Recipes

Cooking Thanksgiving Dinner

This post is in response to some questions people have been asking me recently. My closest friends know that I cook... a lot. But what even surprises them most is how much of what I make comes from my head. I never went to culinary school, but I payed close attention to my parents cooking my whole life. And I was always the girl that asked questions.

I guess what I am trying to say is, these recipes come from me. Or my family. Unless otherwise noted, like my most recent Pumpkin Stuffed with Everything Good. That was a variation of a recipe from Epicurious. But this goes without saying, that even with inspiration, I always "doctor" what I do. And even without culinary school, I have a great understanding of baking and cooking basics. Hopefully this comes as some inspiration to those of you who want to cook. You can always be self taught and learn from observation.In fact, I find that to be an even better way; once you have the fundamentals, your creative genius really is endless.
Look at this trick... on how to cut Cherry tomatoes. I actually saw this for the first time done on Rachel Ray, and it is the BEST idea ever... Watch this video, about the 50 second mark, on how to cut cherry tomatoes (about 20) in 5 seconds.

This is exactly how I learn, by watching. And I take from things what I need. You don't have to memorize everything you see on TV or in the kitchen. But get creative. I have made a few meals before and served them to people that were NOT good... like this one time, when I thought you made cream sauce by just boiling milk, and totally did not think that you had to put a rue base first... I am talking about noodles swimming in warm milk. SO. NOT. GOOD. But that is how you learn.

No, those aren't roasted chickens from the store. I cleaned, gutted, and cooked those puppies myself to a golden perfection!

Find the chef inside you, and get to cooking :)