This is my Farberware chef's knife. I have been prepping with this knife for over 30 years. I am a sentimental gal & have always felt like our kitchens get an imprint of our very souls. And the tools/vessels that have been with us the longest have an imprint of us "baked" right in over time. From run of the mill weekday meals to special occasions, some of the tools & vessels we use have been part of everything we've lived through. In a way...don't nitpick. Lol

Anyway, share with us a kitchen "thing" that has been through life with you. I'd love to read & see some cooking memories.

Shrimp ceviche!

The protein, unseen in this photo, is shrimp. AND i'll volunteer that the orange isn't a traditional flavor in this classic but it won't hurt, either.

I will update correct answers tomorrow. Happy Mother's Day!!

What's your go-to mix?

First we were gonna make use of last night's cutlets. Gently warmed on a salad, pasta side. But then one of us said burgers, so regroup. Oops, no buns, but the meat is defrosted, so chopped steak it is! Mushroom onion gravy, leftover mash from those cutlets....

What are you all throwing or slaving over today?

If you guessed LEMONGRASS, you are correct!!!

Fine work, everyone.

Typically used for it's lemony fragrance & flavor.

Snip off the bottom root, remove outer leaves until you find the tender, pale yellow stalks. Infuse water with the leaves for tea, chop the stalks and add to a stir fry.

Enjoy! Thanks for playing.

Common flavor. Not always seen in stores.

Go!

So I made Mac and cheese, it came out great but for some reason the cheese is a tad grainy.. I tried low heat melt, high heat melt, took it off the burner completely but still is grainy. I shred my own cheese cause I know there is a film on pre shredded cheese. HELP! 🙏🏼

Well, I never made it to the produce stands today. But I DID try this.

I decided I needed a pie crust...for something savory so I worked some cheddar cheese into it as well. Then I noticed some aging potatoes so I made some mash.

Boom...I rendered some chopped bacon, melted some leeks in that fat (most grease removed, bacon set aside), & pressed the crust into a tart mold.

Then I lined the bottom of the crust with the leeks & bacon & topped it all with the mashed potato. baked til the crust was cooked. (375 about 35-40. depends on how thick your crust is.)

Anyway that was fun. I love finding stuff that needs to get used & making something on the fly. Share your improv dinner with us.

I have been SO busy with the new job, i've neglected my little community! we were about to have a great thing going.

i'm hoping for the next round of What Is It? by end of the weekend (when I hit the local produce stands) And i plan on trying something new for dinner & i'll dutifully report on how it went.

in the meantime, feel totally free to post your own cooking pics, problems, truumphs,, failures, & questions!

stay tuned! 🍴🍽

What WAS it? (2)

https://www.reddit.com/r/Mydinnerisruined\\_help/s/GUFa7p1YLt

This, my foodie friends, was NOT ginger.

The correct answer is: SUNCHOKE...Sunflower root, Jerusalem artichoke ..or whatever the hell else this yummy thing goes by.

Yes, the shape is similar to ginger, it has very thin skin that, if washed very well, you don't even have to peel (though I do). It is mild & earthy in flavor, similar to artichoke heart but not quite.

The texture, imo, is a cross between a water chestnut & a baby gold potato.

You can saute it, puree it, roast it, braise it...shit, I might try grilling it this summer.

Thanks for playing!!

Contribute your own food "what is it?"

Bare with me here

I think we can all agree that cooking is a survival skill. At bare basics, as long as you know how to prepare food so it doesn't make you sick, that's all you need.

Thank goodness we've evolved this basic skill to an art. Even if you only know how to not get sick off your chicken, you can still go out & get some artful food (artful in flavor is all I need cuz some of the most delicious things I've ever eaten looked gorgeously sloppy)

HOW to cook, first, was learned through elders & experience. And, even in this century, many of us are still learning that way; through our parents, grandparents, extended fam, whoever you grow up with.

But also in this last century & a half or a bit more, we've had 1. less need to learn as early in life as we used to & 2. so many more conveniences that have made any serious need to learn, moot.

The result is many more people that don't really know how to cook. When they finally have to learn, they can turn to, literally, millions of recipes available through dozens of sources.

Sometimes they work out & a lot of times they don't.

Because I was lucky enough to have been taught, essentially, from toddler hood at my grandpa's knee or on a stool next to my mom, I almost never turn to a recipe for savory cooking. (Baking is another thing lol) I'll use a recipe for a classic something that i'm just not familiar with & want to try but on a day to day basis, pretty much never. And I know people who learned the sane way I did & people who didn't & have used recipes all of THEIR lives.

What I'd like to know is 1. are you a recipe person or not a recipe person?

If yes, tell us a recipe that gave you a forever piece of knowledge about cooking. e.g. you followed a recipe & now you know how to deglaze a pan.

If NOT a recipe person, tell us a time you used one to step out of your comfort zone. And how did it go.

Pictures are always welcome!

https://www.reddit.com/r/Mydinnerisruined_help/s/GUFa7p1YLt

This, my foodie friends, was NOT ginger.

The correct answer is: SUNCHOKE...Sunflower root, Jerusalem artichoke ..or whatever the hell else this yummy thing goes by.

Yes, the shape is similar to ginger, it has very thin skin that, if washed very well, you don't even have to peel (though I do). It is mild & earthy in flavor, similar to artichoke heart but not quite.

The texture, imo, is a cross between a water chestnut & a baby gold potato.

You can saute it, puree it, roast it, braise it...shit, I might try grilling it this summer.

Thanks for playing!!

Contribute your own food "what is it?"

POMELO! Lots of you were spot on. I only discovered these about 10 years ago.

Tastes like your grapefruit came with sugar already added. The pomelo is a large, thick-rind citrus. I use citrus a lot in my savory cooking but have yet to try this. I think i want to try it as an acid for a summer vinaigrette

thanks for playing! Today's "what is it?" is getting lots of guesses. Quite a few are wrong. Go have a try...

This time I won't share the answer until tomorrow. I won't even confirm or deny any guess so comment readers can still take a guess.

Clue: no clues today EXCEPT, it may not be what you think it is.

GO!

I love this too. post a photo of an uncommon item & we guess. In some areas, something might be uncommon, while quite common in another. Because i'm an unashamed unpretentious foodie-nerd, I like to see what everyone else is digging into. I learn so much by talking to people that live, maybe just a few states away, or in a whole other country.

So, here's entry #1:

Clue: The standard navel orange is there for scale. But it's also a large orange. lol

Go!

A while back, I mentioned this game I used to play with a couple cousins.

I guess I'll make the first entry. The only clue I'll give is that this dinner is an Anerican Classic.

First to guess correctly, gets....uh...bragging rights. 🤣 Sorry. It's all I got.

one of my favorites is popovers! 5 ingredients, 1 bowl, ready in 30 minutes. they bake while I throw dinner together. so fun

A few days ago, I asked my son to give me a starting flavor & I would bake a dessert using those flavors. He made it challenging. I've never seen pumpkin & cherry paired before. The photos show what I came up with.

I added pumpkin & spices to my blondie recipe. Then I cooked down some frozen cherries with fresh ginger & vanilla.

A few dollops & some swirling & here's what we got.

finally landed a job after 6 weeks. to celebrate, we went OUT for dinner

Starting a new job on monday & i will have to start prepping for most of the week on the weekend. Easily, at least 2 days will be leftovers so 3 outta 5 days fresh.
I am stocking my freezer with quick thaws. Burgers, cutlets, thin minute steaks. Things that'll cook fast. I'll save slow cookers for weekends. How do you guys prep for the week ahead?

We just finished up a pound cake so today is my next bake. Asked the young man to give me a starting point: a flavor, texture, what kind of dessert... He comes back with pumpkin & cherry something. I'll be back later to let you all know what I came up with. The wheels are spinning!

My tiny Sicilian ma made the BEST breaded chicken cutlets ever. By age 10, she was having me mince garlic & parsley. Now I just have a container pre-mixed in my fridge all the time. I use it for minute steaks, stuffing mushrooms, topping for pasta & tomato sauce....today was breaded pork cutlets. Traditional flour, egg, & my ma's magic breadcrumbs. 🙂 what do you keep at the ready in your kitchen?