Ten Cooking Basics

Over the past few years as I’ve re-learned skills related to cooking, I’ve found a few thoughts that have helped me a great deal in being more flexible in the kitchen. I’m sure there are plenty of others that could be listed here, but in the interest of space, here is a list of ten […]

Omelet Buffet: Done!

This morning, Briahna, Adam and I cooked omelets for 10 people for Mary’s Bible study group. Having prepped for hours yesterday evening, then completing more prep this morning before heading out, it went mostly without a hitch. Frankly, the best part about this buffet was the appreciation from the diners themselves. That always makes this […]

Omelet Buffet Mise en Place

What’s a mise en place? Pronounced “meez en plahz”, The Professional Chef defines it as, “Literally, ‘Put In Place’. The preparation and assembly of ingredients, pans, utensils, and plates or serving pieces needed for a particular dish or service period”. At 9:30 last night, the ingredient mise en place for this morning’s omelet buffet looked […]

A Little Omelet Fun

As I mentioned a couple weeks ago, tomorrow morning is when I cook the omelets for Mary and her friends. Having some fun today, I was thinking about how to “take orders” for each of the omelets we’ll be making. Thinking back on a trip to Toronto in 1982, there was a sandwich shop with […]

The Frog Leg Inn Experience

Sometimes the memories are all just a purple haze … I’ve mentioned the Frog Leg Inn in Erie more than once, describing it as our favorite restaurant in Monroe County. Now that chef/owner Tad Cousino is commenting in this blog, you may think I’m simply biased towards them. This couldn’t be further from the truth. […]

Jumping Into Food Safety, or “SPLOOSH!”

Back in this post about pots and pans, reader Mike asked a question about the safety of canned goods after they’d been in the pantry a good long time. I replied with a link to this site from home-canning equipment manufacturers Ball and Kerr, which states, “Food that has been properly canned using an up-to-date […]

Simple Roast Chicken

Roast chicken is one of the simplest dishes there is … and is one of the most incorrectly-cooked dishes there is. You don’t just rub the thing with salt, pepper and paprika and throw it in the oven till it’s almost black. I mean, sheesh, think about what yer cooking! 🙂 Here’s how it’s done. […]