cloggiegirl's Profile

While I agree it is an excellent book, 'How to Cook Everything' might be too much for someone starting out because it includes...everything.

My partner had only ever cooked scrambled eggs, boxed mac n cheese, and grilled cheese when we met. He has wanted to learn how to cook more but is really intimidated. It doesn't help that he's an engineer and immediately thinks about everything that could go wrong. Getting him 'The Science of Good Cooking' ended up being more fun for me and more intimidating for him, despite his being very science-oriented and excited about the concept of the book.

After a few (tense) attempts to walk him through my go-to recipes, we found that his biggest hangup was number of ingredients. We found a cook book called 5 igredient vegetarian gourmet (http://www.amazon.com/The-Vegetarian-5-Ingredient-Gourmet-Recipes/dp/076790690X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1368716196&sr=8-1&keywords=5+ingredient+vegetarian) that he has really taken to. I'm not so sure about the "gourmet" aspect, but it's a good book to start out with so he can practice timing a few things at once and chopping a few things at once, before moving on to new techniques. Many of the recipes repeat ingredient in different configurations, which has been great for him because that means he can focus better on the new concepts.

Boston cream strata. Vanilla pudding layered many times with graham crackers and topped with a chocolate glaze-y frosting and left in the fridge overnight. Francy-looking and magic.

I usually use, "How do you spend your time?" people who like their work/school tend to assume it's about work/school and people who aren't tend to answer with hobbies, trips, etc. I think is a good way to get a person talking since I'm rarely talking to them because of their job or hobby. I just want to talk to them.

For people whom have awkward responses to some of these, you can give a quick non-specific answer paired with a topic change will keep the conversation rolling and rolling away from whatever you don't feel like discussing. Eg. "Originally from Indiana. Do you watch Mad Men?" I think most people would assume you find Indiana boring or don't want to talk about it. They're just trying to talk, not take a census.

I was burned by the cauliflower wings too! A turnip gratin was also a huge disappointment floating in a casserole dish of curdled dairy and bitter liquid.

I have this apron. It would be awesome if the mitt part were cut out but as they are it's like using folded cardboard wrapped in a kitchen towel. The only time they were effective is when I heat up the oven and then realize I need to adjust one or both of the shelves.

1) lots of natural light
2) a welcoming kitchen
3) big living/dining room
4) internet
5) garden

At the moment, I have 1 of these.

Marinades and salad dressings!

When I go to Holland, I bring back loads of ketjap manis and curry "ketchup." I only have space in my bag because I'm hauling sazon by the case over there for my mother.

Corelle, Corelle, Corelle. These would be more fun than plain white wiothout being trendy or have weird color clashes: http://www.corelle.com/patterns/brilliant-black-dots

Passover's restriction isn't on yeast (or its derivations) per se but on wheat, oats, barley, spelt and rye. Many people also avoid legumes, rice, corn and various spices. Chemical leavening is widely used throughout passover and theoretically you might be able to use yeast on passover (if it wasn't grown in a grain-based solution) but I don't know to what end.