Shrimp Korma and Basmati Rice

Recipe modified by You Want Me to Cook? – June 17, 2011

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Recipe originally published by MyRecipes via e-mail on June 15, 2011.

For reasons I don’t quite understand, I don’t like spicy food.  When I came upon this recipe, I was excited since I had a bunch of basmati rice I needed to use, it was chock full of vegetables and it didn’t have tablespoons of curry powder in it.  This is important for the heat factor but also for a certain individual’s gas factor (not mine, mind you).

© You Want Me to Cook?
Shrimp Korma and Basmati Rice

Yummy, right?  It looks very similar to the original picture, although my curry sauce is slightly more red and brighter.  That is because of the type of curry powder I used, which I’ll detail in the ingredients section.  It was thick, chunky and smelled fantastic!  That is everything I want out of a curry… and more.

Daily Recipe Round-up for December 7, 2011

If anyone makes one of these recipes, I’d love for you to let me know, give me your thoughts and even take a picture or two.  I’d LOVE to start posting updates from other cooks, such as myself.  Don’t worry if it isn’t perfect.  That’s the point of this blog.

Pillsbury

Cranberry Brie Appetizers

Daily Recipe Round-up for December 5, 2011

If anyone makes one of these recipes, I’d love for you to let me know, give me your thoughts and even take a picture or two.  I’d LOVE to start posting updates from other cooks, such as myself.  Don’t worry if it isn’t perfect.  That’s the point of this blog.

Food Network

The Neelys’ Spiced Gingerbread Piggies

Modenese Pork Chops

Recipe modified by You Want Me to Cook? – June 16, 2011

For a commentary-free and printer-friendly version of it, please click here.

Recipe originally published by Allrecipes via e-mail on June 13, 2011.

Okay, this isn’t Thanksgiving related, but I have a lot of organizing to go through.  Here is a recipe I made well before the countdown to the holidays…

I always fear that I’m going to miss a recipe because it doesn’t tickle my fancy when I come across it.  For example, I occasionally will see a recipe with wine or rum in it and wrinkle my nose, but every time I make a marsala dish or a rum cake, I fall in love.  I stared at this recipe for a while before deciding to make it.  It was simple and contained savory ingredients (butter, garlic, pork), but I kept stumbling over the wine part.  I finally said, “Screw this!  I’m putting it on my list of things to make.”

I’m glad I did.

© You Want Me to Cook?
Modenese Pork Chops

I swear you can look at this picture and tell how good it smells.  I’m willing to concede that my pork chops don’t have the same level of browning that the original recipe writer had.  It’s mostly because I chose a boneless chop and boneless chops cook faster.  It is saved by the savory looking sauce though.

Thanksgiving Success

Well, Thanksgiving was a success - sort of...

Appetizers were out just as the guests arrived and my in-laws brought a delightful selection of wine.  Dinner went on the table only 20 minutes after I intended and it was still warm.  The turkey looked gorgeous, there was plenty of food (and leftovers) and we had a great conversation.  A friend joined the party for dessert and we had a blast!  I managed to keep the mess to a minimum while cooking and our dinner guests graciously helped us with dishes after the meal so there was basically nothing to do but relax and have fun after dinner and dessert.

For my first Thanksgiving hosting, I only had a couple of breakdowns and none were on the day of dinner... this was a major accomplishment for me (see Rule #3 in my Rules to Baking).  I had planned out a schedule and finished everything without any major rushing or panicking.  Honestly, this was one of my best parties ever.

So why did I add a "sort of" on to my success?  Well as I baked in the days leading up to the meal, I was able to take pictures and lots of notes.  The day of the meal... not so much.  Not a big deal - unless you blog about cooking.  I didn't even get a picture of the turkey, something that made me cry later in the evening.  It really was pretty and even my father-in-law, the official turkey carver, commented on how nice it looked.

So let's recap... 

As a chef, baker and party thrower - success

As a cooking blogger - epic fail

I'm going to try to get up some of the recipes I made with the limited pictures I have over the next month, but I can't promise too much... Christmas cookie season is upon us.

Happy cooking!!!

Progress and The Most Disgusting Thing I've Ever Tasted

Before I get started for the day, I thought I'd let everyone know how it's going.  I didn't get nearly what I wanted to get done yesterday.  I did manage to make the appetizer dips and salad dressings.  Today I'm starting the day with making the cheesecake... mostly because I know it is the hardest thing I'll be making (other than the turkey of course).

I also wanted to share a huge mistake I made yesterday.  I was making Light Blue Cheese Dressing and the recipe called for Low-Fat Plain Yogurt.  We usually keep a large container in the fridge for smoothies, so when it was time, I grabbed it and started mixing.  I took a little taste before I mixed in the blue cheese and it tasted off.  I figured the blue cheese had to finish it off.  I mixed in the Blue cheese and gave it a taste.

It was one of the most disgusting things I've ever tasted... EVER!

It was so sour that I immediately thought I had something that had expired or gone bad.  I started picking up cartons and containers checking dates and smelling the food.  Nope.  Then I spun the yogurt around and looked at the label.

My husband had bought Vanilla yogurt.   

The sweet against the lemon and blue cheese created a curdled taste in the dip.  I've vomited before and had a better taste in my mouth.  It was horrifying and I drank a glass of water and chewed a piece of gum to stop the offensive breath that was sure to form.  I tried to figure out a way to salvage the dressing, but it wasn't going to happen.  Mostly because I wasn't willing to taste it again to see if it was getting any better.

Thank all that is holy that I bought extra blue cheese and still had a gigantic tub of Greek yogurt left over.  I started again and this time, the dressing turned out SUPERB.  I even thought about cooking up some buffalo chicken so I could eat it right then.  

I'm going to also throw out there that I'm glad I made the mistake.  I had never tried Greek yogurt before now (I know - what was I thinking) and was totally unaware of how creamy and rich this low-fat yogurt was.  The regular low-fat yogurt was downright watery compared to it.  The remake with the Greek yogurt was creamy and delicious.

Hope your holiday plans are coming together!

Things Are Coming Along Nicely

What a crazy week it has been!

I'm an esthetician and I was the make-up artist for a very large bridal party.  I love sharing in someone's special day, but I kept thinking about what I had to do to get my house Thanksgiving ready.  Of course, by the time I was done, there was NO WAY I was going to be doing any cleaning.  Then, my crazy chihuahua got tape worm causing the entire pug and chihuahua army to go through the deworming process.  While getting the dogs checked out, we found a lump on our pug we've had since we've been married.  Luckily it isn't anything serious, but emotions have run high throwing my cleaning/cooking schedule off kilter.  I'm kind of back on track  now and the cooking process was supposed to have started, but I've gotten sucked into 16 and Pregnant marathon, so I thought I'd update you on my process to keep me from screaming at the television.