Potatoes

Potatoes!  Not only are there different sizes and colors but they also perform differently depending on how you are preparing them and what their intended use will be.

I have made many soups and stews only to look in the stock pot just before serving and asking "where are my potatoes!"  They seems to have turned to mashed potatoes in the liquid.  My thought was always that maybe I cooked them too long.  Well, maybe I did but more than likely I was using the wrong potato variety for my dish.

There are 2 major categories of potatoes based on their starch, moisture and sugar content:

Mature or Starchy Potatoes.  High starch/low moisture/low sugar (Russets or Idahos) 
Light, dry and mealy when cooked.

• Ideal for baking, mashed potatoes and french fries

Waxy Potatoes.  High moisture/high sugar/low starch (Red skin and New Potatoes)
Holds shape well when cooked

• Salads, soups, hash browns and any time you want the potato to hold its shape well.

Many experts will tell you there is also a third category:

Medium-Starch Potatoes

Yukon Gold, Yellow Finns, and all-purpose potatoes do a better job of holding their shape but share many traits in common with high-starch potatoes.
They range from Waxy to somewhat Starchy.  These can be baked and produce a smooth, creamy texture unlike the Russet which is more grainy and starchy.

There are many other potatoes that fall into each of these categories.  I gave the ones I see at the grocery the most.

To store potatoes keep them in a cool, dark place.  Never refrigerate!

1 pound=4 cups diced=1 3/4 cups mashed.

Trivia:  Not all small potatoes are new potatoes, and not all new potatoes are small.

With Thanksgiving coming up I thought it would be good to add a mashed potato recipe from America's Test Kitchen.  If you are not a member of this site I would highly recommend!  It is a paid subscription but the videos are fantastic and they test these recipes until they have them down to a science.  This would be my dream job!  There is an offer for a free 14 day trial.  That is how I began my obsession with them!  Here is the link to watch the demonstration and get the recipe:

http://www.americastestkitchen.com/recipes/detail.php?docid=12358

If this link does not work.  Go to the America's Test Kitchen website.  I cannot reprint this recipe for you under their copy right laws.  I have no affiliation with this website other than I love them!

Granola

There are very few things in life I know for sure.  I do know that I make the world's best granola!  Ask anyone who has had it and they will most likely agree!


It has been a challenge of mine and my family to find a granola to buy that the taste compares.  Just as a sport!  We find that most of them are very oily tasting, not crunchy, old tasting or in general just bland.


So, a couple of years ago I decided to test market my granola and sell to family and friends.  I priced it out and began to take orders.  I charged just enough to cover the cost of my goods.  Well, my accounting skills were not so good as I found out and I was actually loosing money.  Oh well.  It was a fun journey and one that ultimately led me to enroll in culinary school where I took a purchasing class and now can price correctly!  Thank you Mr. Wilson!


When you have kids home from college and they are asking you to make it for them before they go back you know you have a winner.  So, I am sharing my "secret" recipe with you that I found back in 1991 and have been making since.  I have made some changes to it along the way.   We serve it with Dannon Vanilla Yogurt and Dried Cherries.  Tell me it's not the best!

Crunchy Granola

  

3 ½ cups oats, uncooked (not instant)

½ cup sliced almonds

½ cup wheat germ

¼ cup cashews

¼ cup chopped pecans

¼ cup sesame seeds

¼ cup sunflower kernels

½ cup honey

¼ cup brown sugar

¼ cup vegetable oil

½ cup creamy peanut butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat Oven to 325 degrees F

Combine first 8 ingredients in a large bowl; stir well, and set aside.

Combine honey, brown sugar, and oil in a small saucepan; cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until sugar dissolves and mixture is thoroughly heated.  Remove from heat; add peanut butter and vanilla, stirring until peanut butter melts.  Pour honey mixture over oats mixture; stir well.  (Mixture will be dry at first; continue stirring until moist.)

Pour mixture into a greased 15-X10-X1 inch jellyroll pan.  Press mixture flat with the back of a wide metal spatula.  Bake at 325 degree F for 30 minutes (pan may need to be turned during cooking) or until golden brown.  Pour out onto parchment paper to cool

To Store:  Store in airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week.
Enjoy!!!!!

Recipe adapted from The Southern Living Complete Do Ahead Cookbook from Today’s Gourmet series

Oxmoor House, Inc.

1991

Your Birthday

I love you,
You love me,
We're a happy family,
with a great big hug,
and a kiss from me to you,
Won't you say you love me TOO!

I love you,
You love me,
We're best friends like friends should be,
With a great big hug,
And a kiss from me to you,
Won't you say you love me too 

You always loved Barney!  Who wouldn't.  He's purple.  He loves everyone and he sings!  

It  seems like yesterday you were running around the house singing this song.  Happy (born that way:)).  Family stopped by round the clock just to see you.  Watch you.  Experience you.  You were as close to a perfect child as there ever had been.  Everyone made sure you were told that at least 100 times a day!  

When I look back at pictures of you I teeter between amazement and tears.  Amazement because you are and always have been incredible.  Tears because I miss you being little so much it makes me cry to even write it.

You were born "special".  Your beauty is as deep inside as it is outside.  No one comes in contact with you without being touched in some way.  You are as smart as smart can be.  Gifted is the word I believe was used for you growing up by the schools.  Kind, loving, funny, easy going, messy with your room!  Loved by your peers.  Loved by your family.  Loved so much by me.  Daddy's girl.  Your brother's conscience.  Given everything.  Expecting nothing.  Grateful for all.

Today I wish you all of the love and happiness that you have given away so freely over the years.  As I do every day of my life I dedicate you back to the God who made you so perfectly. So carefully.  And I thank Him for the gift of you.  Happy Birthday Elizabeth.  I love you.

Government

With all of the recent talks about our government and this debt that has been racked up I cannot let this week pass without blogging it as one of my topics!  I just finished a sociology class last week and I have to say I did walk out of class (I had it everyday!) and felt like I was an island when it came to views on our government.  I don't think our government has our best interest in mind over their own personal agenda in many instances.  However, I cannot blame them entirely for what has happened.  Personal responsibility is still at the top of my thinking.  Just because the government says we should be spending money should we?  Do you really spend what you don't have in order to "stimulate" the economy?  Who thought of that one?  I was raised and continue to live that if you can't afford it you don't buy it.  If you can afford it you better make sure it is worth it.  Once money leaves your hands it may not make its way back around to you again.  And really is having "everything" really serving us well.  How did we get here!!!!  Did we buy the lie that everyone needs a ridiculous amount of "stuff" to be happy?  The more we have the more we have to spend our lives maintaining it.  Is that really living?  Thus begins the breakdown of the family.  The more money you have the more likely you are to be doing "other" things that are so much more important than doing the little things.  Some of my best memories where when the kids were young and we had NO money.  See that is ridiculous!  I lived in Carmel, was a stay at home home and we had plenty of food and air conditioning and heating.  Did I really think I had NO money!  I was not rich by American standards but who set those absurd standards anyway.  Why did I judge my own circumstances by those!

My grandparents raised 7 kids in a 2 bedroom house.  I wonder if they thought they were poor?  Were they unhappy?  Did they blame the government that they had that life style?  I doubt it.  They lived with family as a priority and did the best they could.  No handouts, no programs, nothing given and nothing expected!  When did we start believing that everything should be easy and that we should all be living a dream that I am not sure where it came from anyway.

My son is in the Dominican Republic on a missions trip as I write.  He could have gone anywhere in the world during the summer.  It is the highlight of his summer.  I am sure the more he lives in America (which I love with all my heart) the more he will think that he needs more, more, more.  I hope he never compares himself to someone with more.  I hope he looks at someone with less and sacrifices something he has to give to someone in need and then thanks God every day that he has more than he needs.  My hope is that we all could live like that.  Be thankful for what we have.  Stop feeling sorry for ourselves.  Stop letting anyone tell us how much we "need" and how much we should "spend".  If we loose it maybe that would be the best thing that ever happened to us.  Maybe instead of going out to dinner we would have a pitch in dinner with our neighbors.  Maybe instead of raising our children to think that Christmas is all about the gifts we could actually celebrate the true meaning.  Maybe instead of running after the latest and greatest we could spend more time with our families.  The more we have the less likely we are to do the things that matter most.

Yes I live well (and continuing to reduce my consumption).  I would give it all away if I felt like it would better this nation as a whole.  If we all thought that way what would we blame our government for?  Would we even need a government as big as it is?  Let's take care of each other.  Don't hate government or even blame them.  Start within our own lives and live to the standard that we believe in.  Then we have the power.

In my sociology class so many people talked of hating the government yet they continued to take advantage of the system and want more.  We can't have it both ways.  If we are honest and live within our own means and take care of each other how can we go wrong?  Well this just scratches the surface but I am always struck by the reports that say that people in the United States were the happiest during the depression and now that we are so prosperous we live on depression medication.  What?  Call me a dreamer but I believe we have what it takes to overcome this and to learn a few good lessons in the mean time.  God Bless America!

Mason Jars

My assignment for this week from Anna Belle, my personal writing coach, is to write for 15 minutes a day without stopping, over thinking or correcting.  When my time is up I am allowed to go back and fix punctuation and grammar.  That is it.  Sounds easy enough but it is very much out of my comfort zone.  I don't always like the things that pop in my head right away.  I prefer to analyze them and then change over to something that sounds more appropriate or "perfect".  I am not even allowed to reread my writing while I am doing it.  Oh boy!  I have really plunged into the land of uncertainty!  She suggested that I don't even divide into paragraphs.  It really seems too hard to read but that is my assignment.  I trust her creativity and I am a good student.  So here I am writing again aimlessly!  I am breaking the rules and going to jump down to the next paragraph!  Oh my gosh I am a rebel!  I did not know that about me!

I am going to write today about Mason jars.  I am beginning to take a shine to these jars.  I have always loved anything that you can put in a contained area, put a bow on it and then a lid.  I paid a lot of money in counseling to find out why I am like that!  Neat and tidy.  That is how I like things.  Soooo, Mason jars fit neatly into that mold.  As I began to research I found that people collect these.  They date back to the 1800's!!!  I have just started my research.  There is so much to know about these jars and about the Ball Company.  I am fascinated!  I have always loved the idea of canning but I am freaked out by the prospect of botulism!  The more I know about that the less likely I am to actually can!  My aunt is having me over this summer to learn the process.  I trust she knows how to not kill us!  There are so many wonderful things in the summer to can that I think this fits naturally into my culinary journey.

When I was at Recess they served a dessert in a small canning jar.  It made such an impact on me that I have had my eyes peeled since to see how these jars are being used other places.  The list is endless!  I now see them everywhere I go and people use them for all sorts of reasons.  I love to antique so I am going to now antique with the hope of finding a rare Ball jar.  I found out that they have been made in various colors over the years also.  I have taken some pictures with some of the uses that I will post at another time.  That was not in my assignment for now!  I also want to see if there is a museum of some sort.  Let the fun begin!

Believe

I just looked up my last set of grades from school.  Straight A's.  I have made straight A's since the  third semester in school.  The first two I had to relearn how to take test and Math!  Still B's.  Come on! I have a love hate relationship with math.  Even though I have been on the dean's list for all of these months I do not consider myself really smart.  Maybe because I am around extremely smart people and I tend to measure myself against the highest mark.  Self defeating and always works to my disadvantage.  I have trouble studying because of the concentration part.  I seem to think hundreds of thoughts a minute.  I can go from one subject to the next in a matter of seconds.  Is everyone like that?  I know I am capable.  I just don't have that self confidence at all times.  Who does?  I did not do very well in high school.  Many varying circumstances involved there.  Was I capable?  Not at that time.  This time however, I applied myself and my environment oozed study time, discipline and focus.  I still look at myself as if I made it on accident.  I even give the credit to friends who helped in class.  Isn't that called a study buddy?  I loved the act of going to school.  I love the feel of a campus.  Well the Chef's Academy was a little different set up than a typical campus.  I have considered going back to IUPUI and finishing my degree from there.  Do I really need two degrees?  Will that prove to myself that I am smart enough? Or do I really just like going to school?  Can I just "believe" enough to settle into where I am and not where I want to be?  Or think where I should be?  Believe is the word a friend of mine gave me when I finished my book classes.  I believe in everyone else and their abilities.  I am the world's best cheerleader for others.  When will I cheer for myself?  I know I have it in me.  I know I am worthy.  I know I am capable.  When will I just truly believe.  This is a matter very deep within.  I have hope that it will bubble out and not become a part of who I am forever.  I feel it rising in my chest every time I write.  I do "believe" that it will slowly but surely seep out to never return again.  I wait with anticipation as this is beginning to happen.  I "believe" it will:)

Free to be me

I am sitting here with Anna Belle as she gives me a lesson on creative writing.  I tend to write in bullet points and lament over every word I choose.  I am generally a very expressive person and do not have trouble telling someone my thoughts and feelings.  However, when I write I consider everyone's ears and then I try to become everything to everyone.  That, I know at this stage of my life, does not work.  Never has and never will.  I am so happy to be writing again.  I wrote a children's story years ago when my son was young and it was published.  I entered a nation wide contest and it was picked with 20 others and they were combined into a book that was published and sold and benefited the campaign to fight illiteracy.  I even had a book signing at half price books.  When I look back over the years I have always written and loved to read.  When did I become so insecure about my writing or self expression.  When did I weigh every word as if they would all be published and I would have to account to my 3rd grade english teacher as to why I was not paying attention and talking to my best friend instead.  Who has amazing self expression!  I have always loved to write and I especially love to read.  I am definitely particular about who I read.  It has to captivate me or I have no problem stopping a book even in the middle.  I have never felt like I have to finish something just for the sake of finishing.  That is not me.  Life is short and you cannot get time back.  I believe you have to make everything worth it.  I am sitting at the home of some of the most creative people I know hoping to unleash what I know is inside of me.  I am done being ruled by fear and ready to embrace who God made me to be.  Not perfect.  Not even close.  And my grammar is still average.  Well I know change is possible.  I did survive Culinary School.  Soooooo  I am going to unleash my creative side.  I do believe that it has been bottled up for so long.  Translated into anxiety. I am ready to be free.  "And the truth will set you free".  I need and want to be free.  I want to live the remaining years of my life free from anxiety.  Embracing who I am and enjoying the ride.

Oil Bottles

When I interned at Recess I learned that some of the most unique items that were used were either recycled or hand crafted using common items.  For instance, the oils that are kept by the stoves and ovens are funneled into recycled wine bottles from their original larger containers.  They are then caped with a shot pourer which makes pouring very easy and convenient.

I currently have my olive oil stored in a beautiful dessert wine bottle.  We shared this wine at the home of some very good friends.  It was an evening that brings back wonderful memories every time I reach for it.  I plan to do the same with my vegetable oil as soon as I find that special bottle.

Cheers!

My first blog!

Well the time has come!  I am writing my first blog entry.

My vision for this blog is to express my love for family, cooking, photography and reading.  I am sure I will change, re-think and re-design this blog many times before I settle into what is the best expression of who I am and what I would like for this blog to be.

This is my last week of book classes at the Chef's Academy in Indianapolis.  It has been an exciting adventure.  I had the honor of doing my internship at Recess under the leadership of Greg Hardesty, Chef/Owner.  I learned so much from him and his staff in 10 1/2 weeks.

I am now searching for my externship.  I am anticipating this beginning in January 2012 unless I get the offer of a lifetime and in that case I will begin in October!

In the weeks to come I would like to share recipes, information and knowledge from my time in culinary school and life in general.  I hope you enjoy!