Dear Friends;
Happy Holidays and Good Eating! For the few of you that are reading and cooking this blog I hope that you find a few warm weather classics and some new favorites as well. My dear contributors, whether on this site or in emails or in person, you inspire me to keep going!
While it has been a few weeks of silence, know that I have not forgotten you. In honor of Thanksgiving, a season for being thankful for life's blessings, I have posted a Moroccan recipe. This recipe reminds me of good friends, wonderful conversation, and beautiful people from a country that will always be close to my heart this time of year. Check it out, and of course note the bibliographic information, it is well worth the time!
Many blessings and much love,
Melissa
P.S. I would LOVE for you to share a holiday favorite if you get the chance between all the joyous chaos!
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Week 4: The 'Sale' Produce
I purchased 16 POUNDS of fruits and vegetables for $6. Yes, you read that right. Ok, I had to toss out two apples because they were bruised beyond what I had hoped and I was cooking for guests that week. But that was really my only casualty. The most expensive item was a sugar pumpkin for 79 cents a pound. I cooked up all the baby food that afternoon and baked bread so even the zucchinis, which had a little white mold on the ends, didn't have the chance to get any worse.
With a little extra research, which entailed talking to a very nice man in the produce department, I found out that the fresh produce comes mainly on Monday and is put out that morning. So for the veggies I needed to last a week I bought fresh. But who can beat 39 cents a pound for ANY fresh food??
So my cooking friends and fellow mothers, seek out your 'sale' produce and glory in your conquests!
-Melissa
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BUT WAIT! Sale Produce Exists! I made loaves of cheeder zucchini bread that turned out great! |
One of the things that I should share - or should have shared earlier - is my secret for produce. I plan my meals for the week on Sunday and the grocery shop on Monday or Tuesday depending on how my LO's morning is and how organized I am.... and I only buy brand names if they are on sale and I have coupons. With packaged foods there is often a perfect storm of sale and coupons. With fresh foods there is no such luck.
One of the things that I learned by grocery shopping at 8am (or earlier, isn't that sad?) is that each morning the produce department goes through the shelves and stacks of fruits and vegetables to weed out the undesirables. And then those items are repackaged and priced to sell at a raging discount. The usual fault with the produce being how it looks or its degree of bruising. Now you have to seek out the reduced produce shelves. In my grocery store they are back by the "staff only" doors in the seafood section. Not sure what they are trying to say by placing the shelves there. You can decide. However, with making my own baby food each week it has been like gold. If you bought cans you would be looking at 60 cents a meal for a total of $12.60 a week.
I purchased 16 POUNDS of fruits and vegetables for $6. Yes, you read that right. Ok, I had to toss out two apples because they were bruised beyond what I had hoped and I was cooking for guests that week. But that was really my only casualty. The most expensive item was a sugar pumpkin for 79 cents a pound. I cooked up all the baby food that afternoon and baked bread so even the zucchinis, which had a little white mold on the ends, didn't have the chance to get any worse.
With a little extra research, which entailed talking to a very nice man in the produce department, I found out that the fresh produce comes mainly on Monday and is put out that morning. So for the veggies I needed to last a week I bought fresh. But who can beat 39 cents a pound for ANY fresh food??
So my cooking friends and fellow mothers, seek out your 'sale' produce and glory in your conquests!
-Melissa
Monday, November 8, 2010
Week 3: Cincinnati Chili
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| Spicy and sweet Cincinnati-style chili. |
For some reason today I was reminded of the Powell's Superbowl Parties. Anyone else remember those? So that lead me to thinking of chili and on this crazy weather day - even by New England standards - I decided to make some. It also reminded me of all the little bowls of goodies around the house and made me wish I bought more Halloween candy on clearance but alas and oh well.
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| I add my beans straight into the chili. You can keep it as a topping if you want. |
Using the basic outline from "The Busy Mom's Slowcooker Cookbook" and changing enough to officially not be plagiarising it by putting it on here, I made some pretty lovely stuff. Behind the initial spice and fire of the chili powder is the beautifully intriguing cinnamon and allspice. I eat it five-way and Zach prefers a three-way. Isn't it amazing that those phrases are perfectly acceptable in this instance? I guess that's what happens when your chili is invented next to a burlesque theatre.
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| Now retired kettle. |
Unfortunately, today simply isn't my day. I had all my ingredients set out and ready to go so I decided to grab the camera and see if I can catch a good shot of the chili. Then, since the babe was napping, I also decided to throw yet another pot on the stove to make baby food. If I wasn't already busy enough, I reached for the tea pot ... and down it went. Falling on the edge of my apparently indestructible crockpot it cracked straight through the side and little pieces of green teapot scattered on my floor. And then the baby woke up. Domestic diva I am not.
But the chili was great. If you like Cincinnati Chili you probably have your own recipe but I do enjoy this one! So make a pot and share it with friends. Think of football and enjoy a night in.
Happy Cooking,
Melissa
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| For the recipe check under the "Beef" tab! |
Monday, November 1, 2010
Week 2: Can you plagiarise a recipe?
Dear Foodies;
My sweet husband brought up a good point. When does a recipe share become a place of plagiarism? In my opinion that one is tough. When teaching, if students strung together 3 or more words from an article they had to use proper citation. But in a recipe, what euphemisms are there for "cup" or "teaspoon"? How do you rewrite 3 cups of sugar? Perhaps 9/3rds of a cup of sweetener?
So on to the web I went and searched out the meaning of life. According to an article published in the Washington Post, and I quote, "The ethics guidelines of the International Association of Culinary Professionals focus on giving proper attribution to recipes that are published or taught. The association advises using the words "adapted from," "based on" or "inspired by," depending on how much a recipe has been revised." (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/03/AR2006010300316.html) So most cooks assume that if you change 2 or 3 ingredients the recipe is no longer someone else's but your own. In one of my frequently used cookbooks it says that the commercial reproduction of recipes is prohibited. Fair enough. And as we are not making a dime here, sharing should be considered "noncommercial".
So what's a fledgling cook to do? Hence forward I will be citing the cookbooks that I use for recipes that are not changed in more than 2 ingredients. In the aforementioned article one cook repeated an age-old adage: copying is the highest form of flattery. Should any cook come to find their recipe on this blog, I would hope they take it as a compliment and comment on any changes we've made!
Until Next Time ...
My sweet husband brought up a good point. When does a recipe share become a place of plagiarism? In my opinion that one is tough. When teaching, if students strung together 3 or more words from an article they had to use proper citation. But in a recipe, what euphemisms are there for "cup" or "teaspoon"? How do you rewrite 3 cups of sugar? Perhaps 9/3rds of a cup of sweetener?
So on to the web I went and searched out the meaning of life. According to an article published in the Washington Post, and I quote, "The ethics guidelines of the International Association of Culinary Professionals focus on giving proper attribution to recipes that are published or taught. The association advises using the words "adapted from," "based on" or "inspired by," depending on how much a recipe has been revised." (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/03/AR2006010300316.html) So most cooks assume that if you change 2 or 3 ingredients the recipe is no longer someone else's but your own. In one of my frequently used cookbooks it says that the commercial reproduction of recipes is prohibited. Fair enough. And as we are not making a dime here, sharing should be considered "noncommercial".
So what's a fledgling cook to do? Hence forward I will be citing the cookbooks that I use for recipes that are not changed in more than 2 ingredients. In the aforementioned article one cook repeated an age-old adage: copying is the highest form of flattery. Should any cook come to find their recipe on this blog, I would hope they take it as a compliment and comment on any changes we've made!
Until Next Time ...
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