Pesto Presto

Today I attempted to make pesto from scratch. I had a ton of basil because when I bought it the other day it was 2.50 for like 5 leaves or 2.50 for a big bouquet. And then I happened to run into Giada's pesto recipe in her book which I borrowed from the library. I figured it was fate and I was meant to try it. Giada said to put it in the blender which I did but it didn't get chopped that well. Some leaves stayed whole no matter how much I tried to push them down. I can't imagine it ever getting as small as the store-bought. How do they do it? It still came out tasting pretty good, I thought, but LZ says he prefers the store version. :-(

So that's my pesto story. At least I didn't burn it. But then I made it into pesto pizza which I did burn. Typical. It wasn't actually the pizza though, something must have burned on the pizza stone even before I put the pizza in. Who knows.

Brown Sugar Rocks

So, you have these hard brown things. So hard that you can't even bite into them. Why is it that brown sugar gets this way?

Turns out, brown sugar has molasses added, and it is that molasses which has just dried out, and needs to be re-hydrated. (Fun fact! Dark brown sugar just has more molasses than light brown sugar.)

So, all you have to do is put some moisture back in. My favorite way has always been add water and microwave for 30-60 seconds. Sure, this makes brown sugar soup more often than not, but you were just making chocolate chip cookies anyways, right?

If soup isn't your thing, here are some other tips:

Here's what the brown sugar BAG says what to do:

• Place your brown sugar rocks into a microwave safe conatiner
• Wet a paper towel and place over the container
• Stretch a piece of plastic wrap on top of the paper towel
• Microwave for 30-45 seconds, check the sugar, microwave for an additional 30-45 seconds & check again.

Here's what people on the internet say to do?

• Chisel your rocks into tiny pieces and put in a sealed bag with a piece of bread. (Really) Next day or two, it should be all soft and ready to go
• Buy one of these oval clay tablets that are especially made to keep brown sugar soft always and forever. (You can buy them at any kitchen shop)
• Nuke it.
  
• Keep it in the fridge.
• Keep it in the freezer.

I guess we'll see what Lou decides to do...

Rocks

Look. What is this? Rocks. Brown sugar rocks. How does brown sugar get like this? And how can I get it back to normal? Or at least keep it from getting like this next time? They don't even break up when I bang them, what's going on?

Stuffed

I don't have any pretty pictures to add, but I figured I should post something!

Thanksgiving was a week off for the chefs (J and I) as we drove to Pittsburgh to see J's grandparents. Since going to college, I've been a thanksgiving orphan but lucky enough to be adopted for the big meal. I've seen many different variations on Thanksgiving dishes. But, one thing that is totally different with J's family is the addition of one special dish: deviled eggs.

Apparently over 10 years ago, he started making deviled eggs and now they appear at each thanksgiving meal. Here's J's preferred recipe for perfect deviled eggs:

1. Hard boil eggs (think 1 whole egg per person)
2. After eggs are done, peel and cut in half (Hint! Running cold water on the shells helps to peel the shells in larger pieces)
3. Spoon out the yellow yolks into a bowl
4. Mix with mustard and mayonaise. (J recommends 1tsp mustard and 3tbs mayo for 6 eggs. If you want fluffier eggs, add more mayo)
5. Bonus: Curry powder (a dash to 1/2 tsp) or relish (any kind) adds some extra kick. (Hint! Strain the relish in a little sieve to keep mixture from getting too runny)
6. Refill empty egg whites with mixture
7. Sprinkle with paprika for color and taste
8. Enjoy!

Chopped!

I have discovered that one of the hardest parts of cooking is chopping. The recipe can look so simple but it takes forever to chop everything up, and that's before you even start cooking! Jeez. But, look at how great I chopped everything today! Everything I learned about knifework I learned from Ratatouille.P.S. Don't you love my piggie cutting board? My grandpa made it in shop class.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving at our place this year! Mom made the mashed potatoes, grandma made the gravy, and I made the rest from varying levels of scratch.

Cranberry Sauce

Thanksgiving Dish #1: Cranberry Sauce - check!


The cool thing about cooking is when things totally transform, its almost like magic. How did all these hard cranberries suddenly turn into sauce just by boiling them? I barely even had to help them along!

False Alarm

First post, yay! Let's begin with why we're starting this blog. I'm totally clueless when it comes to food. But since I have a real kitchen now I decided to go on a mission to learn to cook. I figured I could learn by jumping right in and trying different recipes. This was not such a good idea as I found out the hard way when I accidentally invited the Cambridge Fire Department over for dinner one night. I was innocently melting some butter in a pan when it started to burn (as per my superpower, see sidebar). This set off the fire alarm for the whole building which you can't turn off by yourself. So all I could do was call 911 and get the firemen over here to turn it off, even though I knew there was actually no fire, just a really bad cook. All the neighbors were gathered outside and I was mortified. That day I gave up on my mission and swore off cooking forever.

This proved to be a problem because people who can't cook get hungry too. The only one in the house who can cook is too busy to do it, and you can only live on bagels for so long (about a month or two). So after some encouragement and a couple weeks of stomach growling, I have decided to face my fears (and my embarrassment) and get back on the horse. But I'm not alone this time because I have Sarah, and GastroFabulous, here to help me on my mission.