Usually I dread all the cooking over the holidays. But this year for some reason
(maybe b/c I've woken up at o'dark:30 most cooking days
) I've enjoyed it. Hasn't been the usual stress
(of course I have made ZERO batches of fudge this year
).
I'm beginning to realize that I MISS the days when I'd get home at a reasonable enough time to start dinner
(with no plans in the evening
). HOW do I get this back??? My weekends are consumed with kids, skiing
(not that I've made it up the mtn this year
), house chores, running, biking
(HA! Like I've really biked lately
), and other family activities.
Here's what I've cooked that's woken up this LOVE of cooking again...
Eggplant Dressing Mix
(I FINALLY wrote it all down so I can do it again sans Mom
)
Chicken Gumbo
(and made a second roux for stew w/ the left over chicken
)
Ham Hock Soup w/ Lentils
(using left over ham hock
)
Homemade Mashed Potato's
(usually just a holiday dish but after reading the post in the other thread I think I SHOULD never buy instant potato's again
)
Tonight I'm cooking Crawfish Fettucine
(enough for 20 - I usually only cook enough for 8
), Cajun Caviar
(app
), and a homebaked from scratch King Cake
(I know it's not Jan 6th, so I'm shaping it into a Tiger Paw for tonights game
)
The King Cake is a challenge and yet fun for me. I'm dough illiterate and handicapped. I'm combining two different recipes
(one for dough, one for filling
)
And now I sit here w/ my sale papers and ready to make my menu for the upcoming week. I remember when my recipes came out of my Cajun cookbooks, not KraftFoods.com and would take more than 30 minutes to cook
(which usually meant I could clean the kitchen while things cooked
).
SO... with ALL THAT being said... what's your favorite dish to cook????