laura krier's Profile

One of my favorite ways to vacation is to rent a house somewhere, largely so you have kitchen access. My most memorable such vacation was up on Puget Sound. A big group of us stayed at a friend's beach house. There were no restaurants in the area, so we cooked all our meals. There were oysters and steamer clams, berry pies and cobblers, great big salads, endless pots of coffee, and plenty of beer. The best times were in the kitchen, and then enjoying our meals on the porch. Idyllic.

I'm taking a chicken skewer recipe from July's Food and Wine and turning it into a pasta salad to bring to a pool party. Here's hoping it turns out alright.

I've been thinking a lot about the classic Tunnel of Fudge cake, so I think the bundt pan might surface this weekend. And tonight I'm going to try a simple veggie tart. Unless I get lazy.

Hm. This baffles me. Every single other cooking source I've read says that it's best to scoop flour into a measuring cup and then level it off. Ok, they all say it's best to measure, but second best is the scooping and sweep. Why do you think it's best this way?

I'm moving in two weeks and have a freezer of meat I need to eat. This weekend, it's short ribs. Delicious, delicious short ribs.

In college and in the years after, my cooking was mainly sauteed chicken and vegetables, usually stirred into some kind of boxed rice mix. I've always enjoyed cooking, but I didn't know that much about it. When I decided to start learning, I started to make a lot more things from scratch (no more boxed mixes!). Now I bake most of my own bread, and in the past six months or so, I've started eating a primarily vegetarian/vegan diet and getting much more into whole grains. I still love burgers, but eat them way less often. I think the biggest difference really lies in what I buy in the supermarket: way more variety in the produce department, and almost nothing from the middle aisles.

Sometimes, I do get nostalgic for my sauteed chicken and red peppers in Goya black beans and rice mix, though.

One of my favorite breakfast places in Boston served a dish that was basically just a huge plate of homefries topped with tons of sauteed veggies and cheddar cheese. Delicious. Homefries topped with chili are also delicious. Tofu scrambles are another vegan winner.

I eat toast with peanut butter almost every single morning for breakfast. It's not really brunch fare, but it's delicious. I have to be honest, though, brunch without eggs just seems hard for me to wrap my head around.

I am a big fan of weird things on pizza. Here are a few of my favorites:
http://kitchenilliterate.wordpress.com/2008/07/24/top-five-pizzas-in-the-ki-kitchen/

I made an easy potato cauliflower curry roast that is great with rice or lentils, or just on its own. You basically toss potatoes and cauliflower with a little oil, coconut milk, curry powder, and salt and pepper, and roast for about 30-40 minutes. So good. In fact, I'm having it for dinner tonight.

I must admit, it's a long road moving from fear of bugs to acceptance of them in your produce. The rationale that produce is from nature and bugs are often around it while it's growing makes total sense, and I'm working to be ok with that, but when you grow up your whole life with bug fears, your first instinct is always to recoil and freak out. :-)