Still in the kitchen

Even though I don't blog about it daily, I'm still actively trying to improve my culinary skills and repertoire. Every weekend I flip through my recipe books from the library and put between one and three new recipes on the menu for the week. Then, during naptime on Saturday, while Noah is home watching the kids, I go grocery shopping. This entails a trip to at least two of the following: Safeway for canned or boxed items (which are overpriced at Whole Foods), a trip to Whole Foods for fresh & organic stuff (which are overpriced at Safeway), QFC for the samples (overpriced on everything), and a local farmers markets to make myself feel like I'm a tree-hugging, squirrel-kissing local.

Despite my efforts this week and a hold-your-breath... FOUR new recipes this week, nothing has been really outstanding. Saturday's pizza was tasty, but the dough was not as good as it had been last time. Sunday's balsamic pasta with broccoli & caramelized onions was bland. Monday's Orange-ginger chicken needed about three times as much ginger. Tuesday's teriyaki mushroom burgers were too strong, though I did make my own teriyaki - I'll never buy that sauce from an overpriced jar again. And, tonight's coconut lime curry had too much lime and not enough curry. Tomorrow is ham soup and although good, I never go into that endeavor thinking it's going to be my meal of the week. So, Friday's sicilian pasta better be the come-from-behind victory meal. The recipe I have is from the book "The 50 best recipes from the 50 best chefs in NYC." So, it better be good. Of course I never follow the recipes exactly, perhaps that is one of my problems. I've never blanched tomatoes before, but hopefully this Friday, the fresh tomatoes will really make my sauce stand out. And, at $4 a pound for tomatoes (I must have been hungry since I bought them at QFC and I never realized how heavy tomatoes are), I might go into a deep depression if it's lousy. Fortunately, on Saturday, my frosted Valentine heart-shaped cutout cookies will undoubtedly bring me out of that depression. At least I can bake. I've been baking ever since I can remember and I'm pretty good at it. The more complex the recipe, the better. My biscotti take three days to make, but they are really the best. Multi-layer cakes, cookies, meringues, mousse, bars, brownies, sauces, souffles, cupcakes (since their so fashionable lately), etc. You name it, I can bake it. Lately, I've become so bored with cake recipes that I just make my up my own now. Martha Stewart: I'll take you on any day when it comes to baking. Besides, do you really think your viewers believe you make all that stuff yourself? Wrong. You probably couldn't find a single pastry blender in any of your five mansions. Nevertheless, I still subscribe to your magazine and am considering making your gluten-free chocolate cake.

Since I didn't take any photos today, here's one of me from last summer watching the sun set on a Greek Island. This was really the life I was supposed to live. Photo credit: P.S. Benkowski