Sanguine Tenacious Tidings

Cooking Never Ends

Describe your cooking or baking ability. What was the last thing you cooked/baked that you we’re proud of? Are you a recipe-follower or freestyler?



Today's quote: "America gave the world the notion of the melting pot - an alchemical cooking device wherein diverse ethnic and religious groups voluntarily mix together, producing a new, American identity. And while critics may argue that the melting pot is a national myth, it has tenaciously informed the America's collective imagination". Ivan Krastev
Read more at https://www.brainyquote.com/topics/cooking-quotes

Just Cooking Something Up

I can cook quite well. And, it's one of my least liked talents. I don't think I've ever been exactly proud of my cooking. I learned to cook out of necessity. If you are going to eat you have to cook.

I baked cookies every 2 or 3 weeks. I like my own home baked cookies because I can put the amount of sugar in the recipe that I want. I think most cookie recipes have too much sugar in them so I decrease it to a necessary amount. Cookies have to be a sweet treat but not too sweet. They also do well with some of the white flour changed to whole wheat flour. I baked chocolate chip cookies this week. The last 3 batches of cookies have been chocolate chip. MY favorites are actually peanut butter cookies but pandemic has put a crook in my shopping and there are more chocolate chips in the pantry than peanut butter.

I started out my cooking talents by always using a recipe from a book. During the 80's when the children were still around and I was raising dairy goats and sheep I cooked all kinds of things and had lots of cooking help from two of my sons. Together we cooked our own cottage cheese, and other cheeses. We made our own home made noodles for spaghetti and of course lots of different types of cookies, fudge, and brownies.

I learned to make suet from rendered deer fat and bird seed. Not difficult at all. The outside birds love it and I can make it for about 50 cents a block which is a savings around here of about 50 cents a block because it costs about 99 cents a block if you buy in bulk. At one point one store sold bulk cans of shorting, which I have also used to make suet. I think the birds like the deer fat better, but it is a seasonal item.

About 30 years ago I started cooking with olive oil. You can substitute oil for most recipes and I like the consistency of olive oil. I learned over the years to substitute and change recipes to suit our needs Other changes can be made to different recipes, for instance as a young cook a lot of ingredients for meatloaf called for bread crumbs but, one day I substituted a handful of old fashioned Quaker oats. Not much change in flavor because spices stayed the same but, it is a difference in eating something that is slightly better for health and maintains the consistency of the recipe. I did the same thing with salmon patties. Out with the bread crumbs in with the oatmeal. Not only is oatmeal better for you than bread crumbs it is cheaper and more convenient than bread crumbs.

I added ground up green beans to chili. It adds bulk to the recipe and since I don't generally like the flavor of green beans it helps the flavor of the chili and makes green beans palatable. Another way to eat green beans is to fry green beans in olive oil with mushrooms this is actually a yummy dish.

Sometimes I have enjoyed the cooking because it is creating something in the kitchen that will add to eating happiness. But, as a general rule it is a necessity to learn to cook properly.

I guess the most recent change Is with tuna casserole. I used to make it from scratch with cream of chicken soup and peas added to noodles and tuna. Lately I have opened a package of noodles and broccoli with sauce side dish and added tuna to it. An easy way to cook a quick meal for two.