Holy Crap…A Success

Kevin is our resident culinary master. He takes basic ingredients and makes a feast for the senses. I am a culinary nightmare. I take basic ingredients and cause heartburn and in some cases revultion. How not to cook with ginger and flambe doesn’t mean you set the stove top on fire should be the first volumes in my cook books.

The last two days I have been attempting to put myself somewhere strong and try agian to go back into the kitchen and give it some honest effort. I mean I can’t blow it up all the time and how the hell can I tell my kids that practice makes perfect when I cower from my own pantry. Like anything else in life if it is hard it tends to mean that  you just have to work and learn.

So yesterday was such a beautiful day that is screamed for the joy of ice cream sundaes. Of course not everyday is payday around here, we have to deal with those times when wanting to go to the BDI and accepting we have half a container of frozen vanilla yogurt in the freezer we can do something with is how the day goes. So I decided I can make it work. Quick check and find frozen blueberries and raspberries. I watch Food Network. I know I can turn these into something resembling a fruit sauce. Check fridge and find caramel for the non raspberry lovers in the house and time to Google. I find an amazing recipe for a fruit sauce involving brown sugar, balsamic vinegar and some vanilla extract. I have just enough brown sugar so after finishing up dinner I proceed to make this sauce. I check directions twice, I get Nathaniel to read them to me from the screen as I go along and eventually I manage to make this amazing sauce. It was tangy and added to the plain frozen yogurt and was enjoyable. In another moment of thought I even toasted some coconut for on top.

I had done it. I had created from the pantry just like Kevin does.

Of course later that night Kevin made amazing raisin scones.

Tuesdays Kevin takes Nathaniel and Ashleigh to Tae Kwon Do. I stay home and hang with Nicholas and make dinner. My original plan was to make some chicken paramasean but Kevin makes a few suggestions and into the kitchen I go. Fry some bacon, onions, and garlic together and remove from pan. Deglaze pan with some Amaretto and wait for it to boil off a bit before putting in cubed boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Cook breasts and add 1 can of Cream of Mushroom soup combined with half a can of milk.  Simmer and add basil, parsley and oregano and with 10 mins to serving return the bacon, onion and garlic mixture and simmer longer. Serve over rice.

I am proud of myself.