Best Cookbook of all Time

As my leftovers from last nights dinner are warming in the oven now, I figured it was an appropriate time to share my fabulous little gem of a cookbook. I'm kind of a cookbook slut. I have huge stacks in my kitchen of them. Probably no less than 30. But a few years back, my mom asked for this book for Christmas and I gladly gave it to her. After a year of her cooking some truly amazing dishes out of it, I asked for it the following Christmas for myself. It is the "The All-New Complete Cooking Light Cookbook"... although its a few years old so "All-New" doesn't really apply anymore (dumb title choice!). Buy it here.

Its healthy but amazing... and I love when cookbooks tell you how long its going to take before you get in over your head. My mom also pointed out that on the Cooking Light website, you can even view reviews of the recipes from other guests. A tool I'll definitely be using although their indication of "All-time Favorite" recipes has been working pretty well for me.

Some of my favorite recipes from here:
Asparagus with Brown Butter
Gruyere, Arugula and Proscitto-Stuffed Chicken with Shallot Reduction Sauce
Four-Cheese Macaroni (seriously? this is healthy!!!)
Margarita Pizza

Oops... My oven just went off. Time for yummy stuffed chicken leftovers!

Life List #112: Check!

Ok... if you've been following me, you know I only have 111 life list items. And I'm not just making up items as I do them so there really isn't nor will ever be an item #112. But after the last few days attempts and fails, this morning's triumph seemed like it should be listworthy.

Yes... you will laugh when you realize that a 31-year-old who has always been known to her friends as a pretty darn good cook & baker with some pretty over-the-top dinner parties on her record, did not know how to make an sunny-side up egg until this morning. I can roll sushi, bake bread from scratch, cook mussels, and even fry my own handcut truffle french fries. But even after resorting to google for tips on the "dippy" eggs (as I used to call them as a little girl), I could not master it! This morning -- done! I feel like I've been so productive today and its only 8am and I am just turning on my computer! (It may have to do with the website I designed in the last few days and my great response from the client last night though too).

Wow. I hate to be all cocky but as a breakfast-making, marathon-running, bible-reading, butt-kicking business entrepreneur over here, I'm getting so good at my life list, I'm now accomplishing things not even on it! ha!

On a side note: my good friend Carrie sent me this Sandwich Sprinkle spice mixture a few years ago to make her famous stuffed jalapenos with. Its ridiculously good on eggs -- "dippy" or not.

Artichoke Hearts and Onions, Here I Come!

So today I biked (slightly hungover -- thanks, Kate!) up to the Cambridge Institute of Culinary Arts for the Knife Skills class that Danielle, Kristen, and Liz signed me up for as my birthday gift (along with the SCARIEST but AWESOMEST butcher knife ever!).

It's official: #72 on my life list — "learn to chop food like a pro" — check! (although I need practice for my speed!)

It was great... learned the different types of knives, what to look for when buying a knife, how to both hone and sharpen your knives, how to hold them, and then the fancy tricks and techniques of cutting. Let's see if I can remember everything I cut:
- oranges (we tournered them first and then cut them into little slices by cutting away the "parchment" in between and moving it to the side as we moved around the orange)
- cucumbers (sliced)
- zucchini (julienned then chopped)
- basil (rolled, then sliced)
- lettuce and radddichio (same way as basil)
- onions... (this was my fave... we halved them but kept some of the brown stemmy part on... then from the bottom of the half we sliced our way up without cutting through, then sliced perpendicular to the stem, then parallel to have nice little diced perfect onions) also with the onions, I was able to teach the other students a trick as they didn't inform us of the perfect way to cut an onion without crying... keep your mouth closed! seriously, if you don't talk and only breath through your nose... not a single tear... I've also heard that burning a candle works but I don't like the scents mixing in my kitchen. they did tell us that the safest cure if you're already tearing up though is to open the freezer and stick your face in for a few seconds. interesting...
- garlic (sliced then minced)
- parsley (bunched into ball and minced)
- peppers (sliced and diced)
- cantaloupe (again with the "tourner" and then quartered and then sliced the middle seeds out — very different then my usual technique)
- mushrooms (simply sliced)
- artichoke... we simply cut out the hearts so it was a lot of choke wasted if you're buying per pound... but it was a very intricate process for getting those clever little artichoke hearts out so I simply could not explain in words... sorry
- pineapple (tournered and quartered and sliced out middle)
- butternut squash (this one is still tough... tourner and then chopped)
- potatoes for fries (peeled and julienned)

And at the end of class, we had a lovely green salad (with the cooked artichoke hearts and oranges), butternut squash soup (amazing... we only used water too and no stock... SO easy, cheap, and less sodium!), frittata (no cheese necessary with so many awesome veggies), and french fries.

It was SOOOO much fun. Thank you girls! I owe you dinner...

Next I get to go back with the gift certificate from Christine and Alex... I think I'm going to take a sushi class which will be great because it is with the same teacher (Hong)... she was great!

My birthday week is off to a great start!

Today is a bevy of blog posts, eh?

Well, its officially birthday week (big day is Thursday) and at my office yesterday, not one, not two, but THREE birthday packages arrived! And, they were all from my awesome friends Alex + Christine in Chicago. They are the most clever gift-givers ever.

Check it -- the first package (which didn't have a "from" anywhere on it so it brought this whole aura of mystery) was a gift certificate to the Cambridge School of Culinary Arts. The second package was an awesome box of various curry spices and bay leaves and such that smelled INTOXICATINGLY good. And the last package was from Amazon.com with an Indian cookbook! I love theme presents!!!

I'm so excited to test out some new recipes and take a class at the cooking school. I've fallen off the cooking band-wagon lately getting lots of take-out and frozen food and I really miss cooking... recipes to share later when I test them out!