Bat Wings and A Gingerbread House?

As I stated during my last post, I during Halloween I made Martha Stewart's Bat Wings. Now, our dear friends always allow me to test my dishes out on them. Lucky for me, she is an excellent cook so there is always something else to eat and in the event I accidently poision us with one of my dishes, he is in the medical profession!

Anyway, back to the bat wings. The recipe calls for bean sauce, oyster sauce, soy sauce, brown sugar and black food coloring. You marinate the chicken wings from two to 12 hours turning them every 30 minutes. My problem with the dish was that my wings were too big!! I should have purchased a more lean wing. The other problem was that I had never purchased a bean sauce or oyster sauce and at 6:00am, no one in Wal-Mart knew what the hell I was talking about. So, I had to leave Wal-Mart in Mt. Juliet and drive to Publix to find it. When I got to Publix I stared at the shelf for 15 minutes before I found the bean sauce. While I could have called several people to help me, there was no one I dared call at 6:45 am to ask about bean sauce. I found the recipe quite delicious except I could only eat a half a wing. Why, I was exhausted from making cake pops.

So, I bet you wonder how bat wings and a gingerbread house are related. Let me tell you. This evening, I get in the car and my son tells me he has signed us up to participate in a gingerbread house contest. Luckily my husband was driving!!!!!! I see flashes of everyone laughing. The worst part is the kid believes we have a chance to win $100.00!!! Is he insane?? Hell, maybe I should just give him the $100.00. I wanted so bad to say son, let me put $100.00 in your savings account but instead, I said "sure, we can enter the contest." So, the real question is, is there a therapist out there somewhere??? I NEED HELP!!!!!!

Ghost Pops

I bet you thought I had given up cooking! The answer is no. Since my last post, I have made a variety of dishes . Some winners and some well, lets just say, not winners.

This past weekend was Halloween and I decided I was going to cook something. This is the second year we have spent the holiday with friends dressing up and sending the kids out with the dads to trick or treat. The difference this year was I decided I was going to bake and cook. I searched the internet and decided on two things. Cupcake pops and Martha Stewart's Spicy Bat Wings.

Let me tell you, for a novice, I should have slit my wrists!!!! The recipes sounded easy so Saturday at 6am I found myself at Wal-Mart purchasing the items with excitment. I purchased the cake mix and frosting. White chocolate (the choices for white chocolate gave me a headache--to microwave or not microwave, that was the question). All this for the cake. For the wings, chicken wings, black bean sauce and oyster sauce (foreign to the Wal-Marth staff--got it at Publix).

Anyway, for the cupcake pops, I baked the cake, of course I licked the bowel, are you insane, I love cake batter! Once it was done and cooled, I crumbled it up and added the frosting to it. It was to make 45-50 balls(roll it by hand). Of course being me I was not going to make that many damn balls and decided to make mine larger. Big mistake. I then read the recipe again and you had to freeze them to let the chocolate cool you put on the lollipops you inserted in the cupcake ball. Now, you understand why you don't make them large. Mine were too heavy to lift in the freezer!!!! So, here I am with 23 large cupcake balls that won't freeze. So, I took the smaller of the 23, 10 to be exact and rolled them in the chocolate I had melted. They turned out beautifully! Well, not that beautiful. You see, they were a little weird looking because they would not roll in the chocolate but they were perfect for Halloween. What happened to the other 13 cupcake balls??? I threw them out, I was late for the party!

Next time, I will tell you about the wings!

Still Cooking

Yes, it's been awhile and for those of you who have called me to ask where I have been, I have been around and cooking but just have not have time to post. It's nice to know you enjoy my blog but it would be great if you would put it in writing. I love to read comments! Oh, how vain I am.

I have been cooking up a storm. I even made a meatloaf. I searched for a great recipe and my friend told me about the one the Barefoot Contessa has. It is the turkey meatloaf recipe. Let me tell you, it's wonderful. Preparing the meatloaf had my mouth watering. I did not use all turkey as the recipe called for, I used a combineation of turkey, and Laura Lean Beef (A great suggestion from my good friend). I also cut the recipe in half. It still made a lot of meatlaof and we were able to eat it for several days. You actually saute the onions and other ingredients prior to adding it to the meat and that was new for me. Hell, who am I kidding, cooking is new for me and my family! I'm telling you, this was something that someone like me who never cooks can actually cook. Yeah, to the Barefoot Contessa!!!!!!

I also made another recipe from the Barefoot Contessa Cookbook. I wanted to prepare fish. So, I decided that I would go to Publix and pick out something. So, I pretended I was an actul cook. We all strive for something, don't we??? I decided to try trout. The Barefoot Contessa dish was Sole Menuire (spelling is wrong I am sure). So, being the foodie I am, I substituted sole for trout. The dish called for the fish to be cooked in unsalted butter and in the end you add lemon and lemon juice. The problem with my dish was the lemon juice over powered the trout but guess what??? The trout was a beautiful brown. You see, I am all about the presentation of a dish and with the broccoli and roasted winter vegetables, the plate was beautiful.

Speaking of winter vegetables, that is my favorite thing to do, experiement with vegetable. AND GUESS WHAT??? I HAVE A VEGETABLE PEELER!!!!!! I am so excited that I am learning to cook. It is the enjoyment of learning the taste and texture of foods and buying neat gadgets like a vegetable peeler. I enjoy the Farmers Market and seeing what is offered. I enjoy the grocery store and wondering what can be made with that item. My very good friend and I now discuss what we are cooking that evening.

My son is on Fall Break and for some reason we are getting home late. This evening I am not cooking again because I had to stop by the mall. But I plan to make the shrimp scampi from the Barefoot Contessa's Cookbook. Check back next week to see how that turns out.

Cabbage

Did you know there was more than one way to cook a cabbage? Well, I am here to tell you that when I searched the word, there were more than 200 recipes. There was cabbage soup, cabbage pudding, purple cabbage, fried cabbage, baked cabbage. Who knew there was so much to choose from. What's a girl to do? In the end, I found a recipe that included alchohol. Of course, I did not feel like stopping by the store so I had to loose the wine and include all the other ingredients so just imagine what it would have tasted like had I had the wine. With the smoked turkey sausage, FABULOUS!!!!!!

I am here to tell you that something can be said for this vegetable thing. My child is even all into this. This evening, he even asked if he could choose vegetables at the Farmers Market this weekend so that I could cook them next week. SUCCESS!!!!!! This cooking vegetables is starting to turn into a real family affair! Hey, remeber that TV show from long ago? I used to have a crush on the curly hair kid. Oh, there I ago digressing again. Anyway, another successful night with another successful cooking adventure. Simply put, I cut up cabbage, added a little olive oil to the skillet. I sauted the garlic and shallots and added the cabbage and added a few tablespoons of water and let the cabbage cook slowly. I added kosher salt, red pepper flakes and that seasoning you add to cabbage--it slips my mind now. My child is talking to me about PAR!!!! I thought I could two do two things at once, I guess I was wrong!

Parsnips?

Whoever thought I would eat so many vegetables in my life much less be cooking them? Last week, I made a grocery list as I flipped through the Barefoot Contessa Cookbook, yeah, I know, so much for a diet but, look I can try to make it work for me especially if I cut back on the butter! Anyway, once again, I digress. So, as I make this grocery list a picture in the book grabs my attention. It's something called a parsnip. It's mixed with carrots and sweet potatoes and it's baked with olive oil, salt and pepper. I add this funny vegetable to the list.

This evening, I decide to make this dish except when I grap the parsnip, I don't know what to do with it. I mean what do you do with this yellow looking squiggly thing? Do I peel it first? Chop it? cut it? What the hell do I do with it? The Barefoot Contessa tells me that I am to cut it in circles or squares but do I peel the damn thing first? So, what is a girl to do? I called my friend and she told me to peel it with a vegetable peeler (my knives are dull). A vegetable peeler? This is getting worse. I don't own that either so, I just start peeling with my dull knife and then I do what I do best, pretend it's okay and by George, I made roasted vegetables! They were excellent. Before Len and I could saute brussle sprouts and cook the meat, we were eating the parsnips and roasted sweet potatoes! The only bad part was that I felt guiltly about enjoying them so much. You see, I was not supposed to eat this so I had to work out. It's nothing but a weight thing baby!

What's Up with The Food Processor?

I'm back! For all of you who thought I disappeared, I'm back and I'm back full force. Let me tell you, it has been a week full of surprises. Not only did I cook, but I used my Cuisinart that was purchased a few months ago. Yes, that's correct, don't fall off your chair, I actually pulled it off the shelf and used it.

The journey bagan last week whenI had a day off and decided to make little personal meatloafs (oh, did I mention I also joined a weightloss competition?). Sorry, I digressed. Anyway, the recipe called for onions to be diced and I decided that I would use the food processor. Well, as would be my luck, instead of dicing, I made a purree. So, what's a girl to do? I could have dumped the onions but instead, I drained the liquid and browned the onions! The miracle was that somehow it worked. And, guess what, for a family that hates onions in their food, they could not taste it. Oh by the way, the meatloaf rocked.

Fast forward to Sunday, when it appeared that my weight was going in the wrong direction --up instead of down-- I had to take drastic measures. It was time for my family to eat lots of protein and vegetables. So, we had vegetables for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I also found one vegetable to try that while it might not have been tuly a diet " material recipe, it was a vegetable my family did not normally eat. BUTTERNUT SQUASH! In fact, I used the recipe from the Bareffot Contessa Back To Basics Cookbook. The recipe called for the squash to be diced and cooked in the oven at 400 degrees for 40 minutes. So far so good. Well, once that was done, you transfer it to the food processor to whip it to a potato like consistency. Great, I used the processor last week so what could go wrong? I added the squash to the processor and flip the switch and nothing happens. I mean nothing! After 10 minutes and a few choice words, I transfer it to a bowel and use the mixer. What's up with the food processor????? Okay, could it be that I was not supposed to use the Barefoot Contessa recipe because of the half and half? Could it be that I am a food processor idiot? What gives with my expensive Cuisinart?

After all of that, the squash did tuirn out great. We had fresh green beans with smoked turkey and cornish hens (not one per person). Cut the meat uo and eat more of the vegetables. The plates looked fantastic and diiner was enjoyable. I must say I am getting better with the seasoning but I still have to ask what's up with the food processor?

OFF UNTIL SEPTEMBER 21ST

No Dinner Tonight

Hubby made dinner this evening. I did not get home until 7:45. Check back in a couple of days for more adventures in cooking.

P.S. I am going to the store and have received from great recipes from friends!

Until our next adventure...

Do You Say Quack or Cluck?

When I started this adventure, little did I know that referring to chicken as quack instead of cluck would cause so much smack! Leave it to me to make such a mistake. Look, either way it goes, they are both from the bird family (I really started to say fowl or something else but, that might have been wrong too). Believe me, I know the difference in a duck and chicken. Now, when it comes to cooking them, that is a completely different story. (Don't even think about it---I don't want to know how to cook a duck. Hell, I am just coming up with creative ways for chicken.)

I am not trying to be like Julie from the movie Julie and Julia. I just like writing this blog. What Julie and I have in common is meeting the crossroads of life, trying to determine where we belong--at least that is what I took from the movie. What we do not have in common is that I don't want to cook every recipe from a cookbook. Why do I need to, my confidant and other friends provide me with interesting recipes and that is what this blog is about. Interesting recipes and how I can screw them up!!!!!

Now, tonight I had a great chicken recipe but, me being me, I forgot the most important ingredient BREAD CRUMBS!!!!! So, I cooked the chicken slowly on top of the stove and when it was done, the skillet had a few drippings (this was not fried chicken but tenders cooked in olive oil with a little wheat flour for substance) so I thought I would try gravey and by george it worked!!! Yes, I accomplished something very important. GRAVY!!!!!!!!!!!! Who knew this could come from me. There was only one problem, I don't think my husband and son enjoyed it. You see, as I was enjoying my chicken with vegetable pasta they put the plates on the counter with half eaten food. Too bad, I MADE GRAVY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Good Glorious Food

First, I want to say that I was very excited that I received a post to one of my blogs. It really made my day. The problem I am having now is that I don't know how to thank the person who responded. In addition to cooking, I have to figure out how to blog. Of course it is just another item to add to a long list of items to do or learn to do. So, I am thanking anyone who reads this blog in advance until I can figure out how I am to respond to a comment (do I just add a comment to my blog thanking you for your comment?).

I did not get to cook today!! I think I was a little depressed about it. My uncle and cousin came through on their way to Detroit and my uncle wanted to take us for a bite to eat. Actually, he is one of the most thoughtful people I have ever known but I really wanted to cook for him. So, what was I going to cook? Beef Bolganese (is that how you spell it?) Yeah, that's right, good ole pasta and meatballs.

Food, glorious food! I really adopted that line from the play/movie Oliver! That sums up my obsession with food these days. Last week I purchased a magazine with recipes so that I would have something to cook. Can you believe I even look forward to gettting home to cook? So, I'll never be Julia Child, Rachel Ray or Martha! Who cares, I just want to be me and cook, taste and sample everything I possibly can. Maybe instead of Food, Glorious Food!, I should be saying Hips, Glorious Hips!!!

SURPRISE!

I'm back!!!! I bet you thought I actually gave up cooking after a few days. No way! I will tell you that I am going to be really watching what I eat because I am joining a weight loss competition. Until then, I have eaten everything I wanted but, not without a lot of guilt.

During the 4th of July we spent the holiday with friends and I was determined to make baked beans and cole slaw. To may a long story short, somehow the slaw had too much heat and their 4 year old cried because his mouth was too hot. So, this weekend, I decide to try it again. I left out the paprika and it did not have kick like it did the last time. So, maybe it was the paprika that made my poor little friend cry! Who knew that paprika could have thay type of kick. I also worked on my baked beans, okay, so I cheated and used Bushes Baked Beans! Whoever said my venture into cooking was going to be homemade. Although this time I did decide to make the [potato salad instead of buying it from Publix. I must say, it was very good. I just need to add a little salt. I wonder if all cooks go through this? You know, adding the correct seasoning?

This will be a challenging week for me. I am joining a weight loss competition and I have to be more accountable with Weight Watchers. Oh, what's an old woman to do??????

Quack Quack

This evening, I mentioned to my meal planner that I wanted to make a Mexican dish with ground beef. We came up with a quick meal with ground beef as the main ingredient. Well, I after ending the call with her that we had chicken at home so instead of moo tonight, it would be quack!

So, all on my own, I decided to smother chicken breast strips in onions and place it over wild rice with brussell sprouts on the side. It actually turned out to be a quick easy meal. I never knew slicing an onion could be so quick and easy. I imagined I was on the Food Network (once again, I digress) and worked my dish! I than plated -- is that the correct term for serving the dish? The only probelm is that on a white plate, it was not enough color on the plate. Also, I did notice that I have gone to the other as far as seasoning goes. As you may recall last week I mentioned too little seasoning and tonight I was in seasoning hell. That's right, way too much salt!!!!! And, you know what this means for me, more water weight gain! At least that is the excuse I will use tomorrow when I can't get into another pair of pants!

Bean, what is your name?

I have a secret weapon planning my meals each evening. You see, each day, I make a phone call for assistance in helping me decide what I can cook that will be easy, tasty and quick. For the past few days, I have had an ideal meal in mind. Knowing that I LOVE beans, it was suggested that I cook October beans in chicken broth with smoked pork chops added in the pot for flavor. Add corn bread to the meal and you have a cozy dinner. Boy, what a meal!
This morning, I got out of bed, went to the freezer and there was a problem. I could not tell what beans were the October beans!!!!!! You see, all the beans in the freezer looked alike. When I went to the farmers market, I put all my beans (purple hull, lady peas, Ocotber beans, etc.) in freezer bags and now they all look alike! So to the bean I cooked this evening, Bean, what was your name? Regardless, the meal was excellent. Once again, Davis loved the meal. This was a cozy dinner. Len missed this one since he was out grocery shopping. I ate my dinner watching a Beatles special!!!!

Hey Jude....

Check Back Tomorrow

Please check back tomorrow for more about my adventures with cooking!

Hail To The Chief

The last time I actually cooked a meal was Friday evening. If you read that post, you will know that was something big in the Atkins household. Number one, I never cook on Friday's and number two, the grannies were in town. When they're in town, we look for the next restaurant where we will eat.

On Saturday evening, my husband and I attened the Tennessee Democratic Party's Jackson Dinner dinner. You see, I lucked out and received the tickets free otherwise, he would have never agreed to go (as most of you know, I am in a house divided on politics). Actually, my husband does not align himself with either party but, since it was a fellow Arkansasan speaking, he went without much fuss. Bill Clinton was a good speaker but, the food was lousy. As I sat there, I imagined how I could have catered this better myself. I thought about the chicken I would havae served or maybe added a fish dish. What? I thought you might say that! Yeah, I know after a few blogs and a few successful meals, I now think I am the new Julia Child. Well, that's not true. I know good food when when I taste it. Hello, I am not trying to loose weight because I inhaled too much air!

Anyway, this evening (Sunday) I cooked the rest of the spinach pasta and added shrimp to it. Oh please, don't become overly excited. It was Gordon's Fisherman shrimp. We did not go to the store for actual groceries and that was an easy meal. I do have ideas for a few dishes this week. As my friend reminded my, she stuck quite a few recipes in my mailbox some months ago. I know we will have my favorite lady peas (cook it in chicken broth and it rock your world). Hey, remember that song? Oh, I guess as usual I digressed.

Let's Toast To Another Year

My mother in-law is celebrating her 74th birthday and I wanted to make something special for her. Keep in mind when she and my mother visit, we normally go out to dinner. I never cook at home. It's just never been a part of my DNA and given it's a Friday evening, hey, what time are we leaving for the restaurant!

Tonight, to everyones surprise, I made a nice elegant dish. It was a chicken breast cooked in champagne sauce (I was really to use a dry white wine but there was none in the house) over rice with black and green olives served with green beans and cherry tomoatoes. Sound pretty fancy? Well, I am here to tell you it was not. Once again, my good friend provided me with the recipe. I was writing it down on my way home this evening and then got to the store and realized I left the recipe at home. Anyway, I guess when you are me, you get used to these things happening.


Let me tell you about the recipe, you brown the chicken in olive oil, once that is done, remove the chicken and brown an onion with one table spoon of flour. Add the chicken back into the skillet and at some point you are to add a little lemon juice (1/2 cup I think), wine and chicken broth to cover the chicken. Somewhere, I screwed up the recipe because I think the sauce was to be a little thick. Add the olives and serve over rice. Really, it did not matter because the family enjoyed it.

You know, the trick to this culinary experince is to enjoy your hits and misses. You can always try the dish again and correct what you believe you did wrong to improve the dish the next time.

Oh, now I really am going to need a divine weight loss interention. My mother looked at my legs this evening and asked me when they got THAT BIG!!!!!!

So, here is a toast to a Friday evening dinner.

Oh Me, Oh MY!

I hear that pesky flea buzzing around my head as I type this. The flea is saying, "it is only the third day and she has given up"! I say, no you pesky little flea, I have not given up, I just didn't have anything at home to cook for dinner! Before the flea can speak again, I slapped the shit out of him. (Maybe that's a bit strong--I really don't want to hurt the little flea, just shut his BIG MOUTH!)

Anyway, we ended up eating out at I-HOP this evening and maybe it would have been fun a week ago, but not tonight. The food just was not good. I wanted to be in my kitchen preparing somthing new. I really wanted the feeling out of stressing out whether or not the dish would turn out okay and more importantly, would it be edible! The excitement of creating somethjing new.

Oh me, Oh my! We will have to wait until the weekend to find the joy of cooking. If you are interested in my adventures, check back on Sunday evening or Monday morning. In the meantime, how many Weight Watchers points would an I-HOP omlette be???????

Visitng Sweden

This has been one heck of a day. First, I realized that I made a mistake. Yesterday, I typed I was 46. Now, if you ask how could I make a mistake like this, it is very easy. For me, age is really just a number. My entire life I have done everything late. Married in my early thirties and had a child in my late thirties. If I had any sense, I should be upset that I am short, fat and still finding myself. But, you know what? It will all be okay (I hope). My other issue is that I feel as if I have a watermelon in my stomach. For those that know me, I am always complaining about a stomach issue. I truly believe I am this way because of the huge greasy turkey leg I ate while attending the Wilson County Fair--our friends took a picture of me with that darn turkey leg. It was a great piece of meat but very greasy and probably too salty (could that be the reason Scooby Doo keeps biting me? That darn dog thinks I am a big piece of meat). Let's just say, I am still suffering from both ends! Too much information? Too bad, I fell like CRAP!

Let me tell you, my new adventure is quite a joy. Len and Davis are loving it. Okay, so it is only day two. Give me a break! This evening after picking up Davis, I prepared Swedish meatballs, red mashed potatoes and broccolli (why is it that I can't spell the names of food?). Anyway, a person who I consider one of my best friends gave me the recipe. It was so easy. Groud beef, crackers, sour cream, 1 egg , chopped onion and seasoning. Form meatballs. Once they had cooked in the oven, I added the meatballs to beef boullion cooking on the stove and cooked a little longer. Mashed the potatoes and aded the vegetable and you have a comfotable cozy dinner. This entire meal took 50 miniutes. I must say, I was very nervous because making meatballs is so foreign to me. I prayed the entire time making them. I also had the phone number for the pizza place handy in the event I had to order a pizza!

So, once again, I don't know how to calculate the Weight Watchers Points. You know, I am going to overweight hell. I need an initervention!!!! My goal was to swim with friends before it gets too cold but, at this point Shamu has a better chance of swimming in their pool than I do!

Spinach Fet

I can't believe I am actually doing this. In fact had anyone asked me last week would I ever "Blog", I would have said never. You see, last Friday, I went to the movies with a friend of mine and saw the movie Julie and Julia. It was a cute movie and I must say a little inspirational. Julie kind of reminded me of me. A little lost, never finishing anything (let me take that back, Julie actually started things), I start them in my head and that's as far as they go. As of today, I am starting something that hopefully will continue. This blog will document my hits and misses through everyday life as I raise a son with my husband, work and at 46, learn how to cook!

Tonight I made resemary chicken with spinach fettuchine (did I spell that right?) Hell, who cares, all I care about is that it was edible. And, guess what? IT WAS!!!!!!!!!!! I changed the recipe and instead of adding half and half, I used diced tomatoes and it was wonderful. Even my picky eater son loved it! To tell you truth, I forgot to season the chicken, just a small thing though. Hell, you can always add the salt later. I was so happy, I took a picture with my digital camera. My only concern is how many Weight Watchers Points I used. In fact, I was supposed to have a vegetable. Do you think because it was spinach fettuchine (I have to learn how to spell that word) that counts as a vegetable?

First POST

Wow. It's like I am IN the movie...

Yvette is Norma

My name is Yvette, but you can call me Norma. I just watched a movie. It's not important which movie. In fact, it's none of your business. But after watching this life-changing movie, I realized, I can cook and I can blog and I have very, very important things to say.

Read my blog every day, because reading my insightful posts and recipes, peppered with my enromously awesome perspective will make you smarter.