Food to prepare for daughter's friends.
Juju Kloss
5 years ago
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The Zen of Food Preparation
Comments (25)I'm not a Zen cook at all, but then my life is not very Zen either. My kitchen tends to be messy and chaotic, and I don't enjoy cooking, just do it becuase I enjoy eating good tasting, healthy food. I have more than a few failures which discourages me and then I get in a bad mood. Things sometimes come together in my kitchen and I can turn out something really yummy, but that is more a random act of grace than Zen. Keep at it long enough something good is bound to happen, or to be Zen about it, "Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water." However, I was actually influenced a bit by a Zen monk in my early days as a cook. If you're interested in this kind of thing, check out the classic "Tassajara Bread Book" by Edward Espe Brown. It is the anthitheses of "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day" lol! I guess there is also another cookbook with main dishes, and I think both are out of print. I also saw a video made about him, he cooks for a Zen monastary in CA. The video was OK, nothing spectacular. But then that's Zen too, lol! "If you understand, things are just as they are. If you do not understand, things are just as they are." A favorite Zen saying of mine. I linked to the video below. Here is a link that might be useful: How to Cook Your Life...See MoreDoes anyone buy prepared foods for Thanksgiving?
Comments (71)I guess what really roiled the mud was new Annie's statement that she thought scratch cooking only was snobbish....to her credit she said "in my opinion". We all "entertain" our families the way we think best expresses our love....unless we admit we just don't care....and I think we all care. I have a friend who is an awful cook....she really doesn't...but she does a wonderful loving family dinner....her DH puts a boneless rib roast in the oven, she washes some potatoes and wraps them in foil, he makes a lovely Ceasar salad, she buys rolls and a bad Costco cheese cake....and sets a wonderful table, with favors and all sorts of lovely things....shaped ice cubes in the glasses, molded butter, sprigs of herbs on the napkin rings and a silver punch bowl full of ice and bottles of champagne on the coffee table. Not much cooked by her but for sure her hand is in the party Not much "scratch cooking"...but lots of stuff done with love. Perhaps what so many of us are trying to say...is love is expressed by giving of yourself....and the more of yourself you give, the more love is expressed. We all know stories about parents who relegate the raising of their children to hired help. They say they are expressing their love because a nanny isn't cheap etc etc. we know that all things can now be bought....everything from home made cakes to pies to ready decorated Christmas trees. Do you thing you are "expressing love" for your family if you call the caterer and order a dinner....and call the servers and window dressers to set the table and decorate the house....and you simply stand at the door? Or does an "expression of love" involve a giving of soem of yourself...your time and energy and creativity? I think that's what us scratch cooks are saying, we give of ourselves, and that is our way of showing love. But on another plane, cooking and providing food is the very most primitive sort of nurture. So when we prepare food and place in front of those we love, we are nurturing them in the most primitive way. Whew! Got heavy for a while there! Linda C...See MoreDo you prepare and measure your food before cooking?
Comments (26)It depends on what it is and if I am going to have help from my husband to do the cutting and chopping. I try to plan things like that when he is around to do the chopping. I just can't do much of that anymore. For some things I can use my food processor or slicer chopper. Baking which I don't do a lot I do follow the directions and do exact measurements but regular cooking I rarely measure which is why it is hard for me to give someone one of my recipes I have to stop and think about how much of each thing I use. I cook by feel and experience, been doing something so long you just know it, I do it my way. I do at times buy the containers of fresh chopped veggies and onions etc at the grocery especially if I think I will need it and he won't be there to help. Today I have a huge roaster pot in the oven filled to the brim with fresh cut okra(they had it all cut and ready at the grocery) and onions and tomatoes, cooking it down to have some for dinner but mostly to divide up into portions just right for making gumbo then put them in the freezer. Time for gumbo grab one and toss it in the pot of gumbo voila perfect okra gumbo. Did I mention how much we love smothered okra onions and tomatoes? OMG and it is smelling really good. I picked up the containers of fresh chopped onions at the store since I knew I would be starting this while he was at work. I like those much better than the bags of the frozen ones. When you have those kinds of problems you have to do what it takes to deal with it. It cost more to buy them cut up, I'm willing to pay it when I have to....See MoreWhat Foods Are You Preparing Ahead of Time?
Comments (16)Looney, you officially have one more freezer than I do, and I always thought I had too many, LOL. I don't make that much stuffing, but I do raise beef and pork and chicken and my husband hunted deer this year with a bow, so that takes much of my freezer room. My daughter is celiac and can't have gluten, so I make two kinds of stuffing, a cornbread based one for her and my Southern sweetheart of a husband, but I've never seen one with evaporated milk added. I might have to try that.... I do much of my cooking just a day or two ahead of time. Desserts get made the day before as they "hold" fine, although whipped cream has to be beaten just before serving, I cannot get it to stay without breaking if I do it ahead. I've added cornstarch, powdered sugar, cream of tartar. It still breaks after about an hour, every time. I sometimes make dinner rolls a month ahead and kept them frozen, then thaw and bake the day of the meal. If I make butterflake rolls I make them the night before, refrigerate the rolls and bake just before the meal. I make the Cranberry Jezebel the day before, and usually assemble the vegetable side dishes so they can be heated in the oven, including that sweet potato/marshmallow abomination that my girls love. My girls also want a fruit salad concoction that includes crushed pineapple, apricots, walnuts, cream cheese, orange jello and whipped cream. I make that the night before so it can thicken, if I have that, some years I just can't face it and just make a nice fruit mixture instead. The turkey, the stuffing, the mashed potatoes and the gravy all get made the day of, as well as any fresh salad if I decide we're having that. Appetizers always include a cheeseball of some kind, I think this year it's going to be pimento cheese and that will be done the day before, I'm still working on another appetizer, maybe artichoke/spinach dip, everyone likes that. We also always have a relish tray with homemade pickles, a variety of olives and crackers, usually deviled eggs because I like them. The pickles are all home canned, so those go in the fridge a couple of days before to keep them cold and crunchy, especially Chase's dills which are a favorite of Bud's, but he wants them cold. Deviled eggs get made the same day or the texture suffers. I usually make my menu, then make a list of what I need to do and which day I need to do it, then I prioritize tasks. A couple of days before we'll add the leaves to the dining room table, bring in the extra chairs, make sure the tablecloth is clean, find the turkey platter, and pick up the turkey so it'll have time to brine. My girls usually come early and help me get all the last minute stuff done. Annie...See Morerob333 (zone 7b)
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