"Wait, are you actually in culinary school?" -saucey chat comment from Tracey

In addition to studying and pondering language, rhetoric, and the meaning in and of it all.. I am baking and cooking quite a bit here in England. Thought I would highlight a few of the favorite experiences from the past couple of weeks. I still find cooking a very relaxing past time, and hope that I am able to maintain my current habits when my studies began to press me... Gathering around food is an ubiquitous practice across all the cultures with which I have come in contact. Here in England, seems to be no different... A few challenges have hindered my attempts at baking, but I am learning and adjusting... and purchased a measuring cup.. :o) My next goal is to master the use of a scale when baking. Guestimating in cups I can do... grams... I thought those were for crackers...(no racial slur intended)

Alright...recounting of cooking adventures commence... now..

Adventure 1: Tortillas Espanol con mi amigo, Terry de Espana (sorry about the n)

We decided that it would be fun to have a traditional Spanish meal, and Terry was in fine form with Torrilla Espanol and Sangria (the key is the cinnamon) Terry and Ali (de Chile) began with peeling a mess of potatoes and chopping a ton of onions... well maybe not a ton, but many, they were defiantly in tears, and not just because it was such a beautiful moment (though it was :o)

This is Terry, working hard at slicing and dicing to make this masterpiece

Then you put all the potatoes and onions in a pan and listen to music...

Just make sure that you use AT LEAST this much oil to cook... WOW! Are you kidding me? That is a lot of oil for a dish that 6 people will devour... but most of it is used for frying...
Sorry I could not add any pictures of the finished product, but once the eggs were in, even this omelet and scramble egg hater couldn't say no... they were delicious and devoured within minutes. Well done Terry!! Also... we drank much Sangria... but there was that left over the next day to be enjoyed with dinner.

Adventure TWO: Pasta with Pietro!

This weekend I also had the chance to cook with an Italian friend of mine, Pietro, making pasta with a simple and delicious tomato sauce. Here are a few hints that he shared with me, and I will now relay to you. (maybe you knew these, but I had no clue and my pasta tastes like old socks)

1. make sure you put enough water in when you boil the pasta, also enough salt (which is way more than I thought it would be and more, certainly than I had ever used)

2. Use plum tomatoes, because they retain more flavor. After chopping some garlic and onions, we put two cans of plum tomatoes in a pan, with a can of water, and let it simmer for about 30 minutes, at which point that tangy tomato flavor is removed without the addition of sugar to your sauce... super

3. When draining the pasta (we used Penna) don't let it dry completely, a little wet still and then put it back into the pan, add the sauce and simmer for a few more minutes

4. add some freshly grated cheese in the sauce, and save some for putting on top when serving. so delicious.

Ongoing Adventure: Vegan with a Vengeance

I've also been doing some experimenting with a new cookbook, Vegan with a Vengeance... I love it. If you do not own this cookbook and are looking to eat food that is tasty and not sure how to prepare it, I highly recommend this book; also if you like to eat tasty food but don't want to prepare it, then buy this book for someone you love (or loves you) and invite yourself to dinner...

Terry thinks this cookie has an evil face, I agree. I'm still looking for the cookie that looks just like the Virgin Mary; apparently I only make devil face cookies. hmmm. happy baking :o)