My new friend, Terri, decided to surprise me with an invite to head out with her and a friend to the Chinese Garden in Portland OR. I love surprise outings. Because I’m a hermit and don’t do well with other people at times, I thought about not going. Then I also thought about my recent… Read more
Tea
Sometimes through life to tend to give up things for a big reason (example, smoking will kill me) or for no reason at all. I gave up soda about 2 years ago. I really wanted to cut down on my caffeine intake as well as I knew that drinking all that Diet Coke with its… Read more
New Directions in Life
Lately life has been really scattered for me. I’ve been very annoyed with the job, myself, my body, my relationships… Just everything seems to be annoying to me. It could also be the hormones. For so long I’ve been taking the “easy” path of just doing a job that I happen to be good at… Read more
Trying New Things – Cherries
As a child, I was a picky eater. I can tell you right now that statement is an understatement. A huge, massive, epic understatement. And I know most kids go through stages when they wouldn’t eat things because… they’re kids and just don’t. But man, I was a pain in the ass. Seriously. I think… Read more
Pavlova
I had never heard of a Pavlova before I saw it being made a while ago on Ina Garten’s TV show. It looked neat but didn’t really appeal to what I “thought” I wanted in a dessert. The time passed and I wanted to make a splash at a friends party with something light, berry,… Read more
Fireworks And Adoption
I was invited to my coworkers place yesterday for a BBQ lunch. It was pretty awesome. She has mad skills in the kitchen and makes me feel like I can’t boil water. But they do appreciate the baking aspect of my kitchen life. I’ve known my coworker for about 3 months and at first I… Read more
New Days, Good Times
Even though I haven’t been active in writing, life has been very active both in and out of the kitchen. Between getting sick (what is my deal with always getting the evil-alien-death-flu?), cooking failures, marriage and the economy… Just trying to survive can be enough of a challenge without adding writing to it. Life has… Read more
Have I Lost My Cooking Powers?
I’ve had a rough time lately, but it’s not just one thing. The economy sucks, stress sucks, a lot of things suck. I’ve had a lot of “things” recently in my life that have seemed to just throw me out of balance. Sadly it’s also given me cooking block. I’m used to writers block or… Read more
Oven Safe Cooling Rack
This has to be one of those things that I can’t really believe I’ve ever lived without. Its a cooling rack that is oven safe. Awesome. Using this I can make chicken parmesan without having the bottom get soggy, let the fat drain off of a meatloaf, or make some pretty awesome bacon. Meatloaf can… Read more
Simple Bread Pudding
I’m not normally the type of person to really enjoy eating puddings or a custard. Yogurt is even a stretch for me sometimes. Mouth texture is a huge thing for me with eating, crunchy I can do but soft and custard-ish or gooey really doesn’t do it for me. So why in the world is… Read more