Welcome To The Holiday Feast

Food!

It's the season for me to write about Christmas (since I don't hide the fact that I'm a Christian).So what goes hand and hand with Christmas? Why Christmas food of course!

I enjoy cooking and baking. I find it relaxing after work. Though not everything I make for the first time turns out okay (last night was a fabulous example that when I failed at a Hungarian Chicken recepe). I have also managed to set myself on fire (it was actually an oven mit and I was okay). But all that doesn't matter because it's the holidays and everything will turn out in the end (or my family will lie to me through their teeth one of the two).

Now there are tons of different traditions for this time of year. Food is one of many. For as many Christmas eves as I can remember, I've always had my Great Aunt's Meatballs and Shrimp Scampi (yeah I know they don't sound like they belong together). Christmas was reserved for steak and occasionally ham. One of my friends' family has apples and pancakes on Christmas Eve (that was yummy). 

See very different.

Though I don't eat sweets often, I'm often amused by the sheer amount of cookies that are baked this time of year. From my mom's chocolate peppermint cookies, her lemon bars, or festive sugar cookies, there are always plenty of cookies to go around (and at least one of each kind for Santa). 

My mom also makes gingerbread at this time of year. I know most people think of gingerbread as a cookie, but she makes an actual bread. It's best right when it comes out of the oven and the butter melts as soon as you spread it on a slice.

There are so many different baked goods. I want them all.

I have a lot of found memories in kitchens (usually I am being chased out by my sister after I stole something yummy). The tastes, the smells, all of them just scream 'It's Christmas time!'. 

So I hope you guys get the opportunity for some holiday cheer along with cookies and hot chocolate. Make sure the Grinch doesn't steal your rare who roast beef and the last can of who hash. I'm going to make dinner now. 

If you enjoyed this post please like, share or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and hope you enjoy reading about my misadventures once a week.

Until next week.

Welcome To The Kitchen

Mom Is No Longer There To Cook For You...

I think my favorite part of my new place is my kitchen. At my college all of the dorms had at least one kitchen (though my freshmen one was the size of a closet and fridge did not even fit in it). The last place I lived was a house on campus called a lodge and I shared it with six other people. It was great, except the kitchen was the size of a closet and we tended to blow the fuse that knocked out all of the power on that side of the lodge at least once a month. It also did not have a dish washer. If people did not do their dishes, they sat in the sink. It was tough at times, but totally worth it to have a reduced meal plan and cook some of my own meals.

My new kitchen is a lot bigger and has a dish washer and a garbage disposal (also not featured in the lodge). I love it! I run the dishwasher a few times a week and do hand washing in between. It makes my life a lot easier. I also now have a gas stove. I grew up with gas in the kitchen instead of electric, but in college all they had was electric. I defiantly prefer gas stoves. I also do not have to worry about someone drunk baking in the middle of the night and setting off the fire alarms (this happened multiple times in one of my dorms).

A fun fact about my kitchen, I currently do not own a microwave. I’ve learned to live without one, but at first I was a little skeptical about not having one. However a stove, toaster oven and hot water maker have, so far, been good substitutes. I eat a lot of frozen vegetables and it’s easy to just heat them up on the stove and add spices to them. I also have a crock pot. I think every kitchen should have at least one crock pot. I have a great three bean chili recipe that is really easy and has leftovers for almost a week that I make in it. I would also like to give a shout out to one of my aunts who sent me a magic bullet. I can make smoothies whenever it suites my fancy.

I love food. I enjoy finding simple recipes and making them my own with a few changes. I have a number of meals that I have found online and in cookbooks that I have changed to make them either more affordable or spicier (I love spicy foods, but have learned the hard way that I need to be careful how much spice I add). A few things that I almost always have lying around my kitchen:

·         Peanut Butter – Spicy peanut noodles, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, apples and peanut butter and many other peanut butter related foods are a main staple in my diet. I love peanut butter. I feel bad for people who cannot have it because of allergies or other health reasons because it is so good.

·         Soy Sauce – I eat a lot of Asian food, I grew up with it. It can add great flavor.

·         Sesame Oil – See Soy Sauce.

·         Cayenne Pepper – or other spicy flavoring. I love spicy foods and cayenne pepper can add a little kick to any ordinary meal.

·         Frozen Vegetables – They are super easy to add to any meal. I tend to add whatever I find in the freezer to pasta, noodle dishes and most crock pot recipes.

·         Onions – I love onions, don’t know why, but I do.

·         Frozen fruit – I can’t eat ice cream and fresh fruit can go back quickly. Frozen fruit allows for smoothies and a quick dessert.

·         Carrots – They last forever in the fridge, end of story.

·         Frozen Snacks, Pizzas, and Meals – Although not always healthy sometimes it is just too hard or I am motivated to make my own food. Thus to make my life easier I have a few frozen treats in the freezer. Just add the veggies and wham food!

Cooking is a lot of fun and I will probably write about it quite a bit. If anyone has any suggestions about simple recipes let me know. Now I’m going to go eat my chicken curry with toast.