down the hall, grateful for the little things in life. Ahh, if only we could recapture those days.

     Well, we can’t move back in with the folks; but, we can treat ourselves to great tasting flapjacks any time we like. Of course you could buy a box; but, homemade pancakes are so much better. They require only a few ingredients and can be made in no time at all.

        This recipe is my favorite. I got it from Allrecipes.com

Good old fashioned pancakes

 1 ½ cups flour

3 ½ teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon sugar (I use two)

1 ¼ cups milk

3 tablespoons melted butter

1 egg

     Do yourself a favor and double or triple the dry ingredient part of the recipe. Then remove only the amount you’ll need at that moment and put the rest in a container for next time.

 If you’ve never made homemade pancakes or if its been a while, treat yourself to some soon.

Posted on September 12th, 2008 under Breakfast. Tags: Recipe. Comments: 1

Posted on September 11th, 2008 under Desserts. Comments: None

     One of my favorite kitchen tools is my thermometer. I really could have used it during my early baking days. I cringe when I think about all the doughy loaves I’ve ‘baked.’ Some days found me with ‘burnt, but fully baked’ loaves. And then there were days where I produced ‘doughy, but golden-brown’ beauties. And of course there were those rare days where I’d get a fully baked golden-brown loaf of bread; and I never knew why. But boy was I thankful for those days.

     Not long after that, I stumbled upon a site that said bread was fully baked when it reached an internal temperature of 180 degrees. Useful information, very useful in fact. I mean, I had a thermometer. Now I could just test my bread for doneness, no more guessing. But a problem remained: I was still pretty much glued to my oven. Still giving my loaves 25 minutes at 350 degrees. Still opening up the oven every two minutes or so, after the 25 minute mile marker, to see if the loaf was at 180 degrees.

     Then I found it, my thermometer. Its actually a timer/thermometer. My time in the kitchen has not been the same since I got it. Now, the probe goes into the unbaked loaf right before the unbaked loaf goes into the oven. I set the alarm to 170 degrees and walk away. When the bread reaches that temperature, the alarm goes off and I remove my lovely loaf from the oven. The thermometer stays in. I set it to 180 degrees, cover the loaf, and walk away. The temperature continues to rise and when the alarm goes off again at 180 degrees I remove the thermometer. Then I remove the loaf from the pan, brush butter on all sides, allow it to cool, and cut.

Thanks to my thermometer, I have a lot more confidence and no more doughy loaves.

Posted on September 10th, 2008 under Tools. Comments: None