MEAT!

For some reason, it is assumed that men have a thing for meat, especially grilled meat. If you happen to be attached to one of those type of men, I have been working on the perfect grilled meat for you to surprise him with. Succulent, tender-as-can-be ribs. And approachable enough for any female unfamiliar with the grill.

photos by Sheena Jibson

And even simple-to-make homemade barbecue sauce. This recipe is going to make your man so happy.

When will this recipe be ready for your kitchen and eating pleasure? The hope is to have "The Family Flavor: Practical Recipes for the Simple and Delicious" to be done and ready to send to my project manager by mid-November. From there, we go through editing, layout and design. So maybe another month or two after that. If you want a job done right, you take the right amount of time. In complete honesty, I am ready to see a finished product. I know the day I get my first copy of my book in the mail, I will cry like a big baby.

Late-night recipe love

It isn't often that I stay up until 1am to work on recipes, but I did tonight.

Crispy Polenta with Sausage and Fresh Tomato Ragu

Orange and Herb Marinated Tri-Tip Steak

Ham and Cheese Frittata

Couldn't get more diverse than that, eh?

Writing these recipes comes with chopping, weighing, measuring, tasting, smelling, stirring and CLEANING.

Gosh, I sure love food. 

Anything for the shot

Sheena, on my table, 
taking pictures of my food. 

Not an unusual sight. 

Thoughts currently swirling around my head:

Creative idea for a new rice crispie treat recipe.

Another recipe idea for a bake. 

I say bake because the word "casserole" makes me think of 

cream of something soup slippy sliding out of a can. Eww. 

What television show I am supposed to get hooked on

now that I finished "Friday Night Lights".

Mid-photoshoot food prep

Hey there, I just thought I would pop in and say hello. At the moment, I am prepping for my weekly cookbook photoshoot. 4 salads today. One is a fruit salad with favorite summer fruits and all of it is drizzled with a sweet lime syrup. Another one is a quinoa and white bean salad. It is full of fresh herbs, spring vegetables and a delicious vinaigrette. Third is a whole-meal salad, the best kind of salad. Chicken, tortellini, vegetables and pesto. Delicious! The last one to have it's photo debut today is the best pasta salad in the whole wide world. Vegetables, pasta and all of it is doused in a perfect red wine vinaigrette. I am so anxious to share these recipes with people.

At the moment, my two little boys have made a fort in the front yard with a tarp and blankets and patio chairs. I think I might go peek in.

I hope you are enjoying your summer day!

Chocolate Chip Cookie SUCCESS!

Me and trusty cookbook notebook. Scribbled, stained, torn and filled. 

I think I did it! The perfect chocolate chip cookie! Well, at least MY perfect chocolate chip cookie. Chewy on the outside, soft in the middle, big fat pieces of melty chocolate, not too sweet and ever-so-slightly salty. 1 month, lots of research, 5 attempts. Now it goes out for testing. Please bless it works for others as well as it worked for me!

Research!

Research, research, research.

Research about food properties and what ingredients will do when they are combined and exposed to heat. Heat that might be low or high. Heat that might be from an oven or a stove or a grill.

Research about natural sugar content, fat content and moisture content. Research about how those work with different types of heat.

Research about creative, complimentary flavors. Research about preparations methods and techniques. Research about traditional preparations and innovative preparations.

Research about ingredients. Everything from apples to shrimp to butter to ground beef to semisweet chocolate to mustard.

Among the research comes realization. Realization that I know so little. I have so much to learn. Every recipe is teaching me more and more about food. Things like the fact that if you simmer pomegranate juice with even the tiniest bit of olive oil, that pomegranate juice is going to explode like fireworks on the Fourth of July. That was a fun kitchen clean up.

I love food. That is no secret. But what really lures me in is that I will never know everything. I will always be able to learn something new. And that is what makes food and cooking so addicting.

A great foodie quote for your Sunday (and hopefully it is as sunny as mine)

"I look at the carts at the supermarket laden with frozen dinners and other quickie food that need only to be heated in the sterile microwave. I often feel sorry for the people who are missing out on the endlessly rewarding experience of cooking, even if it is just for oneself."

-Judith Jones, "The Tenth Muse: My Life in Food"