Joyfully pretired (although I do miss my old coworkers), I finally have time to feed that little voice inside of me that’s been telling me I should do something with food. Food makes people happy. I love everything about it. I love shopping for it. I love preparing it. I love eating it, and I love feeding people I love. I even love feeding vitamins to the dogs! Not only has this little foodie inside of me been crying out for help, but pretty much everyone who knows me has been encouraging me to rescue that little foodie inside of me who’s been crying out for help. With further encouragement from some very savvy marketing vixens, here is my blog. This will be a place for my recipes, and the results of those recipes being tested on real human beings. My current idea is to have a dinner party each week (this is how I will test the food on actual humans), and then post that menu and those recipes here. We’ll see where that gets us all…
My background – I’ve been helping in the kitchen as far back I can remember. My mom is Italian; her parents were from Italy, East of Naples. My paternal grandmother loved to cook, as well. I have no official qualifications, just a whole bunch of satisfied customers 
Disclaimer: Not all recipes featured in this blog will be of my own creation. In fact, very little of it will be original. I use basic methods of preparation, what I have in my kitchen, and my own preferences and palate to make deliciouses. I read a lot of recipes, I eat a lot of different foods (I always try to order something I wouldn’t make myself when I go out to eat), I know a lot of good cooks, and I talk to a lot of people about food. I then compile everything into the food center of my brain, jumble it up, and then I see what I have available, what I feel like making or eating, and then I just go for it. I rarely use recipes in the traditional sense, but I bastardize a lot of recipes. I may review recipes from various publications, cite those publications, and then talk about how I’ve tweaked them. I will try to credit everyone I’ve learned from wherever possible, and I apologize if I ever forget any of the details – please use the comment section to keep me on my toes!
I’ve been on a lot of discussion boards, and I think in anything creative (i.e. dance or cooking), there are basics that nobody can call their own, and there’s a huge gray area between one’s own rendition of something basic, and calling that rendition one’s own creation. Someone, somewhere decided that olive oil, onions, and garlic make a delicious base for a lot of different dishes. I have no idea who that person was, or if it was even one person or many different people in many different regions coming to the same conclusion with the same available ingredients. Is anything I make that starts with a base of onions and garlic (which Dan has coined “Bunions” to save time) my own creation, regardless of how much I have built onto the base? I’m sure it’s controversial. I’m also sure anything I think I’ve come up with has been done by someone else, so I’ll just cover all my bases by saying that none of the recipes contained in this blog will be my own. As Uncle Clarkie said, it’s simply “good food prepared simply.”
Hey Cynth, Great idea! I’m not sure if this comment goes straight to you or is posted on the blog, but I guess I’m about to find out. Being the reductive thinker I am, I’m wondering why the pit keeps the guacamole from turning brown- this is the first I’ve heard that. Lemon was what I was told… What says the chemist? Also, on another note, I’m fond of octopus salad and have made multiple baby octupi into a sort of antipasto after simmering for 1 hr and 15mins, then tossing sliced with lemon juice, olive oil, pimentón, capers, strips of Olgas pepper salad (remember that?), garlic, onions, peperoncino (sp?)etc, etc. But on impulse, I purchased another package of frozen octopus and when I thawed it I realized I had a 5 lb monster on my hands- it’s bobbing around in the pot right now and I wonder if I should treat it any differently from the little guys? Any ideas would be appreciated. Love, Clark
I know this was in response to the guacamole recipe, but I can’t figure out how to move it to the right post. I’m not sure why the pit helps, but it does. One would think that the lime juice would keep it from getting brown, and I think it doesn’t get *as* brown, but in my experience the pit is more effective. Obviously, I use the lime juice because of its flavor (and any preserving it does is icing on the cake – or chip, as it were), but it will brown a little if left for a long period of time. For instance, even in the fridge (on the rare occasion that I have any of this left over) in an airtight container, the guacamole tends to get a little brown. But, if you add a pit, then it stays fresh. Maybe I’ll ask my chemical engineer cousin about this.
Regarding the octopi, that sounds delicious and since I’ve never actually cooked with octopus, I’m obviously going to have to do some experimenting. Paula was just telling me about a delicious ceviche she had with some sort of champagne marinade. Maybe I’ll figure something out along those lines. As for the 5 lb monster, I would suspect that you would cook it the same as the little guys, and just cut it into thin strips. I know with abalone, we just cut it into the same size strips and then cook it very quickly so it doesn’t get tough. But with octopus, I really don’t know! Too bad I can’t just pop over and run this experiment with you!
i like your use of the word “pretired.”- You should add it to urban dictionary.
Well, I did not come up with that one (I think it was my cousin Monica), but I do believe it should go into the urban dictionary.
I have a cooking question for the lovely cooking guru – Jon and I are obsessed with steamed artichokes – the whole thing, picking the leaves off, etc, but I don’t like mayonnaise so I end up making this really good but really bad for you butter-garlic-white wine dip. Are there any somewhat healthy non-mayonnaise artichoke dips lurking around in your culinary brain?
Funny you should ask this now, as I just posted a recipe for a healthy pesto dressing/dip (http://cynthialovestofeedpeople.wordpress.com/2009/04/25/healthy-pesto-dressingdip/). It has flax seed oil and lemon in it (and some other stuff) and I think it would be really delicious with steamed artichokes. I haven’t tried it yet since I never thought of using this as an artichoke dip until you posted this. Let me know what you think
Hey Cynthia, love the blog and the recipies (i’m sure I didn’t spell that right-don’t cringe). Since you are not around no one helps me with my writing. Keep up the good work!
Tim
Hi there,
Yes it is I. It was great seeing you in our kitchen the other day and thank you for the cookies. Your mom told me of your site, what fun!
Looking forward to seeing you again sooner then last time.
Cook Away,
Rob
Hey Cyn…I keep waiting for the luscious Cinnamon Rolls you make. I want the recipe!!
Love the mango salad, as well as others! It calls for chili salt, is that something we make or buy? I am just mixing chili powder and salt together and hoping for the best. Let me know. Hope all is well. The salad is a big hit with my family, kids, grandkids and all. I want to try the latkes next. Let me know about the chili salt.
Yep, that’s it. We made it from scratch, then realized it was nothing more than chili powder and salt. If you want a little spice, just add a dash of cayenne