Life is either a daring adventure or nothing

I know, I know..

I haven’t been posting but I did say that this would happen with school coming along. For those of you who are following, I just wanted to post that I will hopefully get to posting about the meals I cooked since I last posted.

However, I will inform you, doing school and this cooking project at the same time has been a challenge. I decided last week around Wednesday that I wouldn’t be able to do them at the same time anymore. I am now going to try to dedicate the weekend to making recipes because I don’t want to stop all together because its my goal to cook for an entire year, obviously I can’t do it every day anymore It really makes me sad that I have to slow down, but it’s cook or my grades. The time I spend cooking is a lot of time I could be doing studying especially since I’m working and taking upper-level math and science courses. Gah, I just was hoping I’d be able to handle it.

But yes, I have a ton of food that I got for the last week of cooking that I haven’t even managed to make yet… so I will be able to make those. Look forward to some updates coming this weekend. I am hoping to get a couple of hours where I can sit and update about my life and the cooking project in more depth than this.

Hope all is well. Wish me luck.

-Michelle

Life’s Little Challenges

A lot of things have happened this past week or so. I was doing really well keeping myself on track with the cooking project then the weekend rolled around. Unfortunately it came with a handful of emotions and heartbreak for my husband’s family. His uncle passed away suddenly so we have spent the last 4 days spending time down in Olympia. With that, I have managed to get behind on 4 days worth of recipes. However I did manage to redo the “Larded Potatoes” for his family and they turned out even better than the first time. I think because the chicken broth was a lot more concentrated and we stuffed the potatoes with an immense amount of bacon. I didn’t manage to take any photos of this dinner though. Then Jessica made corn covered in butter, yumm! And Frankie, he BBQ’d steaks.

For the week before all this I made recipes called “Sauce Supreme” from 1940, “Devil’s Food Cake” from 1947, “Honey Spice Cookies” from 1948, and “Old South Buttermilk Biscuits” from 1949. I missed a recipe last friday because Frankie and I ended up going to get my hair cut randomly then we went out to dinner so by the time we headed home it was probably 12 am or later. The hardest thing about this project is not the cooking, hands down. The hardest part is trying to make sure I cook something every single day. I’m almost 3 months down and how many days have I missed ? Too many. Now with school starting, I am hoping it doesn’t get worse. Definitely going to try my hardest.

For the “Sauce Supreme” that I made all I can really say is avoid any salt. Hesser said that the most distinguishing ingredient was going to be the salt, but I personally believe that it ruined the taste of it. This sauce is best with any dessert but back in the 1940′s it was primarily served with blueberry waffles. It consisted of ingredients like eggs, light brown sugar, heavy cream, rum and of course, salt. To make the sauce I had to beat the egg yolks with the brown sugar, beat the egg whites until they held stiff peaks and do the same with the heavy cream, all separately. Once that was done, I added the egg whites to the yolks then folded in the heavy cream and rum. Then I put the sauce in the fridge to chill. Frankie and I made regular pancakes to eat the sauce with. I will say that I was not a fan of this recipe primarily because of the strong rum and salt taste. Maybe if the salt wasn’t so strong I would have appreciated it more. This recipe was definitely down my alley in the preparation sense of things – beating ingredients until fluffy and holding peaks.

The next recipe, “Devil’s Food Cake“, I actually didn’t get to taste until the next day after baking. I hadn’t made a cake yet so I thought this one would be a fun one to make, especially for Frankie because he is a chocolate fanatic. This recipe definitely took some work though. For the cake portion I mixed together cake flour, baking soda, salt, butter, brown sugar, eggs, unsweetened chocolate, milk, and vanilla. Of course not all at once, but those would be the ingredients the cake was made out of. While mixing these ingredients together, I had to follow a specific technique. I guess I didn’t have to follow it, but I thought it would be fun to see how it turned out (plus apparently in the olden days, women didn’t need to work out. They kept their weight off by coking and cleaning house so I wanted a taste of it). So, I began by sifting together the dry ingredients. Then I beat the butter in a large bowl with a wooden spoon. Then I added a little bit of sugar, about 4 separate additions. In between each the recipe said to beat in the sugar with 50 strokes. I repeated that until all the sugar was mixed in. I then added the eggs and the chocolate. Next I stirred in the milk and dry mixture, alternately between the two until all of it was nicely mixed in. Lastly, I added the vanilla and beat one last time with 50 strokes. Then it was oven time. Hesser said the cake would take about 20 minutes; mine took probably 35 minutes, most likely due to the smaller pan that I was using. I ended up using like a 9X4 bread pan, so it was a bit thicker than the cake pan the recipe called for.  While the cake was baking, I started on the frosting portion. Let me say this, I suck at all things frosting. This frosting was fun to make because it was home-made, but when it comes to putting it onto the cake I had the same experience as I do with pre made frosting from the store — FAIL. So first off, to make this lemon frosting I started out by grating an entire lemon, than using the juice of the lemon for extra flavor. In another bowl I mixed together cream cheese and butter. Once that became fluffy I added heavy cream and the lemon zest/juice. Then in three separate additions I added about 1 cup of confectioners’ sugar. I forgot to sift the sugar so it kind of ended up a little chunky at first, but I managed to smooth out the frosting before I placed it into the fridge to thicken up a bit. I pulled the cake out of the oven and let it cool over night. The next day I attempted frosting the cake. I think I should have YouTube’d this technique because I don’t think pouring a little frosting on top and trying to spread it didn’t work out so well. The frosting ended up going over the sides of the cake and not smoothing nicely. It picked up chunks of the cake as I tried to smooth it with my spatula and it didn’t stick very well either. The sticking part, that comes down to the way I made it I’m sure. The frosting wasn’t thick enough or sticky enough to be put on to the cake. It just… held no texture. I don’t even know how to describe it, that’s how bad it was.  Once I gave up with that, I cut myself a nice slice and went eating away. Yes this was at 9 or so in the morning, who cares The cake, good. The frosting, overwhelming. I wish I would have just forgotten about the frosting because it honestly ruined the chocolate portion. I don’t even think I could taste the chocolate like I would like for a “Devil’s Food Cake.” In addition, I imagine a Devil’s food cake to be moist and luxurious, this was not. It was a bit dry even for using cake flour and it was far from luxurious. I’m thinking this one might be a redo, with a Betty Crocker pre made cake! haha just kidding, but at least that tastes better!

Okay, for the last two recipes, “Honey Spice Cookies” and “Old South Buttermilk Biscuits“, I had fun making because they let me create a mess but I hated having to clean up after it. By the way, I picked all these recipes because I had the ingredients for them. I think there are actually a few more interesting recipes I’m hoping to get to once we go grocery shopping. The cookies were very odd. They had ingredients like four, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and allspice. So they were a very fall-tasting type of cookie. Then of course, the cookie had honey in it also. The preparation was pretty basic. Mix the ingredients, let chill for an hour in the fridge (I did the freezer) and roll out onto a floured surface and cut. Hesser said that when she was making these the taste without any toppings was “eh, alright”, but then she said she added salt on some and sugar on the others and the cookies were much better. I avoided the salt but did the sugar. I also tried some plain and I agree, very “eh, alright.” The cookies go well with coffee. They are nice and crisp on the outside but have a soft, fluffy center like cookies should have. I was pleased for the most part. This is definitely a cookie to make for adults who like their coffee or tea. Adults who read full newspapers as they eat their breakfast in the morning.

The biscuits were also another fun messy project. While waiting for Chelsey and Lacey to head up for a girls night, which was way past due, I started on this recipe. I was really looking forward to the outcome. I love fluffy, from the south-tasting biscuits. However, mine didn’t turn out quite like that. Once again, I mixed together all the dry ingredients of flour and such things then I added a substitute virgin of buttermilk. To do this I added vinegar to whole milk and let it sit for 5 minutes. I remember do this before for another recipe but it had never curdled. This time, the milk curdled and I was pleased to see that it had. Once everything was mixed together and starting to ball up, I kneaded the dough for about 30 seconds and rolled it out onto a floured surface. The dough was very sticky so I probably ended up adding too much flour over the course of rolling it out and cutting out little rounds for the biscuits but I didn’t think it affected the taste too much. The one thing I didn’t have was a biscuit cutter, or cookie cutters for that matter. Reminder: add that to list of gadgets needed! haha Anyway, yes, so I used a plastic cup and the rounds turned out just as good as they would have with a cutter. I made about 12 biscuits and placed them in the oven for 12 minutes exactly. I should have pulled them out a little sooner than 12 minutes but they didn’t over cook, they just turned out more brown than I wanted. And because I let them cook that long, they were a little hard. I think I had two biscuits though while sitting around talking to Chels and Lace as they got here. I would make these again, but definitely pay a little more attention.

The difficulty level of these past few recipes wasn’t out of my league. I love learning new tricks or different substitutes (even though we all know the real thing always makes it better!). By the way, school starts tomorrow. Who is excited? … Not this girl. Haha. Well, I need to flip through the recipe book to make a list of ingredients for this coming week! I need to make up the days I missed so expect a few easy ones in there! Wish me luck.

–Michelle

ps: pictures to come

Fact: 1921 – Wonder Bread begins to be made by Taggart Baking Company in Indianapolis.

Aim to Acheive

Like I promised I’m here updating the rest of last weeks recipes. I actually have not decided what I’m going to make today but I will decide that after I’m done. Today was a pretty good day. I’m not really one to brag about myself or announce to the world about events that happen to me but today I started the job down at Morningside Academy. I am an administrative assistant and I absolutely love the school I am working for. The kids are awesome and the environment is exactly one I was searching for. Today I went out to recess with the kids and the girls got me to double-dutch, which I haven’t done since 5th grade. At first it was an epic fail but then after a while a few girls and I were in the ropes together. I had such a blast! I am definitely looking forward to making a permanent position out of this job while I’m stuck in school for the next 5 years, if I maintain work-study anyway.

Anyway, on to the food. on the 7th of september I made “Eggs Eli” from 1909. This recipe is just scrambled eggs with a twist. I took one clove of garlic and tried spreading it on the frying pan like the directions said. This was not working so I decided to cut up the garlic and just let it fry. In a bowl, I beat together 4 eggs. Next I cut up a few pieces of ham from a deli. Then I added this ham to the eggs and poured the mixture into the frying pan. It’s interesting to think that such a simple combination of foods that is cooked quite often together nowadays was put together in the early 1900′s. It’s a super simple recipe. The only thing I didn’t add was the anchovy paste because I despise of it. I did however put some grated cheese on top of the eggs along with salt and pepper. I love eggs. They are delicious no matter which way they are cooked.

The next day I made “Bacon Potato Puffs” from 1949. This was a challenging recipe for a change. The title might seem confusing but it’s a recipe where the result is baked stuffed potatoes with bacon. Yum. The very first thing that I needed to do was bake the potatoes. I copped out a little bit and did this in the microwave. My reasoning: its been incredibly hot these past few days (minus the last two) and I didn’t feel like heating the apartment up anymore than it already was. I believe I had the potatoes in the oven for about 15 minutes before I took them out. Then I attempted to scoop the innards out. The first potato I tried this on was a complete fail. The skins totally ripped on me and the potato fell apart. Hesser said this would be the trickiest part. For the other potatoes I decided to wrap them in foil to hold them together as I dug a spoon into them. This method worked out well. Once all the insides of the potatoes was scooped out into a bowl I added bacon drippings, milk, and cooked, chopped up bacon to the potato filling. I whisked that together and spooned the filling back into the gutted potatoes. Then I was forced to preheat the oven to bake the potatoes for real. This only lasted for about 10 minutes before they were brown on the edges and ready for serving. The only thing I hated about this, the potato skins. Gross. I have never liked skins so I knew that was going to be an issue. The filling however… DELICIOUS. I could eat that all on its own. And I learned that baking potatoes is a good way to make mashed potatoes. This recipe, without filling the skins back up for baking, would be an excellent recipe for mashed potatoes.

On the 9th I made “French Potato Salad” from 1953. I messed up with the era on this one. For some reason I thought it was before 1950 but as I was reviewing the meals I had made I realized it wasn’t. Oops. This is an odd recipe. My potato salads have egg and mayonnaise and is creamy. This was weird. Like any kind of potato salad, I boiled potatoes until they were just tender. I could have probably cooked them a little longer but I didn’t want to chance them from getting too mushy. In a bowl, I mixed together vinegar, oil, white wine, and onions. Then I seasoned with salt, pepper and parsley. Once the potatoes were sliced and diced I tossed them in this dressing. This recipe is very refreshing for a summer salad. The vinegar however will throw you off completely. I think I even have leftovers to eat. We have a lot of leftovers.

For the next three days I made “Iced Cocoa” from 1946, “Apple Dumplings” from 1911, and “Cutlets A La Kiev” from 1946. The first recipe is a fancy way of saying chocolate milk. I ended up making my very own chocolate syrup which can be stored in the fridge for up to three months. And it makes some pretty good chocolate milk. We actually have some store-bought chocolate milk and I compared the too. Very good and this recipe was even better. What’s important about this recipe is that you mix the syrup with whole milk or 2%. Trust me, the fat can do some people a little good and everyone deserves a treat. For the cocoa, all I needed to do to make the syrup was mix together unsweetened powdered cocoa. I used Hershey’s brand. sugar, “corn syrup” which I edited, and water. For the corn syrup I used a substitution of sugar and water. It was a lot of sugar to no water however. I am curious to know if the taste would be different with actual corn syrup. This recipe is definitely something I’ll make again because it’s easy and saves on chocolate syrup! The apple dumpling recipe was a different one for me. The recipe said to core and peel two apples. I ended up only using one because the apples I had were very large. Then I cut the apple into quarters and placed them in the bottom of ramekins. In a bowl I made the dough for the dessert. This consisted of flour, baking powder, and whole milk. I was debating one whether or not to use my nice mixer or use the hand-mixer for making the dough. I decided because it wasn’t a large amount I would stick with the little mixer. It was a good choice. The trickiest part about this recipe was spooning the dough on top of the apples in the ramekins. It was really sticky and I had to spread it from edge to edge. I adopted a technique though that seemed to work well for spreading. As I turned the ramekins in a circle I used a spatula to spread out the dough, really making sure to push the dough outward. Then I threw them in the oven to bake for about 20 minutes or until golden brown on top. To serve the dumplings I inverted the ramekins so that they would fall out into a bowl apple-side up. Next I poured heavy cream and sugar over the top. Very good. The dough tasted like biscuits, breakfast biscuits. Frankie said the dough needed more sugar but I thought it tasted really good. I would definitely make this recipe again. It was time-consuming to a point of waiting but for the most part definitely worth it. Then last night I made chicken again. It was such an interesting recipe. First off I had to flatten the chicken to 1/3 of an in. One of the chicken breast practically fell apart but the other one stayed together. I don’t know why that happened but it made the rest of the preparation difficult. To prepare the chicken for the frying pan I rolled butter up in the middle of the chicken then laid them in flour, egg and bread crumbs.I repeated the egg and bread crumbs twice to make sure the chicken was nicely covered in bread crumbs. Next I put them in a pan with olive oil. The outside of the chicken cooked really quickly and I was worried the inside wouldn’t cook so after Frankie seasoned the chicken with garlic salt and cayenne pepper we put them in the oven to make sure the chicken cooked all the way through. For the chicken breast that was falling apart after I flattened it, I was worried it wasn’t going to stick together in the frying pan. While dipping it in the egg and bread crumbs it was unraveling so I’m surprised it stayed nicely rolled up once I got it into the frying pan. The hardest part about this recipe was making sure not to burn the bread crumbs. The last time I cooked anything breaded was with the beef from the 1800′s. The one time I made the smoke alarms go off at 2am in our old apartments. This time, this didn’t happen. I actually had no heaps of smoke come from the frying pan so I must have done something right haha. The chicken, breaded this way, was really good. Definitely need to get seasoned bread crumbs though.

Tonight I gotta plan on what I’m cooking. I really need to start going over calculus too for school. It starts in a week and I’m unprepared, once again. Oh well. Wish me luck.

–Michelle

Fact: 1940′s – broiled steak with oysters and Eisenhower’s steak in the fire revive old-timey concepts.

Adjusting Well

So since we have moved into Seattle life has been pretty good. For the most part we are all settled. Everything is put in its place and I’m almost ready for school to start. Today I finally got a work-study job. I have actually had quite a few interviews. I had my last one with Amara today and decided I would prefer to work with Morningside Academy as a receptionist. They pay good and they give me a free bus pass so that saves me about 300 dollars. I actually start tomorrow so it should an interesting experience riding the metro in seattle in the morning. Im super nervous honestly, but I’ll manage.

This last week or so for cooking I have done really well. After the wine lemonade day, made “Delicate Bread Pudding” from the 1877. Yes I am still doing recipes to make up for the days I missed during the move. This recipe was pretty amusing. I had been making a lot of pudding lately so this one didn’t really taste too different. It called for brioche which is a french pastry but I ended up just using typical french bread because it’s what we had for the other bread pudding. The recipe was pretty easy. I actually got to use my KitchenAid mixer for the first time. Like usual, I just mixed together eggs and sugar. Then I added the warm bread. I had to put them on the stove with milk. The bread actually soaked up all the milk so they didn’t “boil” like they were suppose to. I just let them cook until they were hot. The bread was supposed to crumble into chunks. I think mine ended up a lot mushier than they needed to be. On the side I mixed the eggs whites with salt until they held soft peaks. I have gotten really good at this meringue style of mixing. Not to brag or anything but I’m proud of myself because the first time I did it, it took me FOREVER like probably 40 minutes to get soft peaks to hold. Next I folded in the eggs white mixture with the bread mixture and spooned it all into ramekins. Then placed them in the oven for baking. Hesser said it would take about 35 minutes to cook, I think it really only took 25 minutes or so. While the pudding was in the oven I made the sauce that would be poured on top. The recipe actually called for oranges but I used lemons instead. I pretty much just made a lemon syrup. In a small saucepan I put lemon zest, lemon juice, water and sugar together bringing the mixture to a boil. I boiled it a little longer than 5 minutes because I wanted it to be kind of sticky like maple syrup. Overall the pudding was good. Kind of bland but it wasn’t horrible. I don’t know if I would make these again. It was a messy process with the bread and eggs but relatively easy. Definitely time-consuming however.

In the same day, I also made a recipe from the 1900′s. This one was called “Eggs Suffragette” from 1909. Definitely an interesting spin on deviled eggs. Super easy to do especially if you already know how to make deviled eggs. So for this one I just boiled three eggs in a small pan for about 8 minutes then once they were done I ran them under cold water to cool enough to touch. Next I took off the shells and cut the eggs in half long ways. Then I took the yolk and mashed it with mayonnaise and Dijon mustard. The recipe said to also add anchovies, no thanks. The paste had enough kick already. Then I put the paste back in the eggs whites and topped with paprika. Seriously, Dijon mustard makes a big difference. It was actually almost to handle to be honest. Frankie didn’t really like them, but I ate my three eggs. I wonder if the anchovies soften the Dijon mustard. Who knows, but I was not willing to find out. We have had too many bad experiences with anchovies haha. If you like Dijon mustard though. Try this recipe. It’s literally the same as every other deviled egg recipe but instead of normal mustard, trade it out with Dijon. Trust me, you’re in for a surprise.

On sunday the 4th, Frankie’s family came up for lunch and then my friend Oak came over to spend the night. I decided to make “Peach Salad” from 1893 and “Tomatoes Stuffed with Crab” from 1948. Pretty fun night of  cooking. The salad was easy. All I needed to do was cut the peaches into quarters and take the seed out. Then in a bowl I mixed together red wine, sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon and nutmeg. This was the liquid to toss the peaches in. Then once we were ready to eat them, we placed them on a dish and topped them with heavy cream. Kind of good, definitely different. Frankie and I took the leftover to Alki beach the next day and they were much better after sitting for a while in the sauce. The tomatoes were definitely a good spin on stuffed mushrooms. This recipe originated from Andre Simon who is the founder of the Wine and Food Society. This recipe was introduced in his spring menu but Hesser said to make it in August. I made it in September, only a few days shy of August and I absolutely loved it. The preparation was pain-staking because I didn’t have big enough tomatoes and the sides were ripping way to easily before I could put the crab in the middle of them. This time though I peeled the skin correctly, only putting them in boiling water for about 30 seconds. What an accomplishment for me not to screw that one up. For the crabmeat, Frankie helped me get the meat out of the shells. Then I heated it up in cream and added sherry and mushrooms. To heat the crab meat it only took me about 5 minutes. Then I spooned the mixture into the tomatoes that were resting in a baking dish, topped them with parsley and threw them in the oven for about 10 minutes to cook. Once they were done I pulled them out and served. I think we had two halves each. I loved this recipe. I am really not a big fan of tomatoes. I don’t know if I’ve said that in another post before but really, I kind of despise tomatoes. But because these are gutted out I don’t mind them. Plus the crab meat, or any other kind of meat makes for a fantastic filling! I wonder what Oak thought about it. Whenever she is visiting us we seem to make things that she has never eaten before. Kind of funny but hopefully she and Frankie liked it as much as I did.

The 4th was my last day for the 1800′s. And now, I am halfway through the 1900′s. For the 5th of September I made “Saratoga Potatoes” from 1904. I didn’t realize what I was making at first until I read the introduction to the recipe. I thought I was just making scalloped potatoes but turns out I was actually making good old-fashioned potato chips. The recipe was originally from Saratoga Springs which was a resort. Apparently, a lot of potato chip recipes came out in the 1900′s but this seemed to be Hesser favorite. First off, it called for paper-thin slices of potatoes. I wasn’t going to be able to achieve that so I cut them as thin as I humanly could without making a mess out of things. Then I heated olive oil in a pan and fried the potato slices in the oil until they were nicely browned on both sides. As they finished cooking I laid them out on a paper towel to soak up the oil while the others cooked. Then I had Frankie top them with his delicious home-made salsa and we had dinner. Why buy potato chips when you can make your own? Seriously, this recipe made me feel this way. Frankie makes french fries all the time with breakfast the same way. He learned that from his mother, but we never did think to make potato chips. I think from now on if we want potato chips, we will make them this way. The toughest part about this recipe was knowing just how long I needed to leave the potatoes in the oil. The first batch I did didn’t cook so well as the second. The second batch was nice and crisp like you would imagine potato chips to be so once those had finished I threw the first batch back in the oil to cook some more. They turned out really good minus a few chewy chips. The recipe said that with thicker slices they would end up chewy but in a good way. Plus with salsa, life was good! So look up recipes for Saratoga Potatoes…. you’ll love them. Plus you’ll get down to the root of making your own real chips for a change.

The next day I changed it up a bit and went with a poultry recipe. I am still on the lookout on how to obtain quail but for the 6th I made “Chicken A La Marengo” from 1908. Super fast recipe surprisingly. The recipe called for a alb chicken, I just used the breasts that we bought from Costco. Then in a pot i mixed together whole tomatoes from a can, chopped up carrots and onions and some parsley. I brought this mixture to a boil. I actually ended up adding a little chicken broth because there wasn’t much liquid to begin with. Speaking of which, I need to find a recipe that has chicken broth so I can use that up before it spoils. While that was cooking, I cooked the chicken on the frying pan and as they neared finishing I added the mushrooms so they could cook. It took about 5 minutes total for the mushrooms and chicken to finish. Then I poured the tomato sauce on top of the cooked chicken with the mushrooms and the meal was ready for serving. The tomato sauce was supposed to be more like a puree but I don’t have a food mill to really get it into that mixture so I just said screw it. The sauce was delicious regardless. I would definitely make this recipe again. But food like this makes me so anxious to have my own house with my own kitchen so that I have space for things like a food mill. Right now, my kitchen is incredibly cramped. We have too much stuff! haha. But this recipe is one that could never go wrong, as long as you follow the recipe that is. The only work involved really is slices up the sauce ingredients and cooking the chicken. It’s definitely a 15 minutes dinner if you’re looking for ideas.

I realize that this is an incredibly long post. Tomorrow I plan on posting another one with the rest of last weeks recipes. Maybe aim to post more than once a week because this is a lot of work haha. I’m still learning a lot though and that’s all I care about. School starts soon and with a job now, it’ll be interesting to stay up with it. Well, wish me luck at my first day tomorrow and look forward to another post afterwards. I’ll update this one with photos also so yay! Hope you are having a good night.

–Michelle

Fact: 1908 – Chicken A La Marengo shows up in the Times but no one notices it until Craig Claiborne popularized it in the 1960′s.

Embarking on a New Era

A lot of things have been going on with me lately. Frankie and I have spent the last week moving into our place. I’ve been transitioning from working at Ross to job searching again in Seattle. Having work-study for school has provided me some awesome opportunities job-wise. I had an interview with Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason to be a lab aide for one of their researchers. The lab and the equipment was awesome to see. I would mainly be working with their plating robots but hey, its experience in a lab and a real one at that. However, the scientist I’d be working for wasn’t my kind of guy. I definitely didn’t get a good vibe from him. He pretty much gave me the impression that he has a Ph.D and is awesome and that I’m dumb and irresponsible because I’m in undergraduate school still. But oh well, honestly I wouldn’t be upset if I didn’t get that job, I think I’d be more relieved at the fact I wouldn’t be dreading work everyday after school. Then I applied for a job with Morningside Academy. I just had my interview with them today. It went well and I’m pretty sure I got it. She told me to let her know about my upcoming interviews and what I decide because she’d love to have me. I would love to work for them as a receptionist/recess/do-whatever-they-need person. The school is private and they work with kids with learning disabilities like dyslexia. Then I have an interview on the 12th with Amara. It’s an adoption/counseling agency here in Seattle that has a very good motto. Their values and beliefs are something that go hand in hand with mine so it would be an amazing experience to work with an organization that I could be passionate about working with. So that’s that.

Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to stay up on the cooking project liked I had hoped. And it’s not because I didn’t try. I actually bought all the ingredients I would need for the last 4 days of recipes I would be making for the 1800′s but once we moved all our stuff in last Sunday I ended up forgetting the stuff I would need so that I could make the recipes at the old apartment while we waited til Wednesday to officially move out. I even made sure that no one packed the pots, pans and silverware I would need! I’ve devised a plan to make up those days though. I will make two recipes a day to make up for those days. It only makes sense since I’ve already got all the ingredients for the ones I decided I would make.

During the week that my parents were at our old apartment in Bellingham I did very well at keeping up with the recipes even though I may have cooked them way too late when no one cared to eat anything. The first night my parents were in Bellingham I made “Pointe D’Asperge” from 1879. Fun, simple and delicious. This recipe took me maybe about 15 minutes to cook. I took 1/2 lb of asparagus, trimming the tips. Then I blanched the tips until tender then cooled them with ice-cold water. Next I cooked the sauce. I actually failed again at cooking eggs that are meant not to curdle. I had to make the sauce twice. I learned that at our old place its very important to heat any sauce with egg very slowly or else this retard is going to overcook the egg. It’s a guarantee! Anyway, I put butter in a small saucepan, added chopped onions to the pan and cooked them until tender. The recipe then says to remove the pot from the heat and whisk in the water and egg yolk. The first time I did this, I don’t think I let the pot cool down fast enough. The second time managed to work out for me though. The sauce looked glossy like it should have instead of chunky like scrambled egg. Then I folded in the asparagus and it was ready to serve. Like I said, this was delicious. And I might be bias because I’ve been a huge fan of asparagus but I think my mom was pleasantly pleased with the recipe. I swear she licked the pot clean! haha. And of course I forgot to take a photo of this recipe, but its a white creamy deliciousness. I swear.

The second night I made “Omelet with Asparagus” from 1879. The recipe said to use tips of the asparagus again but I just chopped up the middle part of the left over asparagus and used those for the filling. This was actually my first time ever making any sort of omelet. I am probably the worst person when it comes to flipping anything in a frying pan so I am so glad that my dad was there to show me what to do. Anyway, I blanched the asparagus and chopped them like I said. This time I let them sit in the boiling water much longer than the previous days recipe. The main reason was because the middle part of the asparagus is a lot more tough than the tips so I wanted to make sure that they were tender. Next I whisked together the egg along with some milk in a bowl, adding the asparagus towards the end. Then I buttered the frying pan and poured the egg mixture into the pan. I was really worried that I was going to burn the egg but I made sure that I didn’t try to flip the omelet too soon. I just let it cook all the way through even though I swore that it was going to be burnt. But luckily it was burnt at all. My dad showed me how to fold the omelet into thirds like an envelope. Once it was in the envelope shape, flipping the omelet became very easy. There really was nothing too hard about this recipe. The biggest thing was learning the technique of omelet flipping, which turned out to be a bit easier than I thought. I no longer dread the thought of cooking omelets and now I believe that I can make omelets any day now. Overall the omelet was really good. I wonder what it would have tasted like without putting the asparagus in the egg mixture but filling the omelet after it was partially cooked.

The third night I made “Spanish Cream” from 1878. Oh my goodness, this was DELICIOUS. I will definitely be making this recipe again. I seriously cannot wait to have family dinners at my house that I don’t have yet because this cooking project has given me so many ideas for desserts and snacks and small meals. I am very excited to share these with others because they aren’t just your everyday desserts and what not. The prep for this recipe was pretty short. The last time I worked with gelatin I had to cook it in hot milk. This time, I poured a packet of gelatin into a cup of milk and let it soften. Then I brought three cups of milk to a simmer then added the gelatin mixture. On the side, I beat together eggs and sugar into a small bowl then added the warm milk to this mixture to temper it. I was nervous that I was going to screw this egg thing up again. I hadn’t been so successful before so I made sure I slowly heated the mixture up. I added the whole egg mixture to the milk once it was tempered. It took forever for it to thicken, probably because I was heating it slowly, but honestly, slow and steady wins the race, especially in this case! haha. But I succeeded and I didn’t have to do it twice. I was very happy. After it heated for a while I added the vanilla extract and let it cook. In the meantime, my mom, Frankie and I whisked eggs whites with salt until it held white peaks. And just so you know, my computer just died and I thought I lost literally the 1000+ words I’ve already written. WordPress, you’re awesome at saving drafts!! haha. My heart literally dropped because I think I’ve been writing for like an hour now! haha oh dear. ANYWAY, once I folded the egg whites into the custard I poured the pudding into dishes called ramekins and put them in the fridge to chill. Frankie and I ate ours in a few hours. It was a nice thick liquid. AND it was so good and sweet. I think the best way to explain the taste is like.. whip cream in a bowl, but not overwhelming. My parents had theirs the following day and the pudding was like a spongy texture but still very very good. The hardest and most tiring section of the recipe was whisking the egg whites, no doubt. Never not use a handmixer if you have one. Lesson learned!

The last day the my parents stayed in Bellingham with us I made “Sour Milk Cake” from 1876. I had only made one other cake previously so I was way overdue for a cake recipe. I really wanted to make the wedding cake recipe but I didn’t have the time or the ingredients for that recipe so I settled for this one. I thought it sounded interesting and I thought I had never tasted it before. However, it tastes just like those easy Betty Crocker cakes. Still, good enough for me. It’s a pretty simple cake recipe and nothing out of the ordinary. I mixed together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg into a bowl. In a large measuring up I mixed together milk and vinegar. In another bowl I beat together the butter and sugar, adding the egg after it was fluffy. Then alternating the two mixtures I added the milk/vinegar and the flour mixtures. Lastly I folded in the raisins then poured the cake mixture into a buttered pan and put it in the oven preheated to 350 degrees. It took about 30 minutes to cook all the way through. The recipe said it would take up to 40 but some how mine was ready before then. Lately though, I learned that her time measurements aren’t always the best to follow. I have learned that it’s important to pay attention to what the food is doing instead of sticking to the numbers. The cake was good. It could have used some traditional frosting and ice cream on the side but the cake itself is doable. Honestly, not much details about this one. Nothing exciting happened and it wasn’t difficult.

The next day I worked a ten-hour shift. My parents and Frankie spent the day packing the vehicles and so by the time I was out of work, we were headed down to Seattle. Talk about a hassle moving in. We have one elevator in our building that reaches the 6th floor and that elevator just happened to have overheated. So we had to go up an elevator to the 5th floor and then climb two flights of stairs THEN go around half of the building to get to our place. Not a big deal really but with no food, no sleep and tired legs and sore feet I was not a happy camper. I think I was the worst sport out of the four of us. But it’s my fault. I thought I would be able to handle working a long shift then move. Then again I was planning on getting an hour lunch, but I didn’t sooo that changed things. I ended up not making anything that night… and I don’t blame myself for not either. Guaranteed that I was not in any condition to be working with anything related to cooking or food for that matter. I’m pretty positive whatever I cooked would have turned out horrible! haha. Then that led to the 5 days of not cooking anything. I know there goes the cooking everyday mentality, but it’s okay really. I’m still sticking with the project and to me that’s what matters most. AND I am still cooking the recipes I was going to do originally.

So today was the first day I was able to sit down and actually cook! And just so you know, I’m now working my way into the 1900′s! I think it’s exciting. It will be interesting to see if the style of recipes change any and if the ingredients change as well. Tonight for the 1800′s I made a recipe called “Ofenschlupfer” from 1882 and it was so good. However it was a lengthy process. The recipe calls for blanched almonds. My mom and I had gotten raw almonds so I had to go through the process of learning how to blanch almonds and remove their skins. I just googled how to blanch almonds and basically I read that to do so you bring a pot of water to a boil then you pour the water into a bowl with the almonds to where it’s only slightly covering the almonds. Let them cook for about 1 minute then drain. I ended up blanching the almonds twice because after the first time only a few of the skins came off easily. Then I saw another way to blanch almonds online and it says to put them in the water and bring them to a boil in the water. I just wonder if the almonds will lose their crispness doing it that way. Anyway, so I think blanching and peeling the almonds took about an hour probably haha. I even made Frankie help me out. Once they were ready, I put the almonds in the blender to chop up. Next I cut up a loaf of bread from Haggen and laid the slices in a large baking pan. Then I mixed some lemon zest with cinnamon and the almonds, pouring that mixture over the top of the bread. For the liquid part of the pudding I whisked together eggs, milk, and sugar then poured that over the breaded portion, making sure to push the pieces of bread into the liquid so that they were nicely soaked. The pudding was put into the oven at 350 and I let it cook until the pudding set. That took about 40 minutes. While baking the pudding, I made the sauce portion of the recipe. This consisted of currant jelly which I substituted with blackberry jelly, sugar, cornstarch, and water. I put all the ingredients into a small saucepan and brought it to a boil. I let it boil until slightly thickened then took it off the heat until the pudding was ready. I was curious as how the pudding was going to turn out. I honestly didn’t think it would have the correct consistency and I thought it was going to be very watery. To my surprise though when I went to pull the pudding out of the oven it was like a solid, jiggling pudding. I was pleased. The pudding smelt so good and it tasted even better. I am definitely going to have more once I’m finished updating tonight! The hardest part about this recipe was blanching the almonds. Also, Hesser said to get good bakery bread so I was concerned that Haggen bread from their store bakery wasn’t going to be good enough but I was pleased with the texture once it was cooked.

For entering the 1900′s I decided I would start off with a drink, “Wine Lemonade” from 1946. Hesser says “brilliant and refreshing” and yes, yes it certainly is. Not only do I get to drink my favorite dessert wine, but I get to add lemons and sparkling water into the mix! First off, I used two fresh lemons and a little lemon juice I already had in the fridge along with some sugar. I put these two into a pitcher that we found during our move and swirled to dissolve the sugar in the lemon juice. Next I added the bottle of Lambrusco and two handfuls of ice to the pitcher. Then I shook until cold. I accidentally had a minor explosion. Don’t tell Frankie For serving, I poured this chilled mixture into glasses filled with ice. Only halfway though. Then I added sparkling water on top along with sliced lemons. It was a good change from traditional wine, or lemonade for that matter. I actually wish it had more lemon juice. I feel like it tastes a lot more like wine than anything else but still, very good and very refreshing even for a drink at midnight. So try it, you wine drinkers. Literally, a bottle of Lambrusco (24oz), 3/4 cup of lemon juice, 1/4 cup sugar and sparkling water to top. YUM YUM YUM. Enjoy!

That’s all for tonight. I know, a book and I’ll be amazed if anyone takes the time to read this gigantic post but if you do, that’s awesome and I love you. Hope you all have a good labor day weekend!

–Michelle

Fact: 1906 – Upton Sinclair writes The Jungle about the horrors of the meat-packing industry.

Can’t Succeed Without Failure

The past few days, my recipes have not turned out so well. On monday the 22nd, I decided I would make another recipe that contained anchovy fillets are part of the ingredients. Bad idea, once again. I really think anchovies and sardines are a taste that must be acquired because there is no way I could enjoy it any other way. I would never crave either one even if I was pregnant. That’s how bad they are. I decided I would make a recipe called “Scotch Woodcock” from 1892. First off, I have to take to anchovy fillets that are canned in oil and mash them up to make anchovy paste. I could have just used the paste that I bought earlier, but that would ruin the fun of making the paste on my own. I ended up doing it in a bowl with the potato masher but Hesser said to use a mortar and pestle, which would probably have been easier. Next you toast two slices of bread, cake on the butter and spread the anchovy paste on top. Next, to make the cream to spread on top of all those wonderful previous ingredients you cook yolks and heavy cream in a small saucepan. The sauce will thicken enough to coat the back of a spoon then season with salt and serve. ICK! Yes, this was horrible. Without the anchovies, okay but with… no way Jose. Disgusting hands down. This time I didn’t even eat the entire toast. Frankie looked like he was going to vomit in his mouth after the first bite. So we bid our farewell and moved on with this one, quite quickly as a matter of fact. What’s really funny about the introduction to this recipe is that Hesser quotes, “Men particularly love this dainty style of cooking, and they employ their talents with pleasure on Welsh rarebits, oysters and terrapin and even candy.” I don’t think Frankie enjoyed this at all, even though he wasn’t the one making it. And if men made this recipe, well this is exactly why most should stay out of the kitchen entirely. Seriously, try it and you will know EXACTLY what I’m talking about.

Yesterday, after work I attempted to make pudding, and this one also failed miserably. Not in the sense of taste however. This recipe from 1877 is called “Snow Pudding“. It was really fun to make actually except for the gelatin and custard part. I started off with the ‘snow’ part of the recipe. It called to mix together powdered gelatin with boiling hot water until dissolved. Then add sugar and lemon juice until that also dissolved. Then place the bowl into a larger bowl filled with ice water and stir until thick and gel-like. My mixture never really got too thick and it was barely gel-like. Frankie had put it in the fridge for a little bit too so that maybe it would cool down a little faster. I don’t know if anything really helped at all. After about 30 minutes I decided I didn’t care anymore and added the egg whites to create the meringue like mixture. This took me about 10 minutes to do. Next I started to make the custard. This included egg yolks, milk, sugar and a little bit of vanilla extract. At first while it was one the stove, it was turning out really well. Nice and smooth and creamy looking. Then in a split second the egg was cooked and the mixture was chunky. I was really disappointed. I literally could have cried with the day I had already experienced at work (getting bitched out in chinese by women who don’t look 55… ya that’s a first). Anyway, I still had to taste it. So I served Frankie and I up two little dishes. The snow was absolutely delicious with its sugar/lemoniness. The custard, not so much. The taste would have been really good if the mixture would have stayed creamy. But the chunkiness of the egg ruined the entire thing. I might try it again, I don’t know.

I think this time around with these two recipes I had the hardest time cooking the egg. I seem to always over cook it no matter how hard I try to not over heat the pot. Next time, I’m going to leave the stove on simmer because apparently level 4 is too high even though Hesser says to heat at medium-high heat. I think she may have had a better stove than me… ya think? haha.

Anyway, parentals are coming up today to help finish cleaning and packing. Should be fun while I’m working, not. I sure hope today is better though. I just LOVE Canadians.. so I keep telling myself that so I will survive the rest of working at Ross! haha

–Michelle

Fact: 1876 – Canned sardines went on sale in the U.S. for the first time. They were packed in oil.

Embracing Change

So, the format of this blog is going to change a little bit starting from this day forward. With moving to Seattle and getting ready for school in the fall I am learning quickly that I won’t be able to update everyday and so I figured it will be much easier to just put all the recipes I cook into one post instead of multiple posts. Of course I’ll include all the original stuff like the names and the dates and photos.

On Friday the 19th, Frankie and I headed home for the weekend. Being able to see my family, my dear friend Heather and be a part of Dan’s wedding made for a very good weekend. I feel like its been MONTHS since I saw my family so I was really excited to see them. Then morning coffee with Heather is always good and we always get caught up talking, losing track of time. It took us 6 hours to get back to Shelton on Friday. We made some stops though. We actually went to Mor Furniture to see if they had any decent prices for furniture. We actually got a pretty nice couch and we only spent an extra 15 dollars for it. Once we got into town, I stopped at the Shelton Junior High School to see my Dad who was being field marshal for the tournament going on. Then I headed to the soccer park to see Mom who was working in the concession stand. It was so good to see her. Lastly, I headed to my sister’s house and hung out with her, Jared and Hailey until we went on a walk around town. After our walk, I headed to Fred Meyers to get the strawberries I would need to make the strawberry jam recipe I decided I would make for that day. This recipe is from 1877 and I’m pretty sure that canning probably hasn’t change a bit since then to this day. I decided I would let my mom help me out so to start off, we mashed the strawberries in a big bowl on the stove to bring out their juices. While that was happening, we put a huge pot of water on high heat to bring it to a boil so that we could sterilize the cans I had gotten from the store. We used a tong-like tool to place the cans in the water and pull them out 10 minutes later. They were HOT! The jam part was actually the hardest thing and it basically came down to cooking it at just the right  heat for just the right time. We added a little bit more than 4 cups of sugar to 3 lbs of strawberries. That’s a lot, I learned quickly. The jam is very sweet, but I don’t think it’s bad. Anyway, while my mom and I stood in the kitchen taking turns skimming the cooking jam we talked about the canning stuff she and my dad have in storage. I would love to get my hands on her pressure cooker and start canning things for Frankie and I. That would save us so much money on food. Plus I think it would be a really fun hobby. Anyway, so my mom and dad made an interesting contraption to do the actually canning process. I needed a pot large enough to put all three cans in and have each and everyone covered with 3 inches of water. And, the cans couldn’t be touching the bottom of the pot. I believe my parents ended up putting a vegetable steamer on the bottom of on of their really large pans. The cans were just barely covered with maybe 2 inches of water. Right before we put them in the pot, my mom and I put the strawberry-sugar mixture into the cans using a ladle. Then we took the lids that were in boiling water and put them on the cans, closing the lids so that they were finger-tip tight. Next we filled the pot up with water and let them boil for about 30 minutes. After the time passed, we took the cans out of the pot. They were incredibly hot and I actually dropped one haha. But it still SEALED! oh ya. I think that was the most fun out of the entire experience, hearing the cans seal. I was worried they wouldn’t seal so when they did I was happy I didn’t fail at canning!

Saturday I ended up not making anything. We had spent the morning visiting my family before we headed to Olympia for Dan’s wedding. Then that night we partied it up with him and Gabi. Their wedding so so beautiful and missing a recipe was totally worth it.

Sunday the 21st, Frankie’s family and I spent the day moving into the new place a little bit. Frankie and his dad went to Bellingham to load all the big stuff like our bed, tables, etc and they brought that down to the new place. Jessica, Sam and I went to Lowe’s and got the paint we would use to paint the wall in the new place to help separate the living space from the sleeping space. I ended up getting a chocolate-brown and it turned out really well. We painted that wall very fast! Then after that was accomplished, moving and all, Frankie and I headed back to Bellingham for the evening. I ended up making Asparagus rolls from 1877. Lately, I am in love with these asparagus recipes. And this one didn’t turn me away either. For this one, you cook another lb of asparagus in salted water until tender which is pretty standard it seems. Then for the sauce, you cook butter, egg yolks, milk and flour in a sauce pan with the addition of pepper and nutmeg. It said you can use mace also, but I don’t have that so I decided to go without. Once that was nicely cooked, I put the tender asparagus on top of toasted bread or toast points as the recipe likes to call it then spooned the sauce on top. Obviously the recipe is called “asparagus rolls” but Hesser said you could use toast or rolls. I bet it would have been really good with the Astor rolls I made the other day, too bad I left them at my parents house for them to enjoy

So overall, it was incredibly busy weekend! I got a few recipes done and now with moving again this coming weekend, it’ll be yet another challenge for me to stick to it. But I can do this ! haha

–Michelle

Fact: 1875 – Refrigerated ships carry the first chilled beef from New York to Europe. The following year the first frozen shipment was sent to England.

Astor House Rolls – 1878

The last two days of cooking have really been a success for me. With the anxiety I’ve been having cooking has really become a safe haven for me. To relax and not think about anything else beside the recipe in front of me. Yes, before I get started I dread getting up and going to the kitchen, but once I get started I finally just let go of whatever has gotten to me that day and just cook.

Today before work I decided I would make some bread rolls again. My first attempt at baking bread, or rolls, I had a really hard time. Go back and read the post about Rusks if you’re interested about that experience. This second attempt at baking bread went really well! And I needed no help whatsoever from anyone. The only problem I had been whether or not I would be able to get it done in time before I went to work at 5pm. The recipe for these rolls wasn’t as time-consuming as the one for the rusks was. Rusks took way too long to make, over a day = ridiculous to me. But these Astor house rolls were definitely in the perfect time range for me. The very first thing I did was put a packet of dry active yeast in a 1/2 a cup of luke warm water. I had to let the yeast foam before I could continue with anything else. While I waited the 30 minutes for the yeast to start foaming I put the flour, salt, sugar and butter into a mixing bowl. Then I waited, and waited, and waited. I felt like the yeast were never going to start foaming. I turned on the oven to heat up the kitchen hoping that they would start budding. Then I gave them a little sugar and soon enough they were foaming and bubbling. It was such a cool sight to see. I added the foaming yeast to the flour mixture along with a cup of 2% milk and began mixture the dough. At first the dough was very not dough-like. I think I added about a cup more flour to get it to thicken up. Originally I had split the recipe in half because I didn’t want as many rolls as I made last time. So I didn’t quite know how much flour I would need to make this dough the way it needed to be, I probably ended up using more than half the amount of flour I would have needed for a half batch of rolls (wow.. that’s confusing to write!). Anyway, finally it started getting a little sticky and I put it on the table to knead. It was awesome to be able to knead the dough and to know what to expect. I didn’t have any big issues with the stickiness this time. I had finally figured out how to balance the flour to the stickiness! I put the freshly kneaded dough into a clean bowl and covered it allowing it to rise until doubled. My friend Corinne came over so it was nice to have someone to talk to and catch up with while I waited. We haven’t really been able to hang out because of school being so busy spring quarter, then we went on vacations so it was nice to see her.

Once the dough had doubled, I had to punch it flat and knead it out again until smooth and stretchy. They took maybe 5 minutes. Then I had to put it back in the bowl so that it could double in size again. The second time didn’t take as long as the first time so it was nice. After about 40 or 50 minutes, I took the bowl of dough, punched it down again and started breaking it into 11 pieces. I think I actually broke it up into 12 different rolls. Then I wrapped them in plastic wrap until I was ready to use them. This was probably the most irritating part of the entire recipe. The directions said to flatten each round to 1/2-inch thickness, place butter in the middle and fold over pinching the dough together at the edges. The making of the rolls was not the frustrating part, it was getting the dough out of the plastic wrap without it sticking to the wrap. I learned very quickly that I had to have my hands covered with flour at all times. It made the process go much smoother! I think it took me about 20 minutes to put the rolls together. Then I HAD to get ready for work. Corinne’s awesome. She and Alex took me to work so I could finish my rolls in time. I covered the rolls with towels and put them in the fridge. Then off to work I went til about 9:30.

Right when I got home I finished the rolls. Frankie, being the nice husband that he is, put the rolls out for me without even asking. They were ready to bake the instant I walked through the front door. He had the oven already going for the turkey he had been making so I just turned the oven up to 425 degrees and popped the rolls in. They cooked in about 20 minutes. AND.. they are DELICIOUS. The rusks I made before were a bit dry and plain, definitely a country-bread roll. These rolls are moist and butter-filled. They are just so good, I had two before dinner and one with dinner. That’s how good they are! Tomorrow I don’t know what I’m going to make. I’ll be at my parents house so I better get to planning! Haha, Wish me luck… with everything

–Michelle

Daily fact: 1848 – William Young of Baltimore, Maryland received the first U.S.  patent for an ice cream freezer.

Asparagus Salad – 1882

Yum, this recipe was absolutely delicious and most definitely made up for the nasty anchovy thing I had made the other night. When I was younger, I wasn’t a big fan of asparagus probably because it was green and a vegetable, but as I got older I have really come to love asparagus and everything they entitle. So a lot of things are happening with me and my life. I was supposed to have an interview with Benaroya Research Institute of Virginia Mason tomorrow, Friday. The hiring manager ended up having to reschedule for next week so Thursday next week I will be going in for my interview at Virginia Mason and come out with a lab aide job. It would seriously be the sweetest opportunity I’ve had in a long time. I will get to see the labs and walk around the facility so it will be an awesome experience in itself, I just hope they want me as an employee Fingers are crossed as far as they could possibly be right now. If not with them, hopefully with Swedish Medical! So, those are pretty big things coming up. Then there is the move to Seattle which I’m sure every one is aware of who reads this. This weekend we head down to Shelton/Olympia. Frankie’s good friend Dan is getting married on Saturday, super excited for him and Gabi. Then he heads back up to the Ham to pack up the big loads with his dad to bring it back down to Seattle on Sunday. So as of Sunday, our poor apartment is going to be relatively empty. We won’t be fully moved out until the 31st. My parents, thank the lord for them, are going to come up and help pack, clean and move the rest of our things down. I also finish work that last week of August so it’s going to be insanely busy for everyone involved.

K, back to the recipe. This was really fun to make. I failed the first time because I didn’t read the directions all the way at first so I ended up having to run to Cost Cutter to get some cheap vegetable oil to redo the dressing. At first, I mixed the lemon juice, vinegar and oil all at once. I was actually supposed to add them in drop by drop continuously whisking the mixture until it was nice and thick. I was actually making a mayonnaise believe it or not. The second time my method worked like a charm and probably because I actually followed the directions. Go figure! Frankie had to help me out though. I needed to have one person add the oil, next the lemon and last the vinegar drop by drop, in the specific order each time. So he did that for me until my wrist got sore. Then we switched and he finished off the whisking and I, the adding of ingredients. We make such a good time. haha. So, just for your information, the dressing part of this recipe contained one egg yolk, mustard, salt, black pepper (calls for white… but screw it), cayenne pepper, vegetable oil, lemon juice and white wine vinegar. Super easy, but you might get carpel tunnel. I put plastic wrap over the top of this dressing and put it in the fridge until the asparagus and chicken were done.

For the asparagus, I generously salted a pot of water and brought it to boil. Then I put the asparagus in, about a bundle worth, and let them cook until tender. I think they took about 10 to 15 minutes to be the kind of tender I prefer. Once they were nicely cooked, Hesser said to throw them in an ice bath. This immediately stops anything from cooking and prevents the asparagus from getting mushy! and it worked, so yay. By this time, the chicken was done that Frankie hard grilling on the BBQ. He made some darn good chicken. As far as I know, he marinated it with a bunch of honey so it had a very nice sweet taste to it, but nothing over whelming. The chicken went perfectly with the side of asparagus. The recipe said that I could either pour the mayonnaise dressing over the top of the asparagus or leave it as a dip. I chose to leave it as a dip and use it for later. I’ll probably make some tuna fish sandwiches with this home-made mayonnaise actually.

The food turned out really good this day, if you hadn’t already gotten that idea already. The asparagus salad was perfect for a sunny warm afternoon and it complimented the honey-chicken very well. Nothing was incredibly hard about making the dressing. I learned that I really need to pay attention to the recipe a little better because lately I’ve been messing things up pretty bad by not reading. Good lesson to learn I think. Other than that, it was smooth sailing!

–Michelle

Daily fact: 1844 – Henry John Heinz was born. Founder of the H.J. Heinz company and creator of its slogan ’57 varieties.’

Anchovy Canapés – 1882

It was a long day today. I woke up a little late because my phone went missing last night after I got off work. I had to work at 245 til 7 ish so it was one of the longest feeling 4 hour shifts of my life. Frankie picked me up at work and we went grocery shopping. Got the asparagus that I’ll be cooking almost every day this week. Then some anchovy paste and fillet, ew. But, I have to try it I guess.

So tonight’s recipe… YUCK, that’s all I have to say. Canapé is defined as food that is small and decorative, finger food that can be eaten in one bite. I attempted making toast points by putting them in the oven because toast tastes better that way. I ended up burning the toast, go me. I’ve been doing pretty well at not burning or ruining anything. This time I literally failed at broiling. So, I took the burnt toast out of the oven and threw those away. Then I decided I wouldn’t do that again and use the toaster instead, since that’s easy. While the bread was in the toaster, I made the spread. This consisted of anchovy paste from a tube and butter, lots of butter. The toasted popped, nicely unburnt and I let it cool. Then I put the spread on the bread and sprinkled with cheese, blue cheese to be exact. I hate blue cheese and this is probably why I hated this recipe. At least I ate the toast though, Frankie asked me if he had to eat it. He took maybe one bite and never picked it up again. Yes, it was that bad.

I don’t recommend making this recipe or having anything with blue cheese because its disgusting. You know, I thought that just this once I would have a huge turn-around about my feelings towards blue cheese. I thought this recipe would provide me a miracle. I love cheese, especially cheddar and goat cheese. But this recipe provided me no miracle if anything it has made me turn in the complete opposite direction and run as far away as possible. I will have to find something that I can make with blue cheese. I’m not looking forward to that research. This week I make something with anchovy fillets. That should be really interested… Anyway, its bed time. I work an early shift tomorrow. Wish I could have a consistent schedule!! Oh, and by the way, the original recipe said to fry the bread in lard.. how even more disgusting would that have made this…

–Michelle

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