Sunday, April 22, 2012

Weekend in Review

I've never been known as being much of a cook. In fact, I think smart people know me as someone whose cooking should be avoided. I'm 99% sure that people typically stop for a slice of pizza on their way to my house for dinner, but I've been cool with it. Historically, I sucked in the kitchen. But I didn't try, so it was somehow okay. Well, I did try that one time I made a pie for my inlaws Thanksgiving gathering. I don't particularly care for pie, but I really wanted to use my fancy red pie plate. My motives were screwy from the beginning of that one. It was inedible and someone actually gagged at the table when they took a bite. I was mortified and have since limited all contributions to inlaw gatherings to drinks and paper products.

Lately I've been "trying". Following some recipes. Trying new spices. Easter was edible. Meat was cooked. People were happy. That was a BIG step forward in my culinary journey. I was feeling a little bit more confident.

Since then I've started whipping up low fat muffins from scratch and some other health-conscious treats. After a few small successes, my self esteem went from a-little-bit-more-confident to full-on-cocky....at rocket speed. You know that rock-painting/craft-fair fantasy? Well, I added low fat baked goods to my fantasy repertoire. I envisioned elderly people from the entire northeast region flocking to my craft fair stand to purchase wheat-germ-laden-delights and telling all of their retirement home friends about it. Next stop: A million dollar deal from the Shark Tank. Prosperity abound. Ok...I got a little carried away, but why not dream big?

So today I whipped up some carrot muffins from scratch...without a recipe. I'm a natural in the kitchen afterall. Ummmm. Bad idea! I didn't know if I was supposed to use baking soda or baking power and in what quantities. So I used both equally. That was only the beginning of my problems. And no surprise, the "muffins" were horrendous and I threw them straight into the trash. DSS would have been here in a NY minute if I'd tried feeding them to my kids.

As if that taste of carrot "muffin" wasn't painful enough, I'm now working on two more concoctions without a recipe. Chicken and veggies for dinner tonight and chicken soup for tomorrow. Yesterday I noticed chicken on sale for 88 cents per pound and wah lah...the recipes just popped into my mind. Unfortunately, I'd discounted the nastiness involved with skinning pounds of drumsticks and chicken thighs. Oh. My. God. DISGUSTING! I don't know how much they pay the dudes and dudettes who work at Purdue, but I hope they are unionized because it's surely not enough. I am going to have nightmares tonight. The two dinners better turn out delicious or my cooking career is over.

Yes, that's a promise.  Now please excuse me while I bath in bleach to get the feel of chicken fat off my hands.

2 comments:

  1. Tonight's dinner turned out AWE-SOME! Husband tells me that chicken skinning is easier after the chicken is cooked. I think I avoided some fat by getting the fat off first, but who the heck knows. My son yelled "I don't eat ANY of this stuff" but then he gobbled up everything. Yay! Score one for me.

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    Replies
    1. Quick rule of thumb: Cook without a recipe, but never bake without one. It never works unless you have the recipe memorized in your head. Baking is like chemistry, but cooking is art.

      D wouldn't eat a grilled cheese I made him for lunch yesterday because it was burnt. I'm a chemist not a cook. ;)

      Ok, I'm neither, but I like to bake. And those brownies at Easter were awesome.

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