Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Comfort Foods

So, I love to cook.
The challenge now is finding the time to actually get in the kitchen to do it! Between work, events, social activities...LIFE in general, it is difficult to put cooking on my priority list. By the time I make the hour drive home I am ready to grab dinner and move on to the next item on my agenda for the night.
However, when I do have the opportunity to try a new recipe, (and EAT it afterward, of course), I definitely take it!
I especially like to cook with the people I love. The following pictures are of meals I have recently cooked with friends or family. Cooked with LOVE, meals made and enjoyed at home in good company give me such a sense of comfort. There really is something relaxing and mildly therapeutic about preparing the food that is capable of providing your energy and nutrition for your LIFE. It is also one of the best chances to take time to connect and catch up with a fellow chef...working together to prepare food you are going to enjoy TOGETHER is such a precious experience to me. Certain cooking experiments have resulted in some of the best belly laughs, inside jokes, enjoyable afternoons, sincere talks, dinners I never wanted to end, and many lasting memories...I cherish these times! Not to mention, they have also provided some great pictures and some GOOD EATING!
ENJOY!!

Honey wheat flatbreads with ricotta & mozzerella cheeses, marinara, and baby spinach. These delicious and healthy pizzas were cooked with Jordan.

Frying up some huge homemade hush puppies at our Fish Fry. Seriously, though...I think next time we might not need to form them as big as softballs!
My best friend, Elizabeth, and I somehow got the duty of going outside in the cold New Year's Eve air to man the fryer. We took one for the team...all for the food :)


THANKSGIVING DINNER is always a family affair. Mom, Julie, and I combined efforts, like always. This year, I came up with a recipe for cornbread dressing...homemade buttermilk cornbread from scratch, boiled eggs, onions...
Last year, I experimented with roasted chestnuts in a French bread dressing that was incredible!


This is a recipe shared with me by a dear friend. Oatmeal is definitely my "comfort food"...warm, hearty, filling...I love it!
Variations on this dish are endless, and I love coming up with new ideas. This recipe includes vanilla soymilk, dried cranberries, toasted almonds, cinnamon, flaxseed, and applesauce.


This was a meal that my mom prepared this fall. Curried butternut squash and garlic collard greens. YUM!
Despite her claims, I think she is one of the best cooks in the world. But maybe I'm a bit partial??...It isn't that she makes anything "fancy" or "gourmet" on a daily basis. However, Sumalee's cooking is consistently tasty and HEALTHY. Her Asian background, (lots of seafood, fresh vegetables, tofu, foods with very few preservatives), mixed with a habit of using olive oil and plenty of GARLIC attributes to the light fare that I am used to from our home kitchen.
On that note...it's time for a snack...






2 comments:

  1. That pizza looks incredible! The Japanese need to get ovens in their houses. . . I want sink my teeth into that sweet looking pizza pie!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love this blog JC! Being a fellow foodie, my mouth is watering as I read down the page. And wouldn't you know it, I just finished eating lunch. My turkey and hummus pita now seems incredibly boring. Let's travel and eat together!!!

    ReplyDelete