What's with all these damn knives??

So one of my top 4 fears in the kitchen  are knives. I have a nice set we got for our wedding but most of them just sit there unused.  We use the basic steak knives almost daily but other than that I am 100% clueless as to what knife to use to cut what food.

Half the time I use the steak knife and I know that's not the best way.

So I am determined to find out what the use for these suckers are!
In my determination to  find out what I should be using.  I found this awesome website and video!

Start Cooking.com is by Kathy Maister's and you should check it out if you want to learn more.  I have it bookmarked already!!

In this video she says I only need 3 good knives to cook.

I think i just found my new favorite site!  I think video blogs are great since they show you how to do it.

I admit I kind of got lost  watching her how to series and will showcase others on here  in the future

I also found this picture guide to knives that might be helpful. Although unless this is laminated on my kitchen counter I dont  know if I will use it.
Knives Kitchen Guide

Overcooked Meat Anyone?

Yup. So I set off BOTH smoke decetors in the house.... a few times... And since hubby works 3rd shift he was sleeping and NOT excited to hear the deafening beeping. At least I know they'll work if the condo ever IS on fire, right?

So I tried to make london broil. Issue: We don't have a grill. We LOVE grilled food... especially any steaks. Steak, IMO is only really good at a restaurant or grilled. We live in a condo and though we have no where to keep a grill and each summer we get depressed knowing we have to go elsewhere to enjoy some good BBQ. My husband loves red meat and red meat comes out disgusting when it's cooked inside, IMO but alas I tried it and here's what happened.

I broiled it. I did 5-8 minutes on each side as recommended. Well 4 mins into the first side the freekin' smoke alarm starts going off. Panicking I ripped it from the ceiling downstairs (let's hope hubby can fix that when he gets up). Since he was sleeping I didn't want it to go off so I removed the battery... well it works without it. Good in case of fire... bad when there's no fire and honestly no real smoke... there was some smoke but not fire like smoke. THEN the upstairs alarm, outside the bedroom door went off. Yup, he woke up... not too excited but he went back to sleep. It went off a few more times after that and I was near tears thinking "why didn't I just get takeout?"

So anyway I made the following.

London Broil marinated in this Jack Daniels Mesquite marinade.
Mashed red potatoes with cream cheese and dill.
Mushrooms with garlic and butter.
Asparagus with lemon, garlic, salt, pepper and olive oil. (This is how I usually make it. I usually cook it in the oven but since I was broiling I just sauteed it on the stove and it came out fine).

So ya. Nothing can ever go smoothly. My entire house smells like meat now and to top it off it was incredibly overcooked and dry. Yes, I let the meat stand before slicing, it still sucked.




I must apologize for being MIA. Honestly I am so stressed looking for employment that I didn't want to deal with cooking and for the last 2-3 weeks we have just been ordering out everyday. I should have ordered out today too.

I love asparagus!!!!!

One thing I have learned in attempting to cook is to borrow recipes from family. My mother was a great cook and always tried new things, and had variety on the table. Something I am lacking.

Creamed asparagus is an easy recipe my mother passed on to me that I can actually handle.

Ingredients Needed: Asparagus, milk, flour, salt and pepper

1. Snapped off ends of asparagus, Cut up remainder into small pieces

2. Boil chopped asparagus until tender.

3. Drain a little!  you need to leave some water in their  for flavor.

*** I learned this the hard way  the first time I tried this and it had no flavor at all. I drained it completely.**

4. Melt butter, about 3 tablespoons, and some milk  in a saucepan.

5. Add to  asparagus  and mix in about 1.5 tablespoons of  flour. (if you want it thicker add more)

6. Flavor with salt and pepper taste

I really love this as a winter or fall side dish but I guess Asparagus is a very versatile item as you can do a lot with it.

WHAT WAYS DO YOU COOK ASPARAGUS?  give us some inspiration.

Thank You!

I admit I neglected my blog....well perhaps what I'm really admitting is I haven't cooked! lol

Sorry to all those following and a HUGE THANK YOU from Gina and I for the new followers!  i jumped on today and saw 18!!! wow thank you so much and I promise new posts this week

Cakes with Character!!

OK this is not something I tried but something I admire so much.  I recently came across 2 great blogs about cakes and cupcakes.   And judging from my recent review you know I love cupcakes!

This first one is from For Cakes Sake Blog They are a custom cakes bakery in Texas.  I so wish I lived near them because   this cake I want to show you in incredible.  Its based on my favorite Mickey Mouse!

The next one is cupcake heaven. Again if I were having  party I would so want these creations from Animated Cupcakes
The rest of the creations on here are amazing as well.

Home-made mac and cheese

ok first I must say I'm proud of myself for trying something like this - free of fear.  I  love macaroni and cheese from the box! lol  but never  thought of making it on my own...as easy as it  appears to be.
It just happened that I ahd some cheeses in the fridge that needed to be used and there was a super sale on boxes of pasta.

This is a new brand from Ronzoni - cooks faster.  Anything that limits my kitchen time is great in my book! lol

Ok so I googled a recipe online and printed 2 and actually combined them.  Since mac n cheese is fairly simple in my book I took chances changing some ingredient amounts.

I didnt want to buy new cheese...so I used: Gruyere and Asiago and Parmesan.  I know random but thats what I had and wasnt wasting more money.

So I cut up the cheese, cooked the pasta, made the cheese sauce with milk, flour and butter and added to the pasta.

I baked it for only like 10 minutes and everything was good

So overall I was pleased with this.  I ate it  and enjoyed it but I'm not sure if others would!! lol

That's a big issue with me - how do you know others will like it?!!!
How do you all handle that??

The cheeses are fairly strong  but i like them.lol

Another problem I had was it was very cheesy!  Not a bad thing for me but how do I correct that and make it more loke your kraft stuff??? add more milk??

So overall It was a success!!!

Cupcake Review Featured!!!

I wrote a review for my favorite blog of the moment Disney Food Blog!!!
Head over there now to read up on the White Chocolate Elephant Cupcake....its an incredible treat from Disney.

Thanks AJ for  letting me write a review!

and The Disney Food Blog was featured on another awesome blog - Cupcakes take the Cake