Do you know any children who willingly eat Brussels Sprouts? I have no recollection of my mom even handling these vegetables when I was young. However, by reputation, they were automatically placed way, way, way down on the bottom of my "Do Not Eat" list, right behind spinach. But, even Popeye eventually got me to try spinach. Unfortunately, I would go almost 40 years without ever having tried Brussels Sprouts (or even spell it correctly)--until last summer. I was out at a restaurant and by complete accident, I ate one sprout that … [Read more...]
Archives for November 2011
Honing Your Knife Skills
November 28, 2011 By 6 Comments
Have you ever fashioned a knife like scissors to saw open a UPS delivery box? I have. Are all your kitchen knives thrown in a drawer, unprotected? Mine are. Do you even know the proper way to hold a knife? When to use a certain knife? How to sharpen a knife? When I realized that I had been using a knife whose tip had been lost a couple years ago as I was hacking through duct tape on a package, I decided to take a class called “Knife Skills 1” at the Institute of Culinary Education. Up until My Judy the Foodie, my … [Read more...]
Thanksgiving: Sweet Potatoes with Marshmallows
November 23, 2011 By 8 Comments
I'm learning through my adventures in the kitchen that you can't give up on a dish. You need to slowly muster up confidence and continue to test out different versions of the same dish. Yes, it seems repetitive and boring and a big time suck but, when you're dealing with young kids, sometimes just a slight change in ingredients will create the desired result. In my case, it's two thumbs up from smiling braced and toothless faces. And, that's exactly what happened when I baked another sweet potato recipe. Admittedly, I knew that anything … [Read more...]
Thanksgiving Sweet Potato Casserole
November 21, 2011 By 6 Comments
With Thanksgiving only a few days away, it's logical to start planning and cooking from your holiday menu. Whether you're the host(ess) of the evening (which I've never been) or whether you're simply bringing a dish (that's me), Sweet Potato Casserole should be on your hit list. In fact, I've never been to a Turkey Day feast that didn't offer sweet potato "something" as a side dish. I decided to attempt to bake a sinfully sweet Sweet Potato Casserole with a nice struedel-like crumble on top. Lucky for me, I had a meeting Friday at Chelsea … [Read more...]
