I can’t resist such a complimentary tag from Theresa, so here goes…
Kitchen Talk!
1. How many meals does most of your family eat at home each week? How many are in your family?
We usually eat all of our dinners at home together (no more sports = no more dinners on the run). Though, I do not cook every night (some takeout and some leftovers). There are three of us.
2. How many cookbooks do you own?
About seven. I am very selective about the cookbooks I allow in the house – they really have to earn their keep to justify shelf space! How to Cook Everything is one of my favorites.
3. How often do you refer to a cookbook each week?
Usually once, to bake something for breakfast on the weekends.
4. Do you collect recipes from other sources? If so, what are some of your favorite sources (relatives, friends, magazines, advertisements, packages, the internet, etc)
Not a big recipe collector these days, but I do draw inspiration from Rachael Ray. I think of her as my cooking cheerleader, always just a tivo click away. The recipes on the boxes of Near East Rice products have been pretty good.
5. How do you store those recipes?
I used to do LOTS of recipe collecting (magazines and copying recipes out of cookbooks), so I have about 5 or 6 3-ring binders divided up by categories (breakfast food, desserts, main dishes, etc.)
6. When you cook, do you follow the recipe pretty closely, or do you use recipes primarily to give you ideas?
If I’m baking I follow it pretty closely, if it’s a dinner dish I might improvise to get things the way I/we like them.
7. Is there a particular ethnic style or flavor that predominates in your cooking? If so, what is it?
Italian food is my favorite, especially since we usually all like it. I’m enjoying Asian cooking these days as well.
8. What’s your favorite kitchen task related to meal planning and preparation? (eating the finished product does not count)
I could not be more different than Theresa, who loves chopping/cutting/dicing, even though I also have a Santoku knife! My favorite part of meal planning and preparation is planning a special menu – deciding what flavors will go well together, which dishes will complement each other, thinking of the people I’m cooking for and what they like…it’s creativity, planning and an expression of love all rolled into one!
I also get a huge charge from trying to duplicate restaurant favorites.
9. What’s your least favorite part?
I could say cleanup, but I’m so spoiled that I rarely do it (thanks, Brian!). Probably it’s the aforementioned chopping/cutting/slicing.
10. Do you plan menus before you shop?
I used to have it nailed down to a more definite menu. Now I plan about 4-5 meals and count on leftovers, quickie/improvised meals or takeout for the rest.
11. What are your three favorite kitchen tools or appliances?
1) Our new Bosch dishwasher – it’s so quiet! 2) Silicone spatulas (I love to use them to stir in pans) 3) A birdseye maple rolling pin from my grandfather
12. If you could buy one new thing for your kitchen, money was no object, and space not an issue, what would you most like to have?
A sous chef 
Or extra storage. Or new cabinets. Or a slate floor. Or a new backsplash. But money is an object, and space is an issue! Seriously though, I am very spoiled with wonderful equipment, thanks to my loving husband.
13. Since money and space probably are objects, what are you most likely to buy next?
A new carrot peeler.
14. Do you have a separate freezer for storage?
No, I can barely keep up with one. Though the extra space would be a luxury, I’d get way too sloppy – gray, freezer burned meat everywhere.
15. Grocery shop alone or with others?
Alone. I need to concentrate, because a lot of times I’m planning meals while I shop or remembering what I forgot to put on my list when I see it on the shelf.
16. How many meatless main dish meals do you fix in a week?
2-3. Frozen soy products (morningstar farms/gardenburger brands) are my crutch.
17. If you have a decorating theme in your kitchen, what is it? Favorite kitchen colors?
No theme. I’m finding more beauty these days in functional objects.
18. What’s the first thing you ever learned to cook, and how old were you?
Well, do you count egg salad sandwiches? Maybe 9 years old.
19. How did you learn to cook?
My mom was an incredible cook, so I learned what food should taste like early in life. Since she worked she gave us free reign in the kitchen while she was gone and my brother and I were very motivated to make the foods we liked. We’d fry donuts in hot oil, make pancakes and invite the neighbor boy over to help eat them, bake cookies, etc. When I lived in a house during my senior year of college, I really enjoyed experimenting, especially with vegetarian food (influenced by Brian’s family). Then, in my early 20s, I spent a lot of my free time with stacks of Bon Appetit on my lap, watching cooking shows on PBS, and trying out gourmet recipes.
20. Tag two other people to play.
Not a big tagger, but I would love to hear what Katherine’s answers would be!
mber.
