So I using the trusted old google search to confirm the measurement conversions I know, just to make sure, because I was going to add a conversion table to my cookbooks and I found this site.
http://www.cooks.com/rec/convert/
I've been on cooks.com before when I've googled for recipes of things I've never made before such as stuffed peppers or muffins just to make the first time to get the feel of what the ratios or cooking times should be instead of attempting to go into the kitchen blindfolded.
To be honest I didn't read all of it, I mostly just skimmed it and realized that there was so much more information on the page then I'd hoped for. There's instructions for measuring different textures for exact results and information like that.
At the top it a simple calculator, you tell it how much (1/4, 1/2, 3/4) of what (cup, teaspoon, tablespoon, gallons) and it goes to town telling you all the calculations for that measurement.
I'll still be adding a quick conversion chart in my cookbooks because I for one half a lot of baking recipes because I just don't need 3 dozen cookies, or a 13X9 cake. But there's always those tricky ones like 1/3 cup, 2/3 cup, and 3/4 cup.
Disclaimer: I'm not affiliated with cooks.com. I honestly just did a google search and found something helpful that I thought I'd share with you fine people.
Friday, November 30, 2012
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Rocky Road Pie
I felt ambitious today so i made a chocolate pudding pie with a few extras thrown in. Essentially its based off a recipe i have for rocky road cheese cake, but with pudding instead. It came out amazing!
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Chili and Corn bread
I made chili and corn bread fo dinner tonight. Ive been mixing it up with my chili recipe lately. One thing stays the same though, sour cream and cheddar cheese. I once seen in a cookbook there was a recipe for cheesy chili. I thought it might be interesting until i read the recipe. Chili and cheese. Instructions were to sprinkle cheese over chili. Was there instructions on aquiring the chili? Nope.
My chili in the pan after my husband and I ate.
My homemade corn bread. (Yes I know, my pan is dirty looking. Thats what cooking spray gets you)
And the finished dish. Chili, corn bread, sour cream, and cheese,.
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Update possible
So i did a little looking around and found out that in order to have an update offered to customers you have to ask for one. So i did. And i got a reply from amazon saying that theyll review the changes and decide. It said that if the changes are big theyll send out an email. If their small then theyll simply make the update optional for readers, but youll have to go there yourself.
The email said id get a reply within a couple weeks.
Friday, November 23, 2012
It's over!
The beast has been slain. I finally finished rewriting/reformating/reediting my cookbook. It should be up tomorrow around noon.
My Thanksgiving
Well, the biggest food holiday of the year is over. Now it's time to hash out the details.
On thanksgiving I realized that although I had given my turkey plenty time to thaw in the fridge it hadn't. So In the early morning I put it in a sink of dripping water and hoped it would do it's job. During that time I made the cranberry sauce and got myself ready. I packaged up everything I thought I would need: butter, seasonings, flour for the gravy. We left around 11 something and had to make a stop at walmart to get a few things I had been waiting to get. After that we made the 75 mile drive to my brothers house.
Just after we got there I realized I'd forgot the sweet potatoes and my brother and husband left to the store to get some. I prepped the still just barely frozen inside turkey and ran some luke warm water through it to hopefully at least melt any ice left inside. Getting the stuff out was frustrating. Since it was still slightly frozen the guts bag was frozen in just enough that when I pulled it ripped and I had to dig out the gross stuff. I was like "don't know what this red thing is. Not gonna think about this gray thing..."
After that ordeal I dressed it my usual way and put it in the oven.
A couple hours later my sister in law and I started the potatoes. It was still early but the men were drinking and playing video games so we wanted to do something. She washed and I peeled a few to give me a head start on cutting, then I started cutting and she peeled the rest. Then we filled the pans with water and let them sit. Potatoes won't oxidize (turn pink/orange/brown) if you cover them with water. Just don't leave them that too long because they will rot extremely fast.
Just after that my sister, her husband, and her 2 month old arrived.
My parents drove down to my town (70 miles from their house) to get my other brother who wasn't going to be getting off work until 3pm. My mom had the stuffing with here as well as the pie and dinner rolls.
My mom called me about 15 minutes from getting to the 'party' so I could start the water for the stuffing and give me a time table for throwing the sweet potato casserole in the oven. And when my mom got there I did the stuffing. I also started the gravy at that point since the turkey was done. (I tested the temperature since it was still somewhat frozen when I put it in the oven.
Shortly after that we ate. We all gathered in the living room wherever we found a spot to sit (aka mostly on the floor. But none of us minded, thats usually how we spend thanksgiving). In total we had 9 adults, my two year old, and my sisters 2 month old.
On thanksgiving I realized that although I had given my turkey plenty time to thaw in the fridge it hadn't. So In the early morning I put it in a sink of dripping water and hoped it would do it's job. During that time I made the cranberry sauce and got myself ready. I packaged up everything I thought I would need: butter, seasonings, flour for the gravy. We left around 11 something and had to make a stop at walmart to get a few things I had been waiting to get. After that we made the 75 mile drive to my brothers house.
Just after we got there I realized I'd forgot the sweet potatoes and my brother and husband left to the store to get some. I prepped the still just barely frozen inside turkey and ran some luke warm water through it to hopefully at least melt any ice left inside. Getting the stuff out was frustrating. Since it was still slightly frozen the guts bag was frozen in just enough that when I pulled it ripped and I had to dig out the gross stuff. I was like "don't know what this red thing is. Not gonna think about this gray thing..."
After that ordeal I dressed it my usual way and put it in the oven.
A couple hours later my sister in law and I started the potatoes. It was still early but the men were drinking and playing video games so we wanted to do something. She washed and I peeled a few to give me a head start on cutting, then I started cutting and she peeled the rest. Then we filled the pans with water and let them sit. Potatoes won't oxidize (turn pink/orange/brown) if you cover them with water. Just don't leave them that too long because they will rot extremely fast.
Just after that my sister, her husband, and her 2 month old arrived.
My parents drove down to my town (70 miles from their house) to get my other brother who wasn't going to be getting off work until 3pm. My mom had the stuffing with here as well as the pie and dinner rolls.
My mom called me about 15 minutes from getting to the 'party' so I could start the water for the stuffing and give me a time table for throwing the sweet potato casserole in the oven. And when my mom got there I did the stuffing. I also started the gravy at that point since the turkey was done. (I tested the temperature since it was still somewhat frozen when I put it in the oven.
Shortly after that we ate. We all gathered in the living room wherever we found a spot to sit (aka mostly on the floor. But none of us minded, thats usually how we spend thanksgiving). In total we had 9 adults, my two year old, and my sisters 2 month old.
Heres what was left of my turkey after my dad carved it.
The turkey plate after dinner.
As you can tell, I forgot to take any pictures of the food before dinner. But heres the potatoes.
Gravy after.
What was left of the stuffing.
And the sweet potatoes.
Notice anything missing? I was so distracted that I completely forgot to do anything with the green beans and I forgot to set out the cranberry sauce. We did remember to serve the rolls my mom made but I forgot to take a picture. After dinner when we were packing up to go home I looked in the fridge to get my left over butter and saw the fruit and vegetable sitting there. Sigh. Well there's always christmas. (and no I don't mean I'll keep that exact stuff and serve it christmas. I'll make new.)
Oh and if you wondered, yes the turkey was just slightly pink (not undercooked, just slightly pink in the middle. so we the plate after my dad finished carving it just to be sure.) also, my parents took home the turkey to make soup and casseroles from the left over meat (such as the legs).
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Cars: What Would We Do Without Them?
So my husband and I drove up to see my parents Saturday instead of Friday because he had his work schedule changed from Sun-Thursday to Mon-Friday. About halfway home my lights started to get really dim, then the speedometer and all those gages went to zero and the heat went out. Then we were coasting. I let it coast until I could see a mile marker in my very very dim lights then I pulled over to the side. Here in montana cell service is sketchy so when I checked my phone we were out of service. So I climbed onto the roof and stood on the roof rack as I searched for service. I got a bar for a second or two before it went away several times. So my husband and I walked until we got enough service to send a text to my brother. It only took about 100 feet or so when I got a bar. I texted my brother and told him to call mom. Right after that I got another bar so I could call mom myself. I told her we broke down, what mile marker we were at, and what had happened because my dad spent most of his working years as a mechanic.
About an hour later my parents got there and my dad looked at my car. He said the alternator was shot and he removed it to take with us. My parents drove us the rest of the way home and spent the night with air mattresses. (my mom had figured they'd have to spent the night so she threw in sleeping bags and air mattresses when they left the house). The next morning my dad took apart the alternator and cleaned it us a bit and got it to work enough to get the car home. So my husband and dad went back to the car with a full battery and got it home. My parents left after that.
Monday I called the auto parts store and had them order me a new one, which arrived today (tuesday). Last night I had my husband take off the old alternator and show me how it's done. My husband has a few people who car pool with him to work so I couldn't use his car, so today I put the old alternator in my back pack and rode my bike out in the cold and rain to the auto parts store 3.5 miles from my house. Then rode back with the new one (they give you a discount if you bring in the old one and switch it for the new one. I still paid $140 for it. ouch). When I got home I put it in and started the car up. And it worked like a charm.
Now that that's all over I can resume working on my cookbook.
About an hour later my parents got there and my dad looked at my car. He said the alternator was shot and he removed it to take with us. My parents drove us the rest of the way home and spent the night with air mattresses. (my mom had figured they'd have to spent the night so she threw in sleeping bags and air mattresses when they left the house). The next morning my dad took apart the alternator and cleaned it us a bit and got it to work enough to get the car home. So my husband and dad went back to the car with a full battery and got it home. My parents left after that.
Monday I called the auto parts store and had them order me a new one, which arrived today (tuesday). Last night I had my husband take off the old alternator and show me how it's done. My husband has a few people who car pool with him to work so I couldn't use his car, so today I put the old alternator in my back pack and rode my bike out in the cold and rain to the auto parts store 3.5 miles from my house. Then rode back with the new one (they give you a discount if you bring in the old one and switch it for the new one. I still paid $140 for it. ouch). When I got home I put it in and started the car up. And it worked like a charm.
Now that that's all over I can resume working on my cookbook.
Friday, November 16, 2012
Reformatting
Okay to be honest I've been putting off going through my beast of a first cookbook because of the work involved. I went through cookbook #2 and got my favorites and holiday pamphlets up. And now theres nothing left to do but my 1st cookbook.
I managed to get myself to sit down and start around noon today. It's not 3:30 and I have 1 info chapter done and I'm on recipe 3. I'm realizing that this is going to be a much bigger project than I had thought. However I am changing so much that amazon will probably offer an update to those of you who bought it already. I can't promise it though because that's all done by amazon. If not then I will schedule a free day sometime after the new file goes up.
I managed to get myself to sit down and start around noon today. It's not 3:30 and I have 1 info chapter done and I'm on recipe 3. I'm realizing that this is going to be a much bigger project than I had thought. However I am changing so much that amazon will probably offer an update to those of you who bought it already. I can't promise it though because that's all done by amazon. If not then I will schedule a free day sometime after the new file goes up.
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Rambling About Pizza
As the name of this post suggests this is about just pizza. Why pizza? Because it's so easy to make and the options are endless.
So a little trivia first. The first dinner item I ever made (all on my own) after my mom and I switched chores (I used to wash the dishes, and she would cook. We both hated our jobs so we switched) was pizza. I used her pizza dough recipe and I messed with it a bit here and there (and I still do) to make it my own. Later I started making calzones and other pizza products.
My taco pizza was a real hit with my family. I got the idea from a cookbook for kids that had a recipe with tortillas being used as pizza crust for personal kids pizzas and one of the recipe ideas was taco inspired. Of course it was a name brand cookbook so it wanted the person to use brand name ingredients and meat/taco seasoning instead of what I use.
My mom had a pizza once with a friend at MacKenzie River Pizza (a chain restaurant in montana, maybe elsewhere. I've never been there but there's one pretty close to our house). The pizza was Asian style with all those strange Asian sauce and vegetables. My mom says it was really good.
And then there's my all time favorite which is chicken alfredo (with bacon when we can). It's so simple and easy to make if you keep jars of alfredo on hand like I do.
So the point of this post is to remind everyone that pizza isn't just tomato sauce and pepperoni. It can be anything you want it to be. In the examples given it went from Italian to mexican, to asian, and back to Italian. the possibilities are endless with a pizza crust.
So a little trivia first. The first dinner item I ever made (all on my own) after my mom and I switched chores (I used to wash the dishes, and she would cook. We both hated our jobs so we switched) was pizza. I used her pizza dough recipe and I messed with it a bit here and there (and I still do) to make it my own. Later I started making calzones and other pizza products.
My taco pizza was a real hit with my family. I got the idea from a cookbook for kids that had a recipe with tortillas being used as pizza crust for personal kids pizzas and one of the recipe ideas was taco inspired. Of course it was a name brand cookbook so it wanted the person to use brand name ingredients and meat/taco seasoning instead of what I use.
My mom had a pizza once with a friend at MacKenzie River Pizza (a chain restaurant in montana, maybe elsewhere. I've never been there but there's one pretty close to our house). The pizza was Asian style with all those strange Asian sauce and vegetables. My mom says it was really good.
And then there's my all time favorite which is chicken alfredo (with bacon when we can). It's so simple and easy to make if you keep jars of alfredo on hand like I do.
So the point of this post is to remind everyone that pizza isn't just tomato sauce and pepperoni. It can be anything you want it to be. In the examples given it went from Italian to mexican, to asian, and back to Italian. the possibilities are endless with a pizza crust.
Thanksgiving! and Holiday Cookbook.
So this year for thanksgiving we're having it at my brothers house that he and his wife just bought. however they don't actually cook (unless you call frozen pizza cooking) to much so my mom and I will be doing the cooking. Which is fine cause I love cooking.
So I was at walmart yesterday (shocker) and I went ahead and bought myself a turkey pan. Two years ago when I hosted Thanksgiving I borrowed my moms pan and for Christmases and Easters I've borrowed the pan, so I decided it was time. It was almost $10 for a really large (bigger than a 13X9) about 3-4 inches deep and comes with a rack you set in there to set the turkey on and when it's done you lift it out and you have all the wonderful drippings to make the gravy with. My question? Where do you set the turkey while you pour the drippings into the skillet? Oh well, details.
I also bought the turkey yesterday. It's a 16.? (don't remember the full number but almost 17lb) from Jamie-O. My brand preference goes as far as "this one is $0.88lb and that one is $1.06lb, we're getting the first one" Of course when I took a picture of it for my book cover I had to use the black tape over the name because I don't want to get in trouble. Also I didn't pick it because of the name, I picked it because of the price.
And speaking of price... Holy Cow! Two years ago when I bought one it was 14lb and about $7.50 total. I understand why it's gone up but still it's just wow.
Finally on to my holiday cookbook: I woke up yesterday morning around 7am and realized I was going write that and never got around to it. So I had to get it all ready, call my mom and ask her to quickly edit it, email it to her and wait. She of course was fast at it (not just because it's pretty dang short). When I got it back in my inbox I had to put in the finishing touches and post it online. Then I realized I didn't have a cover photo or a turkey to take a picture of. So I went to walmart with my husband when he got off and we got our turkey and pan, and a few other things for thanksgiving. When we got home I was still figuring out my picture and I finally hit on a good idea. So I went out to the shed (in the dark with a flashlight regardless of my fear of zombies) and dug around untill I found our christmas tree decorations. Essentially I was picturing the classic picture of the turkey fresh out of the oven with all the vegetables and stuffing around it, only I used the tree decorations.
So I was at walmart yesterday (shocker) and I went ahead and bought myself a turkey pan. Two years ago when I hosted Thanksgiving I borrowed my moms pan and for Christmases and Easters I've borrowed the pan, so I decided it was time. It was almost $10 for a really large (bigger than a 13X9) about 3-4 inches deep and comes with a rack you set in there to set the turkey on and when it's done you lift it out and you have all the wonderful drippings to make the gravy with. My question? Where do you set the turkey while you pour the drippings into the skillet? Oh well, details.
I also bought the turkey yesterday. It's a 16.? (don't remember the full number but almost 17lb) from Jamie-O. My brand preference goes as far as "this one is $0.88lb and that one is $1.06lb, we're getting the first one" Of course when I took a picture of it for my book cover I had to use the black tape over the name because I don't want to get in trouble. Also I didn't pick it because of the name, I picked it because of the price.
And speaking of price... Holy Cow! Two years ago when I bought one it was 14lb and about $7.50 total. I understand why it's gone up but still it's just wow.
Finally on to my holiday cookbook: I woke up yesterday morning around 7am and realized I was going write that and never got around to it. So I had to get it all ready, call my mom and ask her to quickly edit it, email it to her and wait. She of course was fast at it (not just because it's pretty dang short). When I got it back in my inbox I had to put in the finishing touches and post it online. Then I realized I didn't have a cover photo or a turkey to take a picture of. So I went to walmart with my husband when he got off and we got our turkey and pan, and a few other things for thanksgiving. When we got home I was still figuring out my picture and I finally hit on a good idea. So I went out to the shed (in the dark with a flashlight regardless of my fear of zombies) and dug around untill I found our christmas tree decorations. Essentially I was picturing the classic picture of the turkey fresh out of the oven with all the vegetables and stuffing around it, only I used the tree decorations.
The book cover photo for my holiday cookbook pamphlet.
Okay so I might of had a little bit of fun making it and playing with the font which I downloaded after googling 'free christmas font'. I also got those little tree, snow man, holly, candy cane, and stocking outlines from the site. Basically their just another font. The tree is the letter S in that font and the stockings are the letter M and so on.
Anyway, so I got it all uploaded and ready to buy. I used the recipes I've been using for a few years now and I love. It is short with only 11 recipes but to me, the holiday's are a special time and the food is the most important part of it. (other then having family around I mean)
I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving! I'll post pictures of the food afterwards.
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