Cooking: 14 questions

Tammy asked her sream-of-consciousness questions about cooking at Daisy Yellow. These are always fun, so here's my responses. Thanks Tammy!


a. Does what you cook say something about you?

It says that I'm erratic and influenced either by time, scheduling, and whatever was on sale at the supermarket. Also, that I try to reproduce really good stuff I ate at some restaurant in a distant city.

b. How do you keep track of your recipes, your notes on how to make them?

Really badly - I have a binder of pages torn out of magazines, and stuffed into that binder are loose sheets printed off the computer. Many are sticky and crumpled. I really need to fix this. Next year.

c. What recipes do you measure precisely, and which do you guesstimate?

With the exception of finicky baked goods, I guesstimate everything. Even when trying a new recipe, like the baklava above, I treat the amounts as guidelines, and often think "oh, they can't possibly mean that".

d. Are there dishes you make quite well, but never eat?

scalloped potatoes, due to my cheese intolerance.

e. What portion of your recipes [that you make at least annually] were passed down from a previous generation?

My mother mostly cooked Filipino food, which I hardly ever cook or eat with the exception of one dish. However, there are a lot of dishes that my sisters and I cooked together growing up, and that might constitute a quarter, say, of our regular repertoire.

f. What dry spice do you find yourself replenishing most often?

cinnamon, chili powder

g. What is the messiest dish you make (biggest clean-up)?

My late MIL's perogies with potato-onion-bacon filling. Completely worth it.
Also, latkes.
oh! and the Pioneer Woman's Onion Strings.

h. What is the largest, most varied [number of dishes] meal you make each year?

Probably my book club Christmas party. Which probably shouldn't count, as it consists largely of frozen appetizers from Costco slid onto a baking tray. Okay, Christmas dinner then. Or New Years. No, wait! Any meal held at my mom's house in the summer when the families are gathering.

i. What's the wierdest thing that will be served at your Thanksgiving [holiday] table?

not on purpose, but this year my daughter drew a happy face on the mashed potatoes:



j. Have you taught your kids to cook?

sort of - we tend to have a cook-along approach, which is how I grew up - we cook together.

k. What do you always seem to burn?

chicken stew, or any other stew using flour as a thickener.

l. What dishes do you typically bring to a party or pot luck dinner?

usually my husband is in charge of pot luck stuff, thus, tabbouleh or black bean salad. And my daughter has taken over baking duties, so lemon squares.

m. Which of your creations do your friends/family RAVE ABOUT?

my husband's turkey stuffing. Nobody in my family raves about my cooking, as I rank a distant third, if that, to two of my sisters. However my friends like it when I bring home-made salsa to events.

n. Do you prefer chocolate or vanilla cake?

Chocolate. Always.