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Posts Tagged ‘eggs’

The Cooking Basics: How To Make Pasta (with Video)

Posted in Cook, tagged , , , , , , on February 20, 2011| 33 Comments »

How to make pasta

How to make pasta

A funny thing happened last weekend.

My husband and I were having dinner at a new Italian restaurant and half way through the meal I asked him “Did you bring any money?”

I can’t remember what prompted me to ask but his answer, “Of course”, was enough to appease my concerns.

When the time came to ask for the bill, my husband gave his credit card and the waiter looked down and said the dreaded five words no one wants to hear “We don’t take American Express.”

The waiter was kind enough to allow us to go back home and get some money but needless to say, it’ll be awhile before we recover from the shame.

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Vegetable Cake… Would Julia Like It?

Posted in Bake, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 13, 2011| 36 Comments »

Vegetable Cake with carrots, broccoli and mushrooms

Vegetable Cake with carrots, broccoli and mushrooms

Dinner parties hosted by my family are a curious thing.  I grew up with a Mom who prepared for them with the same enthusiasm that sportsmen would train for the Olympics.  She would spend weeks planning and revising elaborate menus with no less than six or seven courses to be served.  Because we had a restaurant, it was easy for her to borrow some of the cooks to help out.  She would set up “stations” at different areas of the house.  One time there could be a grilling section where steaks were cooked to order for the guests.  Another station could be the carving station where she would serve maybe a suckling pig, or  a turkey and a ham.  Inevitably, the night would also end with a post-dinner commentary among ourselves about how the dinner went.  The assessment would go at length about whether the guests enjoyed the food, who went back for seconds (or thirds), who wore what, and god forbid, who didn’t show up when they said they would.  Then the wrap-up would end with a critique on what could be improved on for the next party.

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How To Make Tortilla Española (Spanish Potato Omelette)

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , on January 4, 2011| 46 Comments »

Tortilla Española (Spanish Potato Omelette)

Tortilla Española (Spanish Potato Omelette)

Very early on Saturday, with my husband still in a deep slumber, I snuck out of bed, put on my thickest pair of socks and tiptoed down to the kitchen.  I held my breath as I passed the guest room, fearing that even my breathing would be loud enough to be heard.   The wagging of the dog’s tails against the wooden walls magnified across the hallway and I tried to calm them down to prevent anyone from waking.

Finally, I got to the kitchen… “I made it!” I thought.  I was finally going to have a few hours in the kitchen all to myself!

Because as you all know, when Mom’s are visiting – you pretty much have to give up whatever rights you have in the kitchen because, when they’re around the kitchen ain’t yours… it’s theirs!

I wanted to make this this Tortilla Espanola (Spanish style Potato Omelette) for a tapas party I was throwing for New Year’s day.  Made with only four very accessible ingredients (eggs, potatoes, onions and olive oil), a really good tortilla is guaranteed not only to bring any Spaniard to their knees, it’s also sure to please any guest for a tapas party. It’s also great eaten cold or at room temperature so you can make it in advance for any occasion.

And whatever happened to my covert CIA operation? It pretty much lasted a whole five minutes before I turned around, saw my Mom and heard her ask “Can I help?”

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