1.20.2008

Food Meme!

I was chosen by Anna from Produce Stories to answer this set of questions. The timing couldn't be better, as I have been playing housewife in a big way lately. Of course, Peter is also a househusband, so our dual lack of employment has forced us to have an active domestic life. I've been cooking almost every night for the past two weeks, and actually trying new recipes! Anything that isn't spaghetti or ramen is pretty epic for me, so it's very exciting to have delicious foods appear in my house with a surprising minimum fuss. It's saving money and is also really fun. When/if I ever do get a job, I would very much like to continue spending time cooking.

That said, here is the meme!

What were you cooking/baking ten years ago?


Having made the decision to live with my parents for an extra two years and go to junior college, I had a lot of kitchen tools at my disposal! I was way into baking and painstakingly decorating sugar cookies at that time. I got really, really good at it, using my mother's cache of cookie cutters and watching Turner Classic Movies whilst squeezing frosting. Since I lived at home, I was lucky enough to have most of my non-cookie meals still prepared for me.

What were you cooking/baking one year ago?

One year ago, I was living in a house that I didn't really feel that comfortable in, with a dingy kitchen with a terrifying overstuffed fridge. I wasn't cooking all that much, but instead eating a lot of items that could be made quickly and whisked away to the safety of my room. A lot of mezze platters, salami sandwiches, instant soups, cereal, etc. I did discover the joys of kale at this time. The only thing I baked was pumpkin cookies. Once. I love my new kitchen! I cook every day now.

Five snacks you enjoy:

Popcorn with nutritional yeast (gross, I know!), Dubliner cheese and crackers, actual sugar snap peas out of the bag from TJ's (f Snappea crisps, Bond!), pink lady apples and crunchy peanut butter, butter toffee peanuts. If it is puffy, salty, and crunchy, I will eat it.

Five recipes you know by heart:

Tortilla soup, pasta carbonara, flatbread pizza, tacos (vegetarian or otherwise), lemon bars.

Five culinary luxuries you would indulge in if you were a millionaire:

A refrigerator that isn't dorm-sized or filled with someone else's gross food, a pink or seafoam green Kitchenaid mixer with matching bowls, a fancy spice rack with all spices that would magically be refilled once the spices started to lose flavor, and a huge organic garden in my yard where all my fruits and vegetables would come from.
A big kitchen with lots of space and lots of natural light; every fancy All-Clad copper-lined pan available (including the asparagus cooker!); a brick oven for bread and pizza; a six-burner range; and a dishwasher.

Five foods you love to cook/bake:

Red or sweet potatoes, flatbread pizza with prosciutto, gingerbread, steamed broccoli, baked salmon with garlic and lemon.

Five things you cannot/will not eat:

This list gets shorter and shorter for me. Used to be water chestnuts, baby corn, pickled beets, soft cheeses, olives, but now I love three out of five on that list.

Five favorite culinary toys:

pastry cutter, spatula, fancy wine opener, garlic press, any cheese grater that grates cheese really super-fine.

2 comments:

anna said...

"If it is puffy, salty, and crunchy, I will eat it." And yet, you say "f Snappea Crisps", which are puffy, salty, and crunchy! I think you need to give them another try. Get really starving, then eat a whole bag. Later, you'll find yourself craving them. It worked for me.

Are the three out of five things you like now soft cheese, olives, and pickled beets? Because yum, let's have a picnic next time I'm in town.

Banana-head Pancake said...

I actually love nutritional yeast on popcorn! I was turned on to it because I'm a vegan and now I think it is awesome. But yes, nutritional yeast lovers are few and far between.

You have such a great blog, happy I found it!

xo lauren