by
jillbcooks 8/30/2009 8:12:00 PM
I happen to hate creamed corn. I was not at all excited when I accidentally opened a can. Thinking I grabbed a can of kernel corn from the cabinet, I didn’t hesitate to open it to use on a taco salad I was making for dinner. Blech. It occurred to me to toss it down the disposal, but that kind of waste is really unconscionable. So, I started to think about how I could put this incidental creamed corn to use.
The first thought that popped in my mind was to make corn chowder. I do love chowder of just about any variety, and if you read my blog with any regularity, you know that I am on an evaporated milk kick—the perfect ingredien...
[Keep Reading]
Tags:
soup, Corn chowder, Betty Crocker Au Gratin Potatoes
by
jillbcooks 8/25/2009 6:02:00 PM
I used to live in a condo with a refrigerator that needed to be shimmed so that it was level enough for the door to close. If you happened to slam the door too hard, the shims would slide out and the door wouldn’t close. If I was in a hurry, I’d take a kitchen chair and prop the door closed. We never got around to upgrading the fridge until we listed the condo with a real estate agent. If only there had been some incentive.
Got a complaint about your current kitchen appliances? Dishwasher leaks? Freezer gets iced over? Recovery Act legislation might make now the time to buy. To further stimulate the economy, the ...
[Keep Reading]
Tags:
sandwiches, cash for clunkers, appliances
by
jillbcooks 8/21/2009 9:16:00 AM
Ok, so I love baked potato soup. There is a restaurant which serves it and I get it every time I go there (which is fairly often, because I love the soup). Good baked potato soup is a bit rich, so I decided to try to make a lighter version at home—a good way to save calories, fat and pennies.
I knew that I needed an ingredient to make the soup creamy—butter, sour cream, cream and milk are all the usual candidates. Soup can also be built off béchamel sauce, basically butter and flour cooked together with milk whisked in. Any of these choices would impart higher calorie and fat content than I wanted in my soup. After a bit of rec...
[Keep Reading]
Tags:
baked potato soup, evaporated milk, fiery fettuccine
by
jillbcooks 8/19/2009 9:59:00 AM
My older sister is probably the greatest mom I know. She has two beautiful kids, who are, incidentally, the best nieces in the world! I marvel at the amount of work it takes to care for wee ones. I can see how it could become an all consuming job. My sis has the wise sense to declare a kid-free zone for important mommy relaxation time: bunco night.
In case you aren’t familiar with bunco, it is a parlor game that has ...
[Keep Reading]
Tags:
party, retro desserts, Bunco, retro housewife theme
by
jillbcooks 8/16/2009 8:44:00 PM
Sometimes the best antidote to a terrible day is doing something nice for someone else. I have been at a conference all week, and even though it is relevant to the work I do, there are a million places I’d rather be than stuck in a chair listening to someone talk for eight solid hours. My to-do list is a million miles long and I could feel a migraine kicking up about halfway through the day today.
The drive home from where the conference is being held should be about 20 minutes. It took about 45 minutes today because of construction, and I heard reports on the radio that the opposite side of the metro area was getting downpours that were moving my direction....
[Keep Reading]
Tags:
lemonade stand, lemonade biscotti
by
jillbcooks 8/11/2009 8:30:00 PM
I couple weeks back, I wrote a blog in response to a conversation happening in the online discussion boards. A regular discussion board member mentioned that she was undertaking a dinner party for several guests and wanted suggestions about food and wine. My first post gave suggestions about how to synchronize a dinner party of that magnitude. Today’s post tackles the other subject, selecting wines.
Wine can be intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be. When it comes to wine, all the old “rules” have really gone to ...
[Keep Reading]
Tags:
entertaining, Italian food, wine pairing
by
jillbcooks 8/6/2009 5:06:00 PM
So, yesterday was my birthday—my sixth annual 29th birthday. My younger sister Liz likes to put together birthday boxes with a card, treats and prezzies. She is top-notch at creating the perfect birthday box—always color coordinated, always with lots of cute touches like Post-Its with notes, and (when she sends them to me at least) always with kettle corn, which acts as delicious, sustainable packing peanuts. I was delighted to dig into the box, which had lots of great presents, including super cute retro dish towels and the Julie & Julia novel. Does she know me or what?...
[Keep Reading]
Tags:
treats, kettle corn, birthdays, popcorn
by
jillbcooks 8/4/2009 4:27:00 PM
There is a great conversation going in the Healthy Cooking and Eating Message Board about cooking for large groups, like REALLY large groups like 100-300 people at one time. It is a challenge for caterers to do this successfully, and it is an even more daunting task for a home cook.
Here’s the challenge. Recipes need to be:
easy
healthy
economical
appealing to a wide group of people
prepared in a small space
completed with limited equipment (roasters and small ovens)
The first idea that comes to mind is cooking...
[Keep Reading]
Tags:
Jill Bloomfield, cooking large groups, budget, economical, church dinner