I now own a set of 'real' cookware! No, I did not spend $1000 on some top of the line set of pots and pans, but we bought an actual set of pans that cost just slightly more than $19.99 to replace the eclectic set of hand-me-downs that I have been using for the last decade, inherited from various mothers, aunts, and even great grandmothers. I actually have a picture of me as a baby playing with some of the pans in said collection, definitely time for something new! So, now that I own this much coveted set of cookware and have a 'mommy blog,' I may now torture anyone silly enough to be reading this with my cooking adventures! Watch out Rachel Raye! Actually, she would probably keel over in shock should she ever read any of my cooking tips.
I have been both a busy professional with a full time job who needs to get dinner on the table after a long day at work and now a professional housekeeper/short order cook...I mean mom, so I do not do this either professionally or elegantly, but it works. Be warned, I am veggiphobic (if that is not a word, it should be), like gluten, and cannot afford to eat organic. I also live 200 miles from the nearest 'Yuppie Foods,' so things like edamame and arugula are not even in the vocabulary; the local Podunk Foods is happy to have milk, eggs, and potatoes. And no, I do not like goat cheese. I also live on the tundra so most fruits and veggies will be frozen or canned for nine months of the year. 'In season,' means that you eat as much fresh sweet corn in a two week period as you can until you are so sick of it that you are good until next year. A 'hotdish' for you non-midwesterners is basically a casserole (a starch, meat, veggie, and sauce all in one dish). If it comes from a plant it is a vegetable unless it is a starch (think wheat, potatoes, rice) or an obvious fruit (peaches, apples, bananas, etc.); not scientific, but functional, this is not a botany blog. I do not know where tofu fits in this classification, I am not even sure it is native to earth. Also milk is milk, not any liquid derived from non-lactational plants (see tofu); how does one milk a soybean?
Equipment...as mentioned above, my kitchen armory is not very high tech, but there are a few things I really like. A bread machine and dishwasher make life very nice for the busy cook. A good mixer is requisite for many cooks, but I can live without mine. It is nice for cookie dough but otherwise it just collects dust. Many people use it for bread, but I like my bread machine, it does all the work on its own and keeps the dough warm during rising. My mixer does not have a brain or a warm personality. When choosing a bread machine, the simpler the better; too many bells and whistles mean the thing is either impossible to use or will break down very shortly after purchase. I have a sunbeam, my second, I literally wore out the pan on my first and it was only slightly more expensive to buy a new machine than to replace the pan. You can use it for not just bread and rolls but just about any flour based product, not limited to croissants, pasta, pizza crust, bagels, pretzels...any thing that requires dough can usually be made in the bread machine. Tasty and lots of fun, not to mention you get to control the ingredients (all natural?, gluten free?, whole wheat?, no preservatives?, organic?, whatever!).
I will be posting a food article every so often since that is half of what I do, so all you professional foodies, be warned, the amateur has entered the blogosphere!
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