Cooking Night

Since we went to the grocery store last night, tonight was deemed “cooking night”. I have a ton of recipies on Pinterest that I’d really like to try so I pulled up a couple and spent three hours in the kitchen tonight making them all. One is a breakfast bake and two are more or less vegetarian “salads”.

Top left is the Blueberry Baked Oatmeal found here. I used frozen blueberries. Also, if you make this, make sure you add in the milk last. I wasted 2 batches because the milk was too cold for the butter, even after pouring VERY slowly to try to even out the temps, EVEN though the butter was cooled. It turned out nicely and it’s a good breakfast for the next few days, which is why I made it.

Bottom left is the Chickpea Salad with Lemon, Parmesan, and Fresh Herbs from here. I used only chickpeas, lemon juice from the plastic lemon, Tuscan herb EVOO, red wine vinegar, and powdery Parmesan. Suggestion: get basil, use real Parmesan. While it still tastes fantastic, I think the freshness will win. Also, when you mix EVOO with Parmesan powder it gets soggy and less than attractive. Go for gold.

Bottom right is the always famous Herb Potato Salad shown here. This was the second time I’ve made it. I don’t add scallions and I use whatever fresh herbs I have. It calls for new potatoes, which is probably a wise idea. I use regular red potatoes and cut them in quarters. I am also sure I cook them too long. I hate hard potatoes. I also add hard boiled egg pieces. I could eat this all day, every day if someone would let me.

I started reading Diane Keaton’s memoir Then Again for this month’s book club on The Everygirl’s website. I didn’t finish enough for the Week 1 discussion but so far it’s intriguing. Much of it is about her mother so I’m a little nervous it might get me all emotional since my momma lives so far away but her mom wrote everyday of her life, I think. If not every day, then 6 out of 7. Diane has massive amounts of journals and I thought that was such a cool way to get to know her mother. I thought about writing everyday. It doesn’t have to be elaborate or thought provoking; just a few blurbs here and there. Talking about my day, things I’ve learned, people I’ve seen, etc. I want to get into that habit. Sometimes when I write, I think there has to be a good structure to it. The post has to have a clear purpose or else no one will read it. Eh, screw that. Just write!! So, I think I’ve accomplished my goal for the night. Now off to bed!

TGIT.

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