Chef Sadie

Sadie made her first casserole, Chicken Divan, completely from scratch last night. After reviewing the recipe and instructions with her, I went out side to muck some chicken coops. After an appropriate length of time had passed, she announced that it was in the oven. After finishing up our "farm duties" we went inside to eat dinner. I have to say that it was the BEST casserole I have ever had. I am not a huge fan of casseroles with all of their fatty creamy sauces.  Actually, I am a fan, but struggle knowing it is not often healthy.  Maybe I enjoyed the dinner because I did not have to cook it. Or, maybe it was that it came from Sadie's heart. 
She has always enjoyed messing around in the kitchen.  She easily whips up brownies, cookies, and cakes from mixes and can be found cooking eggs for her siblings on the weekends.  However, this was her first from scratch entree.  Boiling and cubing the chicken, cooking the broccoli, and mixing the remaining ingredients were part of this process.  She was pretty pleased at the way it turned out.  I enjoyed "discussing" the lessons learned while she cooked, like the fact that it seemed to have too much creamy goodness in it and how to remedy that.  I imagine it will not be the last dinner we enjoy by Chef Sadie.

The Art of Hobbies

I have been on a bit of a roll lately in the kitchen. For the last month or two, I have not duplicated a recipe in my dinner preparation. Now, for those that don't don the apron often, this isn't too difficult to achieve. But for our family who eats dinner at least 6 nights out of the week at home, it is something of a milestone.

I have always enjoyed cooking. As I continue to dabble in the kitchen, it becomes easier and easier. I don't use the measuring cups and spoons quite like I used to as I have developed some eyeball accuracy in this department. I am also learning how to experiment and substitute missing ingredients. This is not to brag upon my abilities, because they are not innate, I can assure you. It is only through years of following recipes to the letter that I have gotten to this point.

I owe a lot of this developed hobby to my husband. He hails from the Netherlands where the standard meals are as bland as eating a piece of paper. Have you ever been to a Dutch restaurant outside of that country? Didn't think so. The only exception to this plain palate would be the Indonesian restaurants, a by-product of Dutch-colonial rule. After much exposure to this type of food while growing up, my husband turned his tongue away from Dutch and Western food in general. In fact, he declared that he could cut the world in half at the equator and never eat anything from the Northern Hemisphere again. You can imagine cooking for him has been quite interesting.

After attempting and slightly mastering several Asian dishes, I decided it was time to throw myself into it full-force. I purchased this cookbook yesterday - all 720 pages of it. Jay saw it on the dresser and was giddy with anticipation. I can't really imagine making my own sushi, some 50 pages dedicated to its category in the book. And, we will definitely forgo recipes with seafood and bean curd (ick). Despite those eliminations, there is still plenty from which to choose.

Hobbies are like for me. Periods of complete obsession, consuming my thoughts. I can chalk scrapbooking up as one and of course, the cup du jour, writing. I discovered why I tend to do this in this post. I am a scanner. Like most, I have a list of other hobbies I want to tackle. Each, I am sure, will be the subject of intense focus at some point.

What has your attention these days? If you don't have something you are dabbling in, what is on the list, you know, what have you always wanted to try? Why are you waiting? Let me know.