Cooking Stuff Has Moved!

That's right, I'm finally over at WordPress using the apt title Cooking Stuff. I'm still working out the kinks and learning how to use their stuff, but I have a post up so I figured I'd make the announcement. I'm keeping this blog here to use as an archive and also as a place to borrow old posts from periodically so I don't have to write new ones. So yeah, all the excitement is going to be happening there from now on. I wish I could get into my Facebook page to let people there know, but if I've learned one thing in this life it's that the Facebook admins will not help you. Heh. Anyway, onward and upward. Or over-ward... whatever. Go read my post about bread.

Taking a Break

I have a lot going on and can't really put the energy into blogging that I want to, so I'm gonna take a break. But I'll be back at some point, don't forget about me!

A Quick Sandwich and an Announcement

First, the sandwich. This is my regular bbq pulled chicken with bacon, but I added about a third of a cup of orange juice to it at the end and let it reduce/absorb into the chicken. It was a great addition, added some nice brightness to what is otherwise a really rich dish. Plus that's an asiago bagel it's on, which makes it insane. That was a really good combo.

Now, my announcement. I am on Facebook. This is something I had actually been resisting for some time, but I figure that right now I have all this free time so it's the perfect time to do it. Heh.

Sudden!

That's what this whole situation is.

If two weeks ago you had said to me "you're going to be packing up to move before Thanksgiving" I would have called you a nutbag. But here I am, packing up to move well before Thanksgiving.

You see, my girlfriend and I have an opportunity to move to a cheap apartment in an excellent location and we just can't pass it up. There is a certain amount of gambling involved, which neither of us are keen on, but risks sometimes need to be taken. The apartment is also smaller, which blows, but we will have a full sized stove/oven and refrigerator for the first time in ~3 years. That will be nice. But I'm afraid I'm going to be a bit scarce for a while since moving will be taking up most of my energy.

However, while I might not be posting or commenting as much, I am still reading and will be back to posting again in the future.

Just to Let You Know I'm Still Alive...

here's some roast beef. I made it just like last time and hopefully got enough good pictures to do a real post on it. And some roast chicken. This was just made with butter, lemon juice and fresh basil. It came out wicked good.

The news is, I got a new camera (a Canon A2100), but I'm still learning how to use it. Even though it's the same series as my old one it's pretty different. I've got a few things planned and hope to be back to posting like normal by the end of the week.

A Brief Hiatus

Yep, I'm taking a little break from blogging. It's not completely voluntary. You see, my camera has decided it doesn't need to work right most of the time anymore. I made a roast and chocolate monkey bread yesterday and didn't get a single picture that I could use. There is definitely something wrong with the little device and it just needs to go. So I figure if I'm going to get a new one I should really just get a good one. I'm not going to go nuts, but a little money saving time is going to be needed. I've been wanting to do a little remodeling around here too. I don't think I'll be gone long, probably just a week or two.

Some TV Announcements and an Award

Two more food bloggers I enjoy are going to be on TV! Drew over at How to Cook Like Your Grandmother is going to be on tomorrow, here is a little more info. If you are in the Cleveland area, watch him on your local Fox station, if can't catch him on the actual TV, he is going to be posting a link to a web cast when he can. You should all check it out.

And the lovely Jenny from Picky Palate is going to be on Ultimate Recipe Showdown on February 8th! Here is more info about that. She is a finalist in the dessert competition, so that's going to be wicked exciting. Her desserts always look amazing.

And I got my first blog award! It's the Lemonade Award, for a refreshing blog. I got it from Melissa over at Of Soup and Love, isn't she sweet? Thanks Melissa! Here's how it works:

Add the logo in your blog.
- Add a link to the person who gave you the award.
- Nominate 10 other (refreshing...like lemonade) blogs of your choice.
- Don’t forget to add links to those blogs in yours.
- Also leave a message for your nominees in their blogs, informing them about the award.

Ok then, here are who I'm giving it to:
La Fuji Mama, Maman and Gourmand, Karen Cooks, Stacey Snacks, Noble Pig, Good Things Catered, The Adventures of Kitchen Girl, Picky Palate, Joie de Vivre and Sugar Plum.

They are all spectacular, each in their own way. If you don't read them you should!

100th Post! For Real!

Uhm, yeah. This is my one hundredth post. It really doesn't seem like I've been doing this that long. I started blogging to kill time during a period of unemployment and have kept at it since finding a new job because it's just wicked fun. I've even acquired some readers, which I really never expected. I've gotten involved in several great online communities, in particular Foodbuzz and Bakespace. They are both full of great people, ideas and recipes and have really improved my cooking.

But here's what I want to know, what do you guys want to see? Do you want me to do more old family favorites? More experiments? Less talk? More wine tasting? More pictures, less pictures, more cakes, less beef, more vegetarian, more cat stuff, more side dishes? Now is the perfect time to let me know.

So, how about a top ten list? They seem to be all the rage lately. I don't have good enough analytical stuff attached to my site to give a list of the most popular recipes, but I can tell you my personal favorites. Here they are, in a vaguely relevant order.

10) BBQ ribs in the oven. Ok, I so just made this a couple days ago and have already referenced it in several posts, but it was really good! I was actually surprised at how well they came out. Plus I love long, slow cooking, it's just a good time. I can't wait to make them again.
9) Sour cream coffee cake muffins. These muffins were so rich and moist, they are just devastating.
8) Pizza dough. This dough is awesome. If I have the time to make pizza dough, this is the dough I make.
7) Molten chocolate cakes. This was the first time I ever did any really serious tinkering with a delicate recipe. I did math to make these cakes. I used the calculator on my computer. They were more than worth it, rich, dark chocolate cakes full of sweet, delicious goo.
6) The Brownies. Yeah kids. They don't get a "the" for fun. There is a reason that every person I know who has had these wants the recipe.
5) Crash hot potatoes, baby! Got this one from one of my favorite bloggers and it's really the most versatile potato side ever. You can match it to anything that you would want potatoes with.
4) Spaghetti al Amatraciana. This recipe was sent to me by one Gina Kadlec (sweet lady, just had a baby), way back in the day. She wrote that it was one of her favorite recipes and now it's one of mine too. Bacon, tomato sauce, cheese and pasta. It's wicked good.
3) Lo mein. This was my actually very first post and it's also one of the best things I ever made. Well, I think so anyway. I used to make it all the time, but haven't in a while. I'll have to make it again soon so I can update the pictures in the post. They... aren't good. Heh.
2) The best chocolate chip cookies. Because they are the best chocolate chip cookies. Seriously.
1) Number one is definitely penne and Italian sausage in a tomato cream sauce. Not a very graceful name, but descriptive. It is hands down my favorite pasta dish at this point. I make it whenever I can justify the calories. It is rich, creamy and just frigging fantastic.

So that's it kids, I've had a blast doing these first hundred posts, now I'm going to go start working on the next hundred. Heh.

I need advice!

I'm soon going to be in the market for a new digital camera and I don't have any idea what kind to get. I don't have a huge budget, but I'm going to save up for a bit so I can get something nice. Well, I'm going to try to save. Heh. I only need it for food photography, but I don't get very good light in my apartment so something that can compensate for that and get nice clear closeups is what I'm looking for. Any advice would be appreciated, thanks!

Foodbuzz Publisher Community Launches.

Are you folks familiar with Foodbuzz? It's a big collection of blogs and recipes and reviews and other foodie stuff. They are officially launching their Publisher Community, over 1,000 blogs about food. Several of my daily reads, Cooking for Engineers, Sugar Plum and Elle's New England Kitchen are all featured publishers with Foodbuzz. It's a good time, you should check it out. But be sure to come back tomorrow, I am making my second attempt at bracciole.

Making Some Changes

You may have noticed things look a bit different. I'm making some changes, please bear with me. Hopefully this won't take long and I will have something good up tomorrow.