Cooking Lessons
Life Lessons yesterday, Cooking Lessons today - I am on an educational roll!
So I decided to cook myself some dinner tonight (no, this is not the setup for an April Fool's Joke. I really did cook dinner!) I decided to make pasta, Rachel Ray style. It's not like I actually watch Rachel Ray, but, from what I understand, she is an advocate of "30 minute meals" and also using pre-prepared supplies, like sauces and frozen vegetables and things like that. And since we all know about my mad skills (or lack thereof) in the kitchen area, I figured this would be a good style of cooking for me to follow. Martha Stewart is just too far above me, y'all.
What did I learn?
1. It is a good idea to examine what the contents of your fridge are prior to deciding that you are going to make pasta, and also prior to going to the grocery store. Finding out that the only vegetable you have are bell peppers is not a pleasant surprise, especially not when you're about to start cooking.I'
2. When adding vegetables to hot oil, it is probably a good idea to turn the heat down first. Or make sure that there's a cover handy. It is not a good idea to stand at the stove wondering why the vegetables and oil are spattering back on you. Ow.
3. Really, it's a good idea to make sure you have all your supplies where you can get to them, and not buried in the dishwasher somewhere. Because the dishwasher will not give up the spoons, no matter how much you plead with it.
4. Have a recipe. One with measurements. Or you will end up using entire bags of things, in an attempt to get things to "look right". Seriously, there's enough pasta to feed a family of four. Twice.
On the whole, though, things didn't turn out too badly. I didn't set off either of the smoke detectors (and considering there was a time not too long ago where I could set them off just by walking into the kitchen, I think that's a huge improvement). I didn't set a fire or overcook anything. I didn't make anything explode this time. I only lost a little of the pasta down the sink before I remembered that I was supposed to just drain the water out of the sauce-pan, and not actually dump everything out while I stared off into space. I also remembered to, you know, use seasoning this time (the last time I made pasta I forgot...everything. Salt, spices, seasoning, everything.) Barring the whole feeding a small army bit, the pasta (bell peppers and penne in an alfredo sauce) turned out pretty well.
And the best part is? If I ever do manage to acquire that family that my mother is always harping about, I will be able to set them on the road to heart disease with just one simple meal! (Seriously, the alfredo sauce...so very fattening. There must be a low fat version.)
So I decided to cook myself some dinner tonight (no, this is not the setup for an April Fool's Joke. I really did cook dinner!) I decided to make pasta, Rachel Ray style. It's not like I actually watch Rachel Ray, but, from what I understand, she is an advocate of "30 minute meals" and also using pre-prepared supplies, like sauces and frozen vegetables and things like that. And since we all know about my mad skills (or lack thereof) in the kitchen area, I figured this would be a good style of cooking for me to follow. Martha Stewart is just too far above me, y'all.
What did I learn?
1. It is a good idea to examine what the contents of your fridge are prior to deciding that you are going to make pasta, and also prior to going to the grocery store. Finding out that the only vegetable you have are bell peppers is not a pleasant surprise, especially not when you're about to start cooking.I'
2. When adding vegetables to hot oil, it is probably a good idea to turn the heat down first. Or make sure that there's a cover handy. It is not a good idea to stand at the stove wondering why the vegetables and oil are spattering back on you. Ow.
3. Really, it's a good idea to make sure you have all your supplies where you can get to them, and not buried in the dishwasher somewhere. Because the dishwasher will not give up the spoons, no matter how much you plead with it.
4. Have a recipe. One with measurements. Or you will end up using entire bags of things, in an attempt to get things to "look right". Seriously, there's enough pasta to feed a family of four. Twice.
On the whole, though, things didn't turn out too badly. I didn't set off either of the smoke detectors (and considering there was a time not too long ago where I could set them off just by walking into the kitchen, I think that's a huge improvement). I didn't set a fire or overcook anything. I didn't make anything explode this time. I only lost a little of the pasta down the sink before I remembered that I was supposed to just drain the water out of the sauce-pan, and not actually dump everything out while I stared off into space. I also remembered to, you know, use seasoning this time (the last time I made pasta I forgot...everything. Salt, spices, seasoning, everything.) Barring the whole feeding a small army bit, the pasta (bell peppers and penne in an alfredo sauce) turned out pretty well.
And the best part is? If I ever do manage to acquire that family that my mother is always harping about, I will be able to set them on the road to heart disease with just one simple meal! (Seriously, the alfredo sauce...so very fattening. There must be a low fat version.)