(My first bell pepper, cored. In the background, Techniques and Recipes for
Vegetables & Salads. Books with pictures rock.)
When I was young (and clueless) I had a freak accident in the kitchen. After that, I think people at home kind of freaked out whenever I went in the kitchen (truth be told, I got a bit freaked out myself). So while my sister went to the palengke to choose from slabs of meat and piles of fish, you couldn't even get me to mix ground beef or cut an onion. (Well, I had my contact lenses as an excuse; but deep down I just really didn't feel like it.)
Twenty-four years--and many, many boxes of cereal--later, I have dubbed 2009 as The Year of the Cook. For about a week now, I have been cooking for the housemates, armed with my trusty Betty Crocker cookbook and our two-week menu plan. Every once in a while I find myself rushing to the laptop, Googling stuff like "How to prepare snap peas" and "Easy Alfredo sauce recipe." Sometimes I stand in front of a vegetable and wonder if I just peeled it or killed it. Most of the time I stand in front of something cooking, impatient as hell, then hear my housemates behind me: "You don't have to watch it."
Lessons learned:
American cookbooks lie.
Four servings my foot. Last night I made enough Pasta Primavera to feed an army.
I am not yet ready for Rice Cooker Magic.
The force is strong in my housemates. They can cook ANYTHING in a rice cooker: pasta sauces, noodle bowls, etc. Padawan pa lang ang lola mo. Stick to the oven toaster and the electric pan.
I am not yet ready to be a Singing Cook.
My default playlist for mise en place and beyond is my "Klasik" playlist, which includes tracks from The Piano, The Last of the Mohicans, The End of the Affair, The Red Violin, and Les Miserables. No jumping to the beat of the Bangles, Van Halen, or even Tori. Hindi pa kaya ng utak ko.
I shall not fear salt and pepper.
I thought I already understood the phrase "add some spice to your life," but I think it became even more...palpable...after a few rounds with the pepper grinder. And while I completely agree with The Kitchen King's advice (Hail to the Chef!)--"It's better to underseason than to overseason"--I'm going to try to, ahem, live dangerously.
I love the smell of potatoes.
...Or maybe that's just the wanna-be Irish in me. Pero hindi, eh. They smell like the earth, but in a wonderful way.
Twenty-four years--and many, many boxes of cereal--later, I have dubbed 2009 as The Year of the Cook. For about a week now, I have been cooking for the housemates, armed with my trusty Betty Crocker cookbook and our two-week menu plan. Every once in a while I find myself rushing to the laptop, Googling stuff like "How to prepare snap peas" and "Easy Alfredo sauce recipe." Sometimes I stand in front of a vegetable and wonder if I just peeled it or killed it. Most of the time I stand in front of something cooking, impatient as hell, then hear my housemates behind me: "You don't have to watch it."
Lessons learned:
American cookbooks lie.
Four servings my foot. Last night I made enough Pasta Primavera to feed an army.
I am not yet ready for Rice Cooker Magic.
The force is strong in my housemates. They can cook ANYTHING in a rice cooker: pasta sauces, noodle bowls, etc. Padawan pa lang ang lola mo. Stick to the oven toaster and the electric pan.
I am not yet ready to be a Singing Cook.
My default playlist for mise en place and beyond is my "Klasik" playlist, which includes tracks from The Piano, The Last of the Mohicans, The End of the Affair, The Red Violin, and Les Miserables. No jumping to the beat of the Bangles, Van Halen, or even Tori. Hindi pa kaya ng utak ko.
I shall not fear salt and pepper.
I thought I already understood the phrase "add some spice to your life," but I think it became even more...palpable...after a few rounds with the pepper grinder. And while I completely agree with The Kitchen King's advice (Hail to the Chef!)--"It's better to underseason than to overseason"--I'm going to try to, ahem, live dangerously.
I love the smell of potatoes.
...Or maybe that's just the wanna-be Irish in me. Pero hindi, eh. They smell like the earth, but in a wonderful way.
4 comments:
I shall not fear salt and pepper.
In that case, do you know the potato remedy for oversalting? Just drop chunks of peeled potato in there and it'll absorb the salt.
I once overdid it kasi with iodized salt (too easy to overdo it with iodized salt) in adobong pusit. Eh wala pang internet at Food Network noon, tuloy I just watered it down. :( Not effective.
Slaybelle--I've read about that, but I've never had the chance to try it. My problem is I put too little salt and pepper! Hihihi. So I always put them on the table when we sit down to eat :)
How are you?
"You don't have to watch it."
I think that tip should go in THE COOKBOOK. Do you want to ask editing or should I? hahaha. ;) Good job, Camille. I'm still waiting for my homecooked meal invitation...
Janine, you evil, evil child ;P
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