Cooking Meme

Quiche Lorraine by Ron

Another meme folks!  This one is a food meme. I stole borrowed this from Cubby of Patently Queer.

1. Can you cook? If yes, do you like to cook?

Damn right I can cook!  From my earliest memory I wanted to cook.  When I was in high school during the Fifties I wanted to be in the Home Economics class ('Home Ec') but this was back in the Bad Old Repressive Uptight Eisenhower Years where the boys' place was Shop and the gals place was Home Ec. I used to help my Mom cook (who had a very limited repertoire) and then when I got married to Bill I taught myself from cookbooks.  I am the best cook I know, par none and I make no excuses for bragging about it.  I cook better than any restaurant I've ever eaten at.  I am my best cook which is one of the joys of my life.  By the way, my first cookbook was "The Joy of Cooking."  Appropriate.

Ron's signature apple pie

2. When do you eat with your whole family?

I eat alone.  My husband Bill prefers to eat at a different time than I do.  Once in a great while I will invite our friend Bob C. over for dinner and I will whip up one of my specialities and we will all sit down at the table together for a kumbuya meal.  I normally eat at 7 to 8 pm at night at the kitchen counter  while watching TV.  We have never used our dining room since we moved into our new home in 2006. When we have company (Bob C.), I set the dishes out and we eat at the table in the kitchen, which has the best view of our backyard.

I eat at the counter in the corner of the kitchen 

3. What do you eat for breakfast?

Corn Chex with 2% milk and bananas or strawberries when they are in season.

Ron's breakfast - everyday

4. What do you eat on weekdays?

Lunch is Doritas Buffalo chips and a hummus wrap of either spinach and artichoke or red pepper sprinkled with feta cheese.  'Dessert' is a handful of Diamond glazed walnuts (which I am trying to wean myself off of to drop five pounds.)

My guilty pleasure (and the reason I have a 'tube' around my waist)

5. How often do you eat out (in a restaurant)?

About once a week.  I like to eat out but I am no fan of restaurant food. Most of it is overpriced hog swill (my term).  I eat out for the camaraderie of my friends.  Once in a great while I will find a restaurant that serves good, fresh food but it is always obscenely overpriced ($60 inluding tip last time for a medallion of pork which really was 'fork tender' - but I could have done the same thing at home.)  Where I live now I am at a disadvantage because it is a beach resort and the restaurants can get away with the Sysco pre-cooked, tasteless packages of overpriced food due to the heavy tourist traffic.  Off season most of the restaurants are closed and the ones who are open serve the same bland concoctions.  

Cracker Barrel - it's the friends not the food

6. How often do you order delivery/take-out?

Never.  Ever since I heard that my co-worker's boyfriend who worked in a pizza shop (a national chain) performed a sexual act on a take-out pizza with his bored co-workers for laughs, I have no appetite for the Russian Roulette of take-out meals.  Ever take a look at what who works at take-outs?  I rest my case.

Beware of what's in the bag

7. Regarding no. 5 and 6: Say there weren’t financial reasons, would you do this more often?

It is expensive to eat out but I can afford it (as long as I have my present part-time job) and it is worth it to me to spend time with my friends.

Well off retirees dining at MIXX in Rehoboth - expensive but good

8. Are there any “standard dishes” you serve regularly?

I serve myself a 'standard dish' of Caesar Salad with either a chicken an vegetable casserole or eggplant casserole.  Once in a great while I make a slow cooker, fork tender,  beef stew with white wine.  I have either French Fries or oven baked potatoes every night.  I also have ONE dessert a day, taken before I go to bed.  Usually this is a cake which I vary between lemon pound cake, apple cake or pineapple cake. 

Hawaiien Wedding Cake - Ron Style

9. Have you ever cooked for more than 6 persons?

Very, very rare.  Last time I did it was thirty-five years ago for my brother, his wife and two daughters, my Mother and my husband Bill.  It is doubtful that I will ever cook for more than three people again in my lifetime. 

1969 - Philadelphia, PA home - Coq au Vin served

10. Do you cook every day?

Every day, without fail.  I cannot stand prepacked, frozen food.  It is poison.  It makes me sick and I cannot digest it.  I appreciate the convenience but if the food makes me sick (no matter how often they put "No Perservatives" and "All Natural" on the package), that cardboard food still makes me sick.  I would rather have a bowl of cereal with fresh fruit than ingest those chemicals.

Dinner is serve at our home - very rare

11. Have you ever tried recipes from blogs?

Yes, I always try new recipes.  Sometimes I find some great ones.  

Lemon Pound Cake from a blog - scrumptious!

12. Who cooks more frequently at your home?

I do ALL THE COOKING in this family.  Only one time in our forty-seven years of domesticity has my husband Bill cooked.  It was a DISASTER.  Bill usually eats peas right out of a can with a large dollop of  mayonnaise, which is what he prefers.  He eats 'lunch' at 10 am in the morning.  'Dinner' for Bill is 4 pm in the afternoon.  I eat breakfast at 7 am in the morning.  Lunch at 1 pm in the afternoon and dinner at 7 or 8 pm at night.  We're on different eating schedules.  When I bake a large casserole, Bill will take a couple of large serving spoons in his Eating Bowl with TWO dollops of mayonnaise.  That is his special treat.  He likes my cooking but has asked me not to cook too much because he wants to lose weight and he can't if I'm cooking all this good food.  

Christmas dinner at Mom and Pop's 1969

13. And who cooks better?

No contest, me.  Yes, I'm bragging.  No false modesty here when it comes to who is the best cook in this household.  It is me.  I cook the best casseroles, stews, soups, desserts, et al.  The only thing I don't cook is fish or any type of seafood because I hate seafood and the way it stinks up the house.  Bill loves seafood.  Our neighbor is a fisherman and he frequently brings Bill fish that he has already cooked. I also don't cook fried foods anymore because since we have an open area (Great Room) house, I don't want all that grease in our curtains and upholstery.  Plus, eating non fried foods is much healthier.  I even bake my French Fries. 

My signature oven baked potatoes in olive oil with skins - delicious!

14. Do you cook totally different compared to your mother/parents?

Yes, my mother had a very limited cooking repertoire.  She made what my father liked with was basically meat and potatoes.  She did make very good biscuits though which I have never been able to duplicate.  I never had spaghetti or any food with garlic until I left home and was in the Army.  I never ate at a restaurant until I was in the Army.  After I taught myself to cook, my Mother tried and loved many of my recipes, except the ones with garlic in them which I occasionally would sneak in to play a prank on her.  My Mother did make good salmon patties which I haven't done...yet.  It's seafood and I'm afraid I'll stink up my hands when I make it.  I can't stand a fishy smell, it gags me.  

My Mom making her salmon patties - she could do it with her eyes closed - this was the last time she did made them, she died shortly thereafter - I'm glad I have this picture of her smiling making her 'patties'

15. If yes, do you nevertheless eat at your parents?

My father used to make a good vegetable soup. And as I said before, Mom's biscuits were the best plus she made a good stuffing for turkey and gravy.  Both my parents are gone now.

My father making his signature fresh garden veggie soup

16. Are you a vegetarian or could you imagine being one?

Absolutely!  I love vegetables.  Eggplant casserole is my favorite.  I've had it the last three nights in a row.  The meat I eat is boneless chicken but I can't eat a whole half breast anymore.  I cut it into one inch chunks and mix  it with fresh vegetables (not the frozen bags of tasteless veggies).  I haven't eaten a steak in over fifty years.  Prime rib? Once at a Christmas Party dinner I was sitting next to my co-worker Christine and she ordered a prime rib, rare.  I took one look at that big slab of pink pulsating meat and asked her "Are you going to eat that?"  She flashed a big smile on her cherubic face and said "Every last bite!"  I almost fainted.  

What I feel like doing when I see a 'prime' rib 

17. What would you like to cook which you haven’t dared to make yet?

The same answer as Cubby, a souffle.

18. Do you prefer cooking or baking?
I like both but I do more cooking than baking except for cakes.  I don't eat bread anymore. I did make wonderfully tasty yeast rolls but I have weaned myself totally from bread.  I don't need it. 

19. What is your greatest misery in the kitchen?
Years ago when I used to have company over for dinner to try and impress them I was making a Beef Stroganoff.  While my company of three was sitting at the table waiting me to put the finishing touches (stirring in the sour cream) I opened the door to the cabinet above the stove to reach for a serving plate for the beef stroganoff and a glass pie dish fell out right into the pan of beef stroganoff!  I couldn't believe it!  Here I had rubbed each piece of thinly sliced, expensive, tender beef individually with garlic and had everything JUST RIGHT and this pie dish crashes into the frying pan where my beef stroganoff was residing.  I tried to pick out the shards of glass from the pie pan all the while assuring my company 'all was well'.  My hubby Bill saw what I was doing and how upset I was (I was very young at the time and felt the need to impress my company unlike now...whatever, whatever) and he wisely came out into the kitchen and, which he was patting me on the back to calm me down, said "Ron, you can't serve this. It has glass in it."  I tried to convince him that I got out all the pieces of glass but was unsuccessful.  The only other food I had in the house was some of those awful frozen veal patties that tasted like the tongues of shoes.  THAT meal was my BIGGEST DISASTER every.  I remember it as clearly today as I did that day about 45 years ago.  Lesson learned, if you break a pie dish in the meal you're serving, don't serve it to your guests because you might injure or kill them.




 20. What do you dislike?

SEAFOOD!  Anything cooked with seafood reminds me of the flotsam that is left behind on the beach after the tide goes out.  Sorry folks, but there it is.  No offense to my female friends but as a gay guy, anything that smells fishy gags me.  This gay guy anyway.  I know there are gay guys who LOVE seafood.  I ain't one of them.  The irony is that I now live at a seaside beach resort and other than chicken, that's all the restaurants have to offer down here...SEAFOOD.  No thank you.  Eggplant Parmesan, now you're talking.

I found this baby shark on the beach during my walk last summer, probably ended up in a local restaurant bouillabaisse soup which they charged an arm and a leg

Dining In

These days I'm dining in.

I have three good reasons for dining in:



1) No one is available (or can afford) to dine out with me (I don't like to dine alone)

2) The food at the restaurants that I've dined at, isn't as good as my own cooking

3) It is too expensive to dine out

I've always like cooking. I'm not a gourmet cook. I don't cook fish, most meats or any exotic food. I'm a comfort food cook.

At one time of my life I used to like cooking for company but I have lost interest in that over the years. Occasionally I'll have a friend over for a meal, but nothing like pot luck for multiple folks. That's not my style.



One of my all time favorite dishes is Eggplant Parmesan. I always ordered this out because I didn't think I could cook it. Another favorite of mine is French fried potatoes. I don't deep fat fry food in my house because I don't want that greasy smell permeating my curtains and the upholstery of my living room furniture.



Because of the difficulty of finding a friend to dine out with me, I decided to take matters into my own hands.



Guess what? I can do it! I now have a recipe for Eggplant Parmesan that is better than any I've ever had at a restaurant. I also have a wonderfully delicious recipe for oven baked potatoes that is so much tastier and healthier than anything that I can buy at a restaurant.

Tomorrow I'll post the recipes of my Eggplant Parmesan and Oven Baked Potatoes.



Now my only goal is to master preparing Chicken Quesadillas as good as the one I have at the Brickside Grill in Eagleview, PA. I've had Chicken Quesadillas at other restaurants but they've all been cheesy messes. Only the Brickside Grill prepares this dish with pumpkin seed and fresh salsa. Other restaurants say they have "fresh salsa" but it's not the truly fresh salsa which is fresh tomatoes, onion, and jalapeno peppers and NO tomato sauce.



Another problem I have in dining out in this poor economy is that the restaurants I've been too have had a noticeable drop in quality of food. I think it's because they're cutting back on their supplies and don't the customers will notice. I've noticed and won't be back anytime soon.



Except for my weekly breakfast outing, I'll be dining in.....alone.

A Salad a Day Keeps the Doctor Away

A few years ago I ran into an old classmate of mine from high school. We were both in the vegetable section of Wegmans supermarket. He was shopping for salad ingredients for his new health diet to combat heart disease. While I've never been one for salads I thought I would give it a try too. When I grew up Mom didn't make salads for our dinner table. We usually had overcooked green string beans or corn on the cob. That was about it. The only salads I had were when I dined out and that was a hit or miss experience. Once in a great while I got a salad I liked. Not very often though.

So I took my friend's advice and got some salad ingredients for myself. Well, I have to say I am now hooked. I liked my salads the best. I have basically two types of salads. Either a Caesar Salad of Romaine lettuce, sprinkled with Parmesan cheese and a Caesar Vinaigrette salad dressing. I can't take the heavy fat laden salad dressings. I sprinkle Caesar croutons on top of the salad. My other favorite salad is "Ron's Salad." This salad consists of torn Romaine lettuce leaves, cucumber, sliced white or red onion, and those little round red tomatoes (not cherry or plum but the "other" ones) that are so expensive (but so worth it.) I sprinkle a little salad seasoning on it and Italian croutons. I use a sun dried red tomato Italian vinaigrette dressing on this salad. These salads hit the spot with me. I know they're right because my stomach welcomes them. With other salads, especially ones made with iceberg lettuce, I feel like I ate nothing but salad dressing.

I used to buy prepackaged Romaine salads but I now find it more economical to but one of those three packs of Romaine lettuce and prepare my own greens. I occasionally like to buy the Spring Mix and have it with a Raspberry Walnut vinaigrette. I don't like salad dressings with the heavy calories. I feel it takes away from the taste of the fresh greens and tomatoes. Salad dressing should be accompany, not dominate a salad.

I have been remiss in my blog postings. I try to make a daily blog posting but there is just so much going on in this retiree's life, sometimes I just don't have the time. One thing I always have time for though is a good salad and I make a damn good salad!

Dinner Disaster

Last week I had a few friends over for dinner. It was a disaster. Here is what happened. I wasn’t really in the mood for preparing a big dinner. I was more in the mood to do yard work because it was such a beautiful day outside. So, I got sloppy. I decided to make Fettuccine Alfredo. My first mistake was I didn’t cook the fettuccine long enough. They were like rubber bands. I should have set the timer so I would know when the pasta was done. I don’t think I have ever set a timer on cooking pasta. I usually check by eye. This time it didn’t work.

My second mistake was that I didn’t have heavy whipping cream. I thought I could get by with using half and half. Well folks, half and half had the effect of making milk soup. Yes folks, I made rubber bands with milk soup. But, I didn’t think my company would notice. Bill, my partner, is like Mikey…..he can eat anything. Our two guests are not known as gourmands.

First up was the salad. That went well enough. Next up was the Fettuccine Alfredo. The first sign of trouble was that everyone had trouble getting the little rubbery things out of the bowl. Those noodles wanted to go everywhere but the plate for which they were intended. Bill wanted a knife to cut the noodles so he could spoon them out of the bowl. I told him that wasn’t proper protocol for serving Fettuccine Alfredo.

Finally, with noodles on the plates, the dinner social conversation renewed. After only a few minutes, Bill stopped eating and looked directly at me and said “This is awful!" Uh oh. The gig was up. I didn’t think anyone would notice. Someone did. I had fooled myself but there was no fooling Bill. My dinner guests were too polite to voice any displeasure but they were not forthcoming with the compliments that I am used to receiving for one of my diner repasts. The comments I did receive were “Don’t worry about it.” “It’s alright.” Uh huh. Tranlated it meant "WTF?" Disaster.

I gathered up the dinner plates of rubbery fettuccine, bacon bits swimming in the milk soup. I took the plates over to the garbage disposal where I slid the slimy mess into oblivion and turned the disposal on. Those noodles even fought the disposal. "Grind, grind. Chug, chug."

Time for dessert! Tonight the sweet de jour was Tropical Delight Hawaiian wedding cake. I have made this dessert many times in the past and it is almost fail safe. This time was no exception. I happily received expected praise from my dining companions. But the damage was done. The main course was an unmitigated disaster.

This is only the second time in my long cooking career that I bombed. The first time was years ago when we lived in Philadelphia. I decided to make sweet potato pie from scratch without a recipe. After all, how hard could it be? It was awful. I still remember the shocked look on Bill’s face all those years ago when he asked me “What did you do to this pie?” I have always been known for my expertise in making desserts but I missed Big Time on the sweet potato pie. My mistake was that I didn’t add any sugar. I figured “sweet potato”, there’s the “sweet”; it doesn’t need sugar. Well girls and boys, sweet potato pie needs a LOT OF SUGAR. This "pie" was about the blandest piece of crap I ever ate. There was no getting away from it. Tasteless. Mush in pie crust.

Tonight I redeem myself. One of the two guests returns for dinner tonight. I’m making my signature Swiss Steak casserole. I’ve been making this entrée for years. It is my own recipe and it never misses. It’s a mess to make but oh so delicious with the tender portions of round steak smothered by tomatoes, green pepper, and onions and a bit of salt and just a dash of pepper. I serve it with another one of my tried and true recipes, Squashed Potatoes. Bill usually just heaps his plate with Squashed Potatoes and puts a dab of Swiss Steak on top like ketchup.

Unfortunately for one my guests last week that was his first introduction to my cooking skills. You know what they say about “You only get one chance to make a first impression?” I’ll have a long way to go until I redeem my cooking skills in his eyes. At least I have nowhere to go but up. Maybe I should of told him I was serving him calamari with milk soup.

Buttermilk Chocolate Cake

Time for an upbeat blog posting. Too many of my recent blogs have been downbeat, reflecting my funk over the weather and the cold I just got over.

Pictured is my third making of Buttermilk Chocolate cake. I found this recipe on the side of a Swan's Down cake flour box. I've never made a good chocolate cake before (except my German Chocolate cake, my father's favorite that I haven't made since he died in August of 2000.) This one called for 2 1/2 cups of buttermilk. Two sticks of butter. Two cups of sugar. Low calorie it's not. But it is GOOD! In the past two weeks I've made it three times.

Company is coming tonight so this will be my piece de resistance (don't worry about the spelling, you know what I'm talking about.) On the menu is crock pot beef stew with mushrooms cook in Chablis wine. Vegetables are smashed potatoes and Caesar salad. Wine served will be Pinot Noir. Better than any overpriced Rehoboth Beach restaurant, that's for sure. And I don't have to worry about driving home after a glass of wine.......or two. Dining with friends while the wind and rain whips around outside. Doesn't get much better than that. Simple pleasures for a simple man. That would be me.