Smoking and Hell's Kitchen

I was curious. I love Hell's Kitchen but it always amazes me that so many chef's smoke. I know for a fact that smoking kills, well dulls your sense of smell and taste. (Since a good portion of tasting is related to smelling). I just cannot understand how these people can think they have oh so wonderful palates, when they smoke. I know numerous people who once they quit, will make some comment about how good food tastes. So this little idea sent me off to see if great chefs smoke. Gordon Ramsey does not. He's upset that so many chefs do. It's also a main reason why, when they do the blind taste test, so many of them fail. I wonder how many of the great chefs smoke,

OH MY!!

I forgot my new favorite tip! I get my groceries through Peapod. I really don't like grocery shopping so I'll pay the fee. You can still use coupons, they regularly offer discounts on delivery and so on. So about a year ago, I ordered some store brand, frozen, chopped onions. OMG!! The BEST thing ever!! No more onions growing sprouts, getting nasty under the cupboard. I usually have several bags on hand in the freezer. Just dump them in the pan. They are uniformly cut, on the small side so they cook quickly. I love throwing them in scrambled eggs. You can now add onions to anything, with no muss, no fuss and NO TEARS! Try some the next time you go to the grocery store. Let me know how you like them!

Cooking...

I'm not a huge fan of cooking unless it's for a bunch of people. That doesn't happen too often so I hate cooking. I do love making lasagna though, I'm known for it, people love it. Here are a couple of tricks I've thought of over the years. First, though I'm not a huge fan of ricotta cheese, I do firmly believe it NEEDS to be in lasagna for it to taste right. However there is not much I hate more than biting into a big blob of ricotta. YUCK! Trying to layer it on the noodles is a pain in the butt also. I used to do cake decorating so it hit me, put the ricotta into a baggie, snip the tip off and squirt it onto the noodles! Voilá You have your ricotta, no chunks, no muss, no fuss. (I also use this for my latest snack. Tomatoes with a little Miracle Whip and cheddar cheese. I've tried using a knife but tomatoes are just too juicy, so you either get too much or too little. Throw a tablespoon into a baggie and pipe away). At one of my dinner parties, oh so long ago, I had a brilliant idea. I bought the aluminum loaf pans and made individual lasagna! It was so awesome. The Barilla noodles (no pre-cooking required, YEAH!) fit perfectly in the pans. The only exception is the first layer, break the noodle in half lengthwise then you are good to go. Everyone gets their own pan, whatever they don't eat, you put some foil on the top and send them home with it. It's also great if you're single, you make a huge batch of sauce and make a bunch and freeze them. Here are a couple of my favorite food sites, some for the recipes, some for amazing writing and some for just being quirky.

Ree Drummond: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/

Amazingly funny, great recipes and gorgeous photography!

Bakerella: http://www.bakerella.com/

Incredible cake pops and artwork via frosting.

Cake Wrecks: http://www.cakewrecks.com/

Professional cakes gone horribly wrong. Great writing and cake disasters, always good for a laugh.

Mel's Sweet Treats: http://melssweettreats.blogspot.com/

Talented and very patient.

Picture this....

I have a friend who is an amazing photographer! She does kind of boring product shots by day but becomes an artist by night! By the way, he photography isn't boring but how creative can you get shooting a roll of toilet paper? Mayyyybe you shouldn't answer that! I've known Brandy for years but have only gotten to know her on a personal level in the last few. In addition to being very, very talented, she's also a bit quirky. That is meant in a totally complimentary way. The majority if not ALL of my friends are that way. She recently got married and though I've met her husband only a couple of times, it's very clear why they are together. Yeah, those nuts didn't fall very far from their trees. My favorite kind of people! Back on track here. She sells her work in addition to having a blog of her work. So if you are in the mood to see some great images check out her site and shop on Etsy.

Blog: http://brandyhutchinson.blogspot.com/
Website: http://brandyhutchinson.com/
Etsy Shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/BrandyHutchinson

Firsties!!

So here goes. I've debated for a long time whether to start a blog or not. Once I decided that it seemed like a good idea, the truly painful choice of what it should be about. Hmmm, I've had people say I should do a craft blog. I love the idea but I'm such an obsessive compulsive person when it comes to crafts, I wasn't sure how that would go. It would be weeks of beading, followed by weeks of card making or any of the hundreds of other crafts I love to do. Then there is the geeky side of me. I'm a huge Mac head. I love my mac, I love Photoshop, InDesign and Illustrator. Along with tons of other smaller programs, games and the like. Then there are my amazing surfing abilities, uh, no, not on a surfboard, the internet. You figured that out though didn't you? I have tons of favorite websites, which I love sharing and have shared with me. It's amazing what kind of sites you can find by accident. A friend sends you a link to something that strikes them and poof! It becomes a favorite of yours. I also love to write. So many choices!! Hence the name of the blog (which I realize is a little backwards but was the only way to get close to what I wanted to name it) That, This and Everything Else. So you will never know what you might find posted on any given day. A story, tutorial, photos... it's anybody's guess!