Tag Archive | food

Artichokes, Hollandaise Sauce, and Fondue

Sep22

I have been really excited to try out Julia Child’s recipe for artichokes and hollandaise sauce. I have never made hollandaise sauce from scratch before, I had only ever used a packet from the store. I will never every buy a packet that says it makes hollandaise sauce. Making from scratch is the way to go and it is ever so tasty. Really I have no idea what I was thinking when I used that packet, why had I not tried to make it, truthfully I think I was afraid I would mess it up and that I thought it would take forever to make. Reality it was quick and simple. Artichokes were only ever purchased in jars for salads. I really wanted to try making them. So they too were a purchase from Trader Joe’s, a nice 4 pack and looked really lovely. Boiled them like Julia suggested and they turned out great with one exception. The artichokes I picked were not very big so there was not very meaty. So next time bigger artichokes and not the baby ones. Which is good so now I learned this wonderful lesson of not to be afraid to try something new in the kitchen even.

I also made Swiss fondue to accompany our artichokes.  I love fondue, you might say I am an addict. While I know it’s not something I can have every week, I do so look forward to making it.  In my pictures you can see my latest fondue pot from Le Creuset. Currently I have five different fondue pots that I have acquired over the years. Which I love pulling out at holiday parties and special occasions. It is also one of my Mom’s favorite things to have when she visits. Friends and neighbors say they enjoy coming over for enjoy it at the parties as well. I think the draw is that it’s fun and unusual.

 

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Into the Kitchen and Finally Cooking

Sep20

Typical luck would be that I get all set up to cook and then something happens. Realizing this is what real life is like for most. The thing we intend to do is not always what we end up doing. Two weeks ago I was ready to cook after dropping my daughter off at college. I had spent the day shopping at Trader Joe’s and Kroger. Then the following day I spent with a dear friend. We went for our morning walk, then went shopping for the day. Her air conditioner was out at home and I thought that perhaps a trip to the Mall, lunch and check out the new Sprouts grocery store were in order to keep cool. We had a lovely day and Sprouts was so overwhelming. Unfortunately that evening she got sick and I ended up taking her to the hospital. So while she was there I spent the rest of the week spending time with her at the hospital. Thankfully she got to come home but that meant I did not cook until Friday of that week. This past week I have been playing catch up around the house. Of course I am in the middle of my Fall Cleaning, that by no means is done overnight. I like to deep clean in the fall before I put up all my holiday decorations out. Now I am finally back into the kitchen and cooking again. I have a lot to post and there will be several post over the next couple of days as I catch up. Also look for my cookbook reviews post as well. I have been working on several new updates to the site and now how direct domain name registered for the site. You can now just go to www.Journeyinfood.com to get to me. Yeah! I have also ordered business cards with my name and web address because I found out that several people were wanting cards after talking to them. Yes I have been a very busy girl.

Back Into the Kitchen I Go

Sep8

Wow, I have not been on my blog in a while. I have to admit that this summer got away from me and this took a back seat. My daughter is now in college and settling in nicely, which now lends to more time for my cooking pursuit. So up this week I will blog several new recipes. Today I was at Trader Joe’s and bought artichokes. While I have never cooked them before, Julia Child has a recipe I have been wanting to try. Also because it is going into fall I will be attempting some new bread recipes. Have made a few loaves but never anything I can really say has stuck out in my mind as fantastic. So look for several blogs this week on all the new stuff I will be trying.

Shrimp Scampi & Compound Butter

Jun9

This week I made compound butter from the fresh herbs I collected in the garden. It was extremely easy to make. I took softened unsalted butter and combined with the herbs. The first was tarragon with salt and pepper. The second was chives, parsley, and rosemary. Simply softened the butter on the counter, chopped up the herbs and mix. I added salt and pepper to taste. Spread onto wax paper and refrigerated. Have used the butter on wonderful bread from the bakery as well as cooked vegetables. Very tasty.

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Another night I made the Shrimp Scampi. It was Red Lobster’s copycat recipe. Super easy and quick. I used Cupcake Vineyard’s Angel Food wine for it. It’s nice and light tasting. Steamed up some broccoli to pair with it and served over angel hair pasta. The bread of course I used the compound butter. Again a hit with the family. Now I have made Shrimp Scampi before, but had not tried this recipe. This was first time I felt the sauce turned out well.

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A crazy couple of weeks

Jun7

So these last couple of weeks have been crazy and I had been meaning to post on here, but transferring pictures seemed like an issue from iPhone to iPad and then to WordPress. Today I had the 4th update on the iPad and looks like everything is back to working again.

May 22nd, 2014 was a Roasted Pork Tenderloin. Before I had only made in crock pot. On a friends recommendation I took the tenderloin, covered in olive oil and the wrapped fresh rosemary. It turned out rather nice. I served it with boiled potatoes with fresh parsley. Also fresh cut tomatoes with a tad of sour cream and chives. This was my quick simple dinner I made the night my daughter graduated high school.

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Last week in May the family was all sick so I didn’t try anything new. Knowing their taste buds were off and not feeling all that adventurous. My garden however is growing well and seems to be flourishing.

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Cook book addiction

Apr23

Yes, I have a cook book addiction. Well a book addiction for certain. It’s extremely hard for me to walk out of a bookstore without having something in hand. Today I went into the Jo Ann Fabrics to get fabric for a sewing project. Because it’s 24 miles away, I had to look around the whole store. What happens, I leave with 5 new cookbooks. Two of them I know my daughter will manage to take off to college with her come fall. One I couldn’t resist because I am a huge fan. The second one was because I like to bake. The third was because my Mother in Law gave me a mini doughnut maker for a gift a year ago and I have only used it once. Now I’d probably had used the doughnut maker more if I had more than recipe for it, hence the new book. When it comes to cookbooks, I am like a kid In the candy store and I want them all. Can you guess which books the daughter will take?

I am still contemplating my new recipe for the week, perhaps it will come from one of these new books. I can’t say for certain as I also love kitchen gadgets as well and have a tagine I have not used yet. So it really could be anything. My husband talked about going out to dinner on Friday, but I am thinking I might like to surprise him with something new that I have made.

For those who wondered what recipe I used for the Coq au Vin, it was Julia’s of course.

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