Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Saturday, January 2, 2010
What's for dinner?
Today I meet a couple of girlfriends at the mall for lunch. My plan had been to get home at a sensible hour, but you know what they say about the best laid plans, right? Well, life set in and I found myself getting home at 6:30 p.m. My husband asks, "What's for dinner?" and I reply back sarcastically, "Food." The Barefoot Contessa's Company Pot Roast that I was planning on making is now getting pushed over to Sunday. I hate that, but I also want to eat before midnight. So what to fix. I live in Atlanta and we are having REALLY cold weather, and I was so looking forward to cranking up the over and filling the house with the warm smells of comfort food, so what now. If we end up going out in the 24 degree weather, we will probably end up eating …
PIZZA!
It is my favorite standby, and so easy to make. Our local supermarket, Publix, sells pizza dough balls in the bakery. In a flash, Dan, my husband, was off to grab one. I love pizza because there are no rules with pizza - anything goes! I opened the fridge and grabbed some sausages and started to fry them up, and then went to the pantry to find some mixed wild mushroom. I had some tomatoes, fresh basil and fresh mozzarella balls to top it off. To really kick the pizza up to gourmet, I the tomatoes in half and removed the seeds. I set them on a cookie tray lines with parchment and then drizzled them with extra virgin olive oil and some balsamic vinegar. Since the oven was pre-heating to 450 degrees, I sprinkled the tomatoes with salt, pepper, fresh garlic, thyme and sugar and let them roast with I was getting the rest of the pizza ready. I assembled the rest of the pizza and the laid the roasted tomatoes on top. Pizza in the oven and twenty minutes later, we are have gourmet pizza in our home theater with a movie. So, Saturday night was saved and we didn’t eat out!
PIZZA!
It is my favorite standby, and so easy to make. Our local supermarket, Publix, sells pizza dough balls in the bakery. In a flash, Dan, my husband, was off to grab one. I love pizza because there are no rules with pizza - anything goes! I opened the fridge and grabbed some sausages and started to fry them up, and then went to the pantry to find some mixed wild mushroom. I had some tomatoes, fresh basil and fresh mozzarella balls to top it off. To really kick the pizza up to gourmet, I the tomatoes in half and removed the seeds. I set them on a cookie tray lines with parchment and then drizzled them with extra virgin olive oil and some balsamic vinegar. Since the oven was pre-heating to 450 degrees, I sprinkled the tomatoes with salt, pepper, fresh garlic, thyme and sugar and let them roast with I was getting the rest of the pizza ready. I assembled the rest of the pizza and the laid the roasted tomatoes on top. Pizza in the oven and twenty minutes later, we are have gourmet pizza in our home theater with a movie. So, Saturday night was saved and we didn’t eat out!
Thursday, December 31, 2009
New Year Resolution - Cooking 101
Where do the good cooks come from? Do the Tyler Florences’ and Bobby Flays’ of the world just spring out of the womb with amazing dishes just waiting to dazzle us? I love Ida Garten and Julia Child, maybe because they have roots in government and didn't learn to really cook until later in life - I turned 40 this year and I am an academic, turned photographer and foodie when I decided to stay home to raise my two children. I decided that this year I would turn my interest homeward as the Great Recession put a damper on eating out. My husband and I love to eat and eat well. I don't consider myself a good cook. I do a decent job getting food on the table when I have to, but it is nothing to shout about. So, with two children in tow, we eat out - a lot.
In soul searching what I wanted meals at our home to be, I discovered that I not only wanted to learn to cook meals that would bring my family to the table, I wanted to create something more, a place and ambiance that was relaxed and simply comfortable. Something that gave us the feel of so many of the Bistros we love. I started looking at decorating, and music to help create what I was going for and decided to start keeping this blog a a journal to chronicle my adventures in learning how to cook, create, and just be at home. A simple home with a comfortable table.
In soul searching what I wanted meals at our home to be, I discovered that I not only wanted to learn to cook meals that would bring my family to the table, I wanted to create something more, a place and ambiance that was relaxed and simply comfortable. Something that gave us the feel of so many of the Bistros we love. I started looking at decorating, and music to help create what I was going for and decided to start keeping this blog a a journal to chronicle my adventures in learning how to cook, create, and just be at home. A simple home with a comfortable table.
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