Morsels of Megret

I have spent the past two hours completely gutting and organizing our office (including unpacking some more boxes that were, yes, still taped up and everything since the move). I have moved the bookshelf that Dad painted for me when I was six into this room, and I have placed on its shelves my slurry of cooking magazines. Most of them are Cooking Lights (they have plastic holding cases....the others aren't good enough for that, I guess)....but I do have a few issues of Martha Stewart Living, a handful of issues of Taste of Home, and one lonely issue of Hallmark magazine, a magazine that I adored at first copy, but later learned that it was never able to get off the ground. I now have no excuses to resort to the same old recipes time and again. Sure....tried and true recipes are sometimes called for...when there's a time crunch, or special company that you have to "impress" in some way. But for the most part, I have fallen back into a recipe rut, and now having thes...

I just love the way angel food cake fills up your mouth, like a sugary, fluffy sponge. How it seems to melt on contact just like cotton candy. How it's light as a feather, not leaving you feeling full and bloated after consuming it. I decided earlier this week to make an angel food cake today. They had a huge sale on large eggs recently at my neighborhood Publix , so I stocked up. I realized as I pulled out all of the ingredients this morning that I was out of cake flour, cream of tartar, and almond extract. I used all-purpose flour instead (knowing the the higher protein content would make the cake a big heavier), left out the cream of tartar (therefore sacrificing the added security of stablity in my egg whites), and used more vanilla to replace the almond. Not quite sure this one will be very good. At least I have a slurry of homegrown strawberries and blueberries to pour over the top of each slice. Maybe there will be salvation for this low little cake after all.

I love trail mix. In fact, I love mixed cereal. I guess I love food in harmony. I started my real affection for trail mix while working at a local health food store while in college. I loved the way the salty, crunchy, sweet, and chewy flavors and textures melded together to create the most perfect snack imaginable. I still get giddy whenever I purchase the ingredients to make more trail mix. I take it whenever I go hiking, yes....but I also adore keeping a stash at home. With a new split-level home, I'm sure I climb up and down each day about as much as I would on a hiking trail....and this stuff does the trick to keep my energy stores up and running! Every time is different, but here's what I usually toss in: - Unsweetened flaked coconut - Raisins - Banana chips - Dried papaya - Dried pineapple - Dried apple - Cheerios - Almonds - Roasted peanuts - Chocolate or carob chips I highly suggest you try it as an alternative to potato chips or other guilty snack. Kids love it, t...

Can I just say that there's few things sweeter than a slice of fresh, succulent cantaloupe (grown locally, of course) on a warm day? Sometimes you get a bad one....and then the next time, you get a really, really, really good one. That's all. I am still too speechless to say any more.

I am anti-frying. I hate the way it smokes up the house, and I don't appreciate getting up the next morning to the smell of stale fried food, either....not to mention that the scent also infiltrates my hair, clothes, and even the cat's fur. Yet last night, I turned to it as a last resort, and I'm glad I did. I finally pulled out my mandoline slicer and gave it a whirl (after two months of keeping it in its shiny new box). I successfully cut waffle fries from russet potatoes, and they looked wonderful (but kind of thin). I oiled them up with olive oil, salted them, and sent them to the oven to bake. Twenty minutes later, they emerged soggy and....gray. Yes, that's right. A weird, charcoal-colored gray, leading me to believe that the olive oil had smoked and become carcinogenic. I tossed them, and panicked since the fish was ready already. Ken came in and saved the day. Twenty more minutes and a hot skillet of oil later, we had lovely, scrumptious (yet not at all ...

I haven't given props yet on my blog to someone who inspires me culinarily more than most.... Paula Deen. It's not that she uses extra-technical savviness or know-how....it's just that she is a warm, Southern, hospitable lady who loves to cook for others. Though her recipes are not exactly on the list of the American Heart Association's "top ten" (by far), I turn to her sometimes....after all, what's life if you can't have a treat every now and then? I watch her show with enthusiasm....I look at her outfitted kitchen with a bit of envy....and I want so badly to crash through the television screen and get a hug from her cheery, grandma-self. I'd love to spend a day with her and just listen to her wisecracks and funny old sayings. And then, there's the food itself that she creates..... In honor of her, I am whipping up a batch of sausage balls this afternoon to serve at home group's "brunch" tonight. I am not the only home group...