cooking @ home

Archive for the ‘Message’ Category

It’s nearly time. Both for Independence Day and for me coming back here finally. Funny. I’ve been wanting to start back for a couple weeks now, and even though this time I’m not going to go back to my crazy schedule of before (of 3 to 4 new recipes a week and a new article every week or two), and this time keep it “easy”, it’s really difficult to get going again. Guess it’s the commitment thing. I know when I start I’ll have to keep going. And while that’s a good thing, a very good thing, as said, surprisingly difficult to get that “start off” momentum going.

That said though I did do something interesting the other day I didn’t think I’d do. I love my giant super duper grill-smoker. But for two people and small meals it’s too heavy (that is 20lb grates and my condition) and too much work to contstantly cook in. So my little ol grill is now also on my patio. I know with it’s small space and comparatively light weight parts I’ll be more into grilling things more often. Anyhow looks like I’ll start posting again in July. Thanks for waiting!

… when I start up here again. I had hoped May. But that was not to be. I’m averaging a good real meal and something “new” maybe once every two of three weeks. If you count that back from April it means I have two, maybe four dishes I’ve made new, wrote down the instrucitons and shot photographs of or for. When I feel that I can do this every week is when I figure I’ll resume here.

For now, let me tell you I got the grill cleaned and for Memorial Day weekend had a couple of close friends over. Kept it small and intimate. Same with the menu. Cooked pork spare ribs because …. mmm … I haven’t had them since last October on the grill done by my own hand and I so needed that fix. Plus for appetizers I grilled some 16-20 sized shrimp and made (this is the new item) some nice grilled potato quarters. I’ll be sure to get that up with my first four or five recipes. Till then, thanks for keep looking in and looking at the “old” stuff.

I’m still around and still recuperating. Some days I feel like I can lift mountains (ok, that’s usually only for a few hours a day on those rare days), and most of the other days I feel like I can’t even lift a can opener. Most days it’s Butoni frozen bags or something simple. On the good days I cook something more “normal” but usually nothing too complex. Meanwhile it’s nice to come on and see folks reading the older recipes I’ve done.

Just wanted to drop a note here saying again when I can get a chance I’ll be picking back up on this blog again. No doubt on a more normal once a week manner than the crazy four recipes plus and article, five times a week schedule I did for eight months. Til then, then.

Seven to eight months and constant updates, but, as you see, none lately. Been in the hospital. Some very serious stuff too. And still not over it yet. (I have another test to get done as an outpatient).

… Only been out slightly over 24 hours as I write this btw, and I don’t see myself able to cook even a bag of rice in the next few days. When I can continue, I will and you’ll know it. Plenty to puruse here in the meantime though. Talk to you soon.

Quick note! Based on my writing articles on television shows including now reviewing tv shows such as this cooking show roundup here I’ve decided to do a second new blog!

While you’ll still find new recipes with photos as well as articles on cooking right here at cooking @ home, you can find new television show reviews as well as the latest news on your favorite cooking show host, tv cook, and celebrity chef. We’re covering their shows, their cookbooks, their travels, their new restaurants and even any cookware or spice or sauce they come out with. So whether it’s Gordon Ramsay or Rachael Ray, Guy Fieri or Wolfgang Puck, you’ll find all your favorite celeb chefs at the brand new TV Chefs Blog.

Just added a new section here called Menus which you can find the link to at the top left under “Pages”. Click on the general Menus link for a quick explanation. As for the three menus added, no doubt you’ll find the one on Super Bowl Party Food to be of most current interest.

Also, I’m always shopping around the web for something, and at this point I either get so many newsletters or just end up on enough sites that I stumble once in a while across great deals. For instance I was not going to buy an ice cream machine. But then four months ago I found one that was normally $160 for $40, not a refurbished just a close-out. Would that have been of any interest to anyone? I’m thinking such items might be so that could be another section in the future too.

Quick note: I said I would try to make up for the five or six days down with the virus with daily posting. That’s obviously not happening. Pre-Christmas shopping, wrapping, card mailing, house decoration and all the other miscellaneous holiday-related tasks are just taking way too great a toll on my time that I’m finding it difficult to do many of my normal things, let alone pushing it from an every-other-day posting to making a daily recipe or article post. Thanks for understanding.

Meanwhile some things you can look forward to in the near future. An article on deep-frying plus three deep-fried recipes, a chocolate raspberry lava cake, a review featuring chef Robert Irvine, plus I have in the house right now: mascarpone cheese, polenta, proscuitto, a large fennel bulb, yogurt, gelatin, white asparagus and a spaghetti squash. No idea yet what I’m going to do with each of them but it will be interesting. I’m also going to break-in my new KitchenAid Artisan mixer in style with a bunch of cookie making. Two I definitely know already I’ll be posting will be Italain cookie recipes that worked out fanstasticly in the past: biscotti and anginetti cookies. Til then … Happy Holidays!

If you’re a regular follower of this blog — first, many thanks!, and second — you’ve probably wondered why no posts this week. I got hit by a virus — two in fact — badly. Long story short. I’m surfing, I go to a seemingly normal web page, wham, my anti-virus goes off. Eventually this trojan (BHO.CVX) locks out Window’s restore capabilities, then later disables my ability to log on the web for two days. Three days later and most of it cleared out and boom, a second “time bomb” virus (Packed.Morphine.d) planted by the first one goes off, and it’s harder to kill then the first was. How did it get in? Through Google’s toolbar. You see, browser toolbars leave coding holes that make it easy for viruses to attack you. That said, Google still touts theirs. I say, do not install any toolbar and if you have any installed: remove them! You’ve been warned.

That said, I make no promises but I will definitely try to make up for this week by posting a recipe or article each day for the next week to catch up. Thanks.