June 26, 2017

Hey folks! So it's been a really long while. I was wanting to share some cooking observations. This seems to be as good a place as ever. Life goes on. My sister Sandy us happily living in Oregon. Barrie is changing jobs after 28 years at her school. She'll be nice and close now. Kelley I think is at a different place than previously but still a social worker. Tracey's work literally moved across the street to a new City Hall. My folks have had some health issues to deal with, my mom got a new pace maker recently, but I'm so fortunate to have them so close.

School...omg! I am now on my 8th principal since 1984! Our district continues to be in disarray. It has been a wild year. Still in the ghetto room. Margie, my team partner is living her dream and I miss her terribly. I've been teaching since December of 1980. A very long time.

Ok, back to the cooking. I usually make food on Sundays for my folks. I love to cook and they are very good about eating pretty much anything I make. I've been so inspired by food I eat out, cookbooks and TV. I watch a lot of cooking shows on TV. Since my knee operation, 2 1/2 years ago, I don't really watch Satellite TV anymore. I watch Create TV which has a lot of cooking shows. Also IonTV and LiveWell TV. I'm especially enjoying Pati Jinich and Rick Bayles for Mexican, and a Chef's Life for the story and recipes. I even bought Chef Vivian's cookbook.

So my tips for the week.
I save vegetable parts like the ends, peels and freeze them. When I am making soup, I pull out my stash and make my own vegetable stock. Then the veggies can still be composted. Lots more flavor than the boxed stock. Also salt free for my mom.

I made pork chops from a recipe on TV. Start to cook seasoned pork chops, they were very thick, on both sides. They don't need to be cooked through. Remove and cook chopped leeks. Wash the heck out of them first. I saved most if the dark green for my freezer bag. Cook then add apricot preserves and mix. Put chops back in and cook until tender. I used sugar free, btw. Tasted great!

I had made steak with lots of sauteed onions and three colors of bell peppers. Fine but I rewarmed them up with butter, don't judge, and a mixture of Worchester sauce and balsamic vinegar. Super delicious!

And finally, Les Amies restaurant in Fullerton works magic with cauliflower of all things. I attempted to recreate it. I roasted quarters of cauliflower until they were browned on the edges. The sauce consisted of a white sauce with lots of lemon juice and spices. They serve it with parsley, pine nuts with chopped onion on top. Mine turned out pretty good!

Hopefully I'll be more diligent and get to this more often. 😀