September 8, 2004

• I'm cooking now ...

  
  

  Yes, literally.  I'm spending the day in the kitchen, except I'm taking time out now to write a blog.  o_0  If I think about that too long, I'm sure I'm going to start having an issue.  LOL.  I've been working on a cookbook.  The recipes are all candy recipes so I'm riding the wave of reaction to the Lo-Carb diet craze that I'm hoping is going to pick up momentum just about the day that I get this book ready for sale. 

  
  

  I've needed to have a day for where I could just play in the kitchen and take photos of finished candies.  Today is that day.  But of course, once I got my hands on the kitchen and everyone else was out of sight, I couldn't stop with a few batches of goodies.  Oh, no.  I'm in the need of serious comfort food.  So I am cooking real stuff too.  Let me back up a step.  On Wednesdays Eliza takes her kids to enrichment classes in the morning and swim lessons in the afternoon.  My kids started back to school today after a five day break.  For the first time since I've been in Colorado, I don't have a million things that I HAVE to do.  So I'm alone in the house.  Alone in the kitchen ...

  
  

  I'm making cajun stew, squash casserole, and rice. 

  
  

  And about 7 batches of candy for later.

  
  

  I need a little comfort, because I'm starting to stress over things that are going and not going according to my grand plan for how I'm going to be totally on top of my life. 

  
  

  I went in yesterday and took the tests in Microsoft Word and Excel that the temp agency requires for placement.  I scored 100% on the Word test and 88 on Excel.  Those figures are high enough that if I take the full tests, I can be certified by Microsoft.  this may or may not help me find a job, but I like the idea of certification.  It's a validation of my skill that gives me a little boost in confidence.  Ordinarily those tests cost money.  But the temp agency has an arrangement with Microsoft so I can take them at no cost to myself. 

  
  

  I still don't have a job.  Everyone who interviews me or talks with me about employment seems enthusiastic about me.  But either they don't have an opening right now, or the openings they have are not a good fit, or else they want me to work on comission which is scary to me.  So I spent the weekend redoing my resume and reviewing material for these tests I took yesterday morning.  Today, I'm kind of ... cooking. 

  
  

  Cajun Stew (A La Joseph Verrette)

  
  

  1 pound kielbasa sliced (I use the fat free turkey kind even though it really doesn't taste as good)
  1+ pounds of diced chicken
  onion
  celery
  potatoes
  carrots
  red bell pepper
  worchestershire sauce
  garlic
  parsley
  basil

  
  

  Spray a large dutch oven with non-stick cooking spray and brown meats.  Chop veggies in whatever ratio appeals best to you.  I like a LOT of carrots and not so many potatoes. 
  Add to pot with a cup and a half of water.  Cook until veggies are crisp/tender about 45 minutes.  Then add seaconings to taste.  I use approximately a half bottle of worchesterhire, four cloves of garlic, and I'm liberal with the parsley and basil.  Cook another 10 minutes.  Serve in a bowl next to a helping of ...

  
  

  Squash Casserole

  
  

  6-7 yellow squash sliced
  2 onions, sliced
  1.5 cups of mushrooms, sliced
  2 boxes of cornbread mix
  1/2 cup of biscuit mix
  2 eggs, beaten
  1/2 c milk
  1 can cream of celery soup
  1 can cream of chicken soup

  
  

  In a large skillet, sprayed with the non-stick spray, cook down the onion, squash and mushrooms until they are reduced in size by about half.  The squash should be done but not "mushy".  Combine veggies in a large casserole dish with remaining ingredients.  Bake on 375 for  40 minutes or until set in the center. 

  
  

  I'm a happy camper.  Now we'll just have to see when the others get home whether they will eat it. 

  
  

  I love to cook anyway, I especially love to cook in the fall.  I like squash, pumpkin, apples, all kinds of things that I think of as fall foods.  I like when the days get cool enough that I can make stew or chili and hold the bowl in my hands to warm them while I slowly eat it.  Fall is coming already.  The air has a little bite in the morning.  I've seen a few trees with yellow leaves already.  It's all good.

  • 2:37 pm
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