Apple Cobbler - Well done!

My apartment of six years was small. My best attempts to get my property manager to reward my loyalty by giving me a better, newer oven failed miserably. What I got instead was a slightly wider oven, with the same chipped cracked paint on it's stovetop as the prior version. The oven heated fast and burned quick. Combine that with the fact that I am not the best baker (too easily distracted) and you can rapidly have a disaster on your hands. Having the day off from work inspired me to make a two course meal - main and dessert. I must tell you that I rarely eat dessert. First, I don't like sweets much. I'm really more of a savory girl. My sweet tooth (were I to refer to it as such) draws me to foods like cinnamon raisin bread and scones, not chocolate or candy. Second, I am not certain I know anyone who eats dessert with a meal. If you like to eat, and you eat out, you rarely have enough room after a two course meal for a third course. Dessert is best saved for a separate meal, a one course experience.

Now my philosophy about baking usually focuses on ingredients. I make an amazing banana bread, but I have to be honest and admit that a hatred for any banana more than 2 days ripe is what first motivated me to open my Good Housekeeping Cookbook and try out their recipe. So I was making Apple Cobbler because I had a bunch of granny smith apples I wasn't willing to eat. I was also using a pear cobbler recipe I swiped online, and hoping the apples wouldn't mind. I was planning to take a small version to work, and since we don't do dessert, I divided the recipe into 3 small loaf pans.

Something told me that the 4oz of butter for the bottom of the pan (below the layer of batter and layer of fruit) was a little excessive. But I split it into three parts and forged ahead. When the oven started smoking approximately 30 minutes later, I knew it was the butter. It took me four open windows, a disconnected smoke alarm and 45 minutes to troubleshoot the problem. Ultimately the bottom of my oven was black and the 3 mini loafs were combined into a large loaf sans layers. The smoke cleared in time for dinner, and the picture is a plate of the final product next to a tablespoon of La Loo's Vanilla Goat's Milk Icecream. The taste? bready enough for my inner carb addict, and slightly sweet - a perfect fit for my sweet tooth!

"I'm making peas and carrots"

Although this is a classic combination of vegetables, I've never had the two together. I can't honestly say I've ever bought frozen peas but I was looking at a recipe for chicken pot pie on Food Network's website and peas and carrots were on my ingredient list. I drove to the supermarket for my weekly visit, with my shabby version of a menu. Forced to decide on an alternate dinner plan after I priced boneless skinless chicken breasts (EX-pensive), I was inspired by the frozen peas and got the idea of making some peas and carrots. I cooked these in a custom ratatouille spice blend I picked up at the Farmer's Market a few months ago, and some white cooking wine. The result was crisp, fresh, tasty veggies, although the amount of times I repeated "I'm making peas and carrots" as a song Sesame Street Style during diner prep nearly drove my partner batty!

First Course...

One of the only things I like more than cooking is eating. (Well perhaps there are other things, but they require far more emotional and physical investment than I am willing to discuss here.) This blog is born out of a workday conversation with my baby sister, about those few things in life which bring me bliss. Cooking and eating happen to rank high on the list. I intend for this blog to be an exploration of all things culinary - from choosing the best spices, to adventures in local restaurants, to late night home-cooked meals. It could be fun, instructional and perhaps even entertaining! Primarily I plan to savor the experience of chatting (mostly with myself) about just why I so love - FOOD!

So here's to cooking, eating and making merry :-)