10 Apr 2014
by scolgin
in Markets & Stores, Recipes
Tags: abelskivers, food, humor, Ikea, lingonberries, recipes, rosti, Scandinavian cooking, shrimp, Sweden
We’d been putting it off and putting it off — the family trip to Ikea.
Not because we don’t like Ikea — we love it. But it’s nearly an hour away, and there never seems to be a good time. But late Sunday morning, a bit hungover from too much tequila the night before, we had no excuses to put it off any longer. And a big plate of Ikea Swedish meatballs sounded like just the Rx for the hangover.
Swedish meatballs with mashed potatoes, gravy and lingonberries
My wife can spend hours at Ikea. We were going to go the previous weekend, until I told her we’d probably be able to stay 90 minutes, which was going to be sorely inadequate. It seemed like plenty to me. I’m more of a strategic strike sort of shopper — 30 minutes would be plenty for me. I guess it’s probably a male/female thing. More
08 Apr 2014
by scolgin
in Cooking Tips, Humor
Tags: chiles, cooking, food, humor, kitchen gadgets, knives, lists, mandoline
Even as long as I’ve been cooking, I’m still guilty on a regular basis of stupid kitchen injuries and snafus. I try to tell my children, when they cook with me, to learn from my mistakes. I show them the assortment of current cuts and burns on my hands as a cautionary tale. Perhaps they’ll learn the lessons of their father, or perhaps they’ll learn the hard way.
Don’t let a tiny kitchen shark bite off the tip of your nose!
Here is a list of culinary “Don’t”s — dumb kitchen mistakes that I find myself repeating over and over. I share them with you in the hopes you might have more common sense than I and avoid them. Or at least get a laugh at my misfortune. More
21 Mar 2014
by scolgin
in Humor, On the Road, Recipes
Tags: Casa Tres Coronitas, cooking, food, Mexican cooking, Mexico, octopus, Puerto Vallarta, shrimp, tequila, travel
We love the food at Casa Tres Coronitas — prepared by the house cook, Marilu — especially the first couple days we are here. But after a few days, we’re ready for a change… if not wanting to necessarily leave this perfect paradise.
“I would like it if you cooked a couple nights,” Leslie said last time we were here. But we never had the courage to approach Marilu with this proposition, both out of fear of hurting her feelings, and an inability to communicate the point to her anyway. But when I mentioned it to Monica, who speaks fluent Spanish, she was insistent. “Oh, of course you will cook! I already told Marilu that you were a chef and you wanted to cook.”
More
18 Mar 2014
by scolgin
in Humor, On the Road, Recipes
Tags: Casa Tres Coronitas, cooking, corned beef, food, humor, Mexico, Puerto Vallarta, recipes, St. Patrick's Day, tacos
We just can’t get enough of Mexico.
Today we boarded a plane and headed two-plus flight hours south of our home to our favorite spot, Casa Tres Coronitas on the coast of Pacific Mexico just south of Puerto Vallarta.
Sunset for St. Patty
Last time we came, in October of last year, my wife had had enough of Mexico. More specifically, she had had enough of the mosquitos that hovered in clouds around our heads, penetrated our mosquito netting and generally rendered the Mexican nights of what would have otherwise been a perfect vacation intolerable. October, you see, is the end of the monsoon season, and we had the misfortune of visiting a week after a hurricane. There was water — lots of water — everywhere, and the mosquitos were happy. More
07 Mar 2014
by scolgin
in Observations, Recipes
Tags: barramundi, food, gluten free cooking, humor, Italian cooking, polenta, recipes, shrimp, Trader Joe's, Tuscan kale
Even the best cooks get into ruts.
Tomato saffron scampi with polenta and sautéed Tuscan kale
For all the diversity in my weekly menus, I often find myself bored with my cooking. What sounds like an unimaginably exciting and exotic week of dinners to most — for example: Venetian cecchiti with hand-tossed pizza on Monday, sushi and tempura on Tuesday, Wednesday queso fundido and Mexico City-style tacos, Thursday tea-smoked duck and lo mien, and so on — can seem like “same old, same old” to me. More
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