I am addicted to cooking shows. Not every cooking show, I do have discerning taste (read I dislike Rachel Ray with all that is in me)....but there are some that I could (and do) watch all day! Up there at the top of my list is Diners, Drive Ins and Dives. Okay I know, it's not really a cooking show. It's more of a "where to go and eat" show, but I would LOVE to have Guy Fieri's job.
How awesome would it be to go around the country and check out cool joints and get the behind the scenes intro to how their best dishes are made?! In fact, it gets to a point when I watch too much Triple D, where I crave something so badly, that I will go out to my kitchen and just make it or bake it!
Today's 'I can't stand it any longer' moment resulted in me making gluten free donuts. Yep, I had to have a donut. I had the best time playing with the recipe and making the little munchkin style things that I was actually disappointed when I was done! I made one batch and then mixed it up and covered some with cinnamon and sugar, some with just powdered sugar. Some I filled with strawberry jelly and covered with powdered sugar....yum. Add a cup of coffee and I was in heaven! Sorry the picture is a little blurry, but I was on a bit of a sugar high!
Obviously, I can't keep baking things just because I want them - otherwise, I won't be able to leave my house at the end of my vacation. It sure is fun to be able to use my culinary arts degree when a whim hits me - but I have to use the skills for good healthy food and not 'donut evil!'
As I mentioned above, I don't love ALL cooking shows - some are just annoying and insulting. I don't need to know that a teaspoon of salt should be measured exactly or that if you add vanilla to a boxed cake mix you can fake it as a 'from scratch' recipe. That's all crap in my humble, albeit blunt opinion. If you want to take a short cut, watch Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa. She takes a really complicated recipe and simplifies it so you aren't in the kitchen all day, but still preserves the integrity of the dish. Basically, she still cooks and makes it really easy.
I don't think this generation should grow up thinking slicing cookie dough from a premade roll is 'homemade' - premade dough maybe a great treat and timesaver, but spend some time actually making cookies the 'long way every once in a while - maybe at Christmas. Get the kids involved like my Mom got me involved and have them decorate the cookies. It's a fun activity and I can tell you it really inspired me to learn to bake as I got older! I wanted to recreate those food memories like Mom and Grandma used to make for us.
Making dinner as a family - even just B and I - really makes it all taste better. Seriously. I enjoy it so much more when we spend time in the kitchen together than I would if I was just slaving away and plating it for him. Now I don't have kids yet and I know how crazy life can be - so even if it's hotdogs and baked beans, give everyone a job and make it a team effort - so the whole family can appreciate how much fun it is to 'make dinner' once in a while!
Let's keep cooking in our kitchens and not just on television. Don't forget that while going out is AWESOME and I love it as much as the next person - it is cheaper to eat at home and there's nothing better than leftovers for lunch my people. I don't claim to be Betty Crocker folks, but I do love to sit down to dinner and eat things I made with my own little hands - I love it even better when it's something made with B's hands too!
Happy Cooking Ya'll and have a great Tuesday!
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