Grandma Douglas’ Schneckin

Posted on March 9, 2012 by Kelli

OK, I’ve made these before- but I think they were even better this time around.  Take a peek.

This is from Tom Douglas’ Seattle Kitchen.

As a side note- the above was the last picture before my camera mysteriously went kaput.  I think it was overcome by the fumes of the Schneckin… from now on- iPhone photos.

Just looking at this makes me want to go kaput.

and any form of dieting go kaput too.

You’ll notice I’m really a fan of a fork shot.  Can’t you just feel yourself at my dining room table drowning in Schneckin.  It’s a good way to go.

recipe can be found here.

Posted in Breakfast | 2 Comments

Grandma Irene’s Danish Puff and Nanaimo Bars

Posted on March 9, 2012 by carolheigh

Danish Puffs (breakfast treat) and Nanaimo bars were popular in the 1950s.  Delicious then.  Delicious now.

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Posted in Breakfast, dessert | 1 Comment

My New Asian Grandmother

Posted on March 9, 2012 by Kelli

In looking for some Grandmotherly inspiration, I stumbled across a great blog The Asian Grandmother’s Cookbook.  Sounds promising right?

Thinking these recipes look pretty tasty, I had a hankering for a dish I used to eat a lot in my youth- Sweet and Sour Pork.  I had chicken at my disposal, so I used that instead of the pork and went with it.  If I have it in my fridge, I want to make it work.

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After gathering my ingredients, I whipped up the marinade.  The recipe said ideally 12 hours- I only have about five- so hopefully it will work.  Some flour, egg, soy, sherry- pop it in a bowl with my cubed chicken.  Marinate away.

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Mason is still eating and my light is still good, so lets make the sauce now too.  I think it will keep in the fridge until dinner.    This is just water, ketchup, vinegar, corn starch, soy, and sugar.  Sounds sort of gross when it’s listed like that… just bring to a boil and keep on stirring.  Two minutes.  I think I need a nap.

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Five hours later…

The recipe says to fry the chicken pieces in a wok.  I’m not great at keeping oil temperatures steady when I fry things so I invested in a deep fryer which I used instead.  Much easier for me- though I know most chefs poo-poo.

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yum…

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about six minutes and they are nice and crispy.  Drain on a paper towel.  Try not to snack.  Just try.  I know it’s hard.

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Meanwhile… stir fry your veggies.  Onion, carrot, red pepper, garlic.  About four minutes. Toss in some pineapple and mix.

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Top with your chicken and pour in the sauce.
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Mix up, and serve on a plate with white rice.  Pretty tasty.
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I appreciate that it doesn’t involve anything that I didn’t have in my fridge.  Really, the only thing I bought was pineapple.  Not necessarily something I would make to wow my guests, but it was great for a family dinner.
More importantly, I would rather eat this:
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Than This:
snap snap!
from here
Posted in Asian, Kitchen Diaries | Leave a comment

Grandma Louise’s Oatmeal with Grated Apple

Posted on March 8, 2012 by Kelli

No reason to wait for dinner to start working on Grandma’s Recipes.  This is from When French Women Cook, a Gastronomic Memoir.  Sounds pretty high brow, but really was a quite delicious basic oatmeal that I will probably make again… and again.

Cast of Characters:

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Half cup oatmeal, one cup water and a dash of salt in the pan- bring to a boil.

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Add a grated apple and a touch of lemon juice.
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Cook for about five minutes, pour in about 1/3 cup milk and a dob of butter.  Cook another minute.  Notice how dangerously close I am to pouring milk all over my stove?  Not easy to pour and take pictures at the same time!
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At this point, your oatmeal is done!  I topped mine with some Maple Syrup.  You could do brown sugar also.
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OOOHHH YEAH.  Not a bad way to start a day.
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ImageTake a bite.  You know you want to.  Recipe can be found here.
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Why I Must Adopt

Posted on March 7, 2012 by Kelli

When the theme was picked to be ode to our Grandparents I was a skeptic.  My Grandparents were wonderful people.  I have fond memories on both sides of the family speeding time with my Grandmas and Grandpas, but they were not cooks.

Aside from My Grandma Irene’s Thanksgiving Turkey Gravy, I don’t remember much that was made that was tasty.  I do know that My Grandma Marie served fried potatoes at every meal… yes, three times a day.  I would eat them with ketchup and a bologna sandwich.  May be with some sort of a cheese spread.

What I remember most though (and I’m not sure why) is the constant presence of Weight Watchers.  Not so much the food from Weight Watchers, but the evidence.  The encouraging magnets on the refrigerator, the murmurs of recipes, the haze was there.

Now I’m not saying that my Grandma EVER made any of these- but it completely cracked me up and I thought I should share.

One of my friends sent me this link for Weight Watchers recipe cards circa 1974.  I’ll show you a small sample- and though my Grandparents may not have styled their plates with ceramic cheetahs, it is entire possible that one of these plates made it to our table on a special occasion, and entirely probable that everything I ate in my youth contained dried onion flakes.

oh, frank God.so... confused...did you see it twitch?I really don't understand

ohh! ohhhh!!!!!mmm, pudding

May be Weight Watchers worked in the 1970’s because the food was so horrid.  The comments on the site are pretty priceless.  Check it out and take a culinary trip back in time.

At any rate, this is my evidence for why I will be adopting a Grandparent to learn from.  May be more than one.  I’m thinking Italian.  I’m thinking Chinese.  I’m not thinking Weight Watchers.  You can thank me later.

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Dishes from the First Meeting

Posted on March 6, 2012 by Kelli
First, let me give a disclaimer and state the obvious.  I am not a food stylist.  Nor am I a food photographer.  If you feel your dish is poorly represented, my most sincere apologies.  I’m learning.  Hopefully years from now we can look back at these first photos and cringe.  Wait… I’m already cringing.
That being said, we had some wonderful appetizers brought on our first night.
Devon brought Roasted Fennel and White Bean Dip from the Food 52 blog.  Image
We already know that I brought Shrimp and Shiitake Pot Stickers with Sake Sauce from Tom Douglas’ Seattle Kitchen.
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Heidi made Nancy’s Go To Sandwich (details to follow)
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Ashley visited Whole Foods and brought Shrimp and Cocktail Sauce. (She’s having another baby in two weeks- give her a break!)
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From Food and Wine Magazine’s Best of the Best Cookbook Recipes Volume 13– Amy brought Crab TostadasImage
Randie brought Rosemary and Parmesan Madeleines from Williams Sonoma  and Smokey Fried Chickpeas from Food 52
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Not everyone was pleased with their dish, but personally, I thought they were all delicious.  I look forward to making a few of them again.  Thoughts and comments welcome!
Posted in Appetizer, Event, recipes | Leave a comment

Assignment #1

Posted on March 5, 2012 by Kelli

Our first assignment to was to bring an appetizer.  Something easy to get us started.  Who doesn’t love a good appetizer?  It’s bite sized.  It helps you know what to expect from the rest of the meal. It’s fabulous!

I have so many appetizers I love, it was truly hard to decide what to make.  I decided on Lobster and Shiitake Pot Stickers with Sake Sauce from Tom Douglas’ Seattle Kitchen.  To be fair, I did actually use shrimp and not lobster.  I’ve never cooked with lobster before and find it a bit intimidating.  I find Asian foods in general intimidating and I didn’t want to scare myself out of the kitchen on my first day!

But look at these ingredients:  YUM.  Can’t go too wrong… right?

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The hardest part about making these was definitely the folding.  I don’t really know what I’m doing and to make them uniform was a bit tricky.

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Like my pruned fingers?  Never mind- they turned out looking like this:

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Boil them for a few minutes until they pop to the top and pan fry and you end up with something that looks a little bit like this:

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What did I learn?  Tom Douglas can do no wrong.  I take horrible food photos.  I’ll work on that.

Seriously, these were tasty.  I will make them again.

Recipe can be found here.

Posted in Appetizer, Asian, Kitchen Diaries, recipes | Leave a comment

A Club is Born

Posted on March 5, 2012 by Kelli

I believe it was sometime in September or October that my friend Devon approached me with the idea of a cookbook club. Why hadn’t we thought of this before? Since we both love to talk about food, it seemed like a great way to get together with others who love to cook, learn some new things, challenge ourselves, and do it while engaged in a community of home cooks.

After falling down on the job getting this off the ground- and after a few revamps of what our ‘mission’ would be, we had our very first meeting yesterday.
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Our first meeting’s tasks were appetizers and ideas for where we want this club to take us.  More to come….
Join us on our culinary journey.
Posted in Event, Uncategorized | Leave a comment