What's a leek?

I did it! I made a meal all by myself.

Over the last few months we have received thoughtful housewarming gifts. However, the trend seems to be cookbooks. Haha. Another clear sign that I should learn how to cook. So, I finally decided to open one of them - The Williams Sonoma - Bride & Groom Cookbook (thanks, Lauren).

Since my last fiasco on "how to chop an onion," I decided to start with something simple, but I still wanted to hone my veggie-chopping skills. Hence, potato and leek soup. Looks simple, but challenging enough for a gal who can barely peel an apple.

So here are a few highlights of my soup-making afternoon:
- Realize that I don't know what a leek looks like, so I had to ask the produce boy for help.
- Who knew there were so many potatoes at a grocery store? This store had five types to choose from!
- Laid out my ingredients on the kitchen counter, only to realize (when Neil pointed out to me) that I purchased only one leek with with five leaves, not realizing that I needed five leeks like the recipe asked for.
- Discovered a new technique for chopping with the back end of the blade (Thanks Neil!)
- Creme fraiche can be substituted with sour cream.
- Leeks are part of the onion family (I discovered this while I was chopping them, when my eyes started to water).
- I also learned how to peel and crush garlic, without a garlic press. Lay knife flat on a clove and smash, remove the peel, and then mince - be careful not to slice yourself with the blade!


I probably had a few more "aha" moments, but the main point is that I did it! I made my first meal, all by myself, and it was a yummy meal for a So-Cal winter's night, at that! :)




I think next time I am ready to move on to poultry, meat, or fish. What do you think? Until next year... happy New Year everyone!

So you don't have to buy salsa at the grocery store?

Don't worry friends, I have not given up on my attempts to cook. However, due to the holidays and all the festivities that come along with it, we have taken a short break from our homemade meals. When I say "we" - I mean me (Jenny). haha.

I really wanted to make a nice meal for my good friend Mahua who is in town for the holidays. However, due to the heavy Southern California rainstorms and a 2 1/2 hour commute home one night. My dear hubby, ended up making dinner for the three of us on his own. Thanks Neil!

So, what dish did he whip up ... chicken enchiladas with homemade tamatillo salsa. Hence the title of this entry - Who knew how simple it would be to make your own enchilada sauce. And thanks to our good friend Eric, we now have the ninja blender. That bad boy really works!

Below are a few snap shots of this simple yet easy dish. Note: blog will be updated with Neil's recipe shortly.

Happy Holidays everyone!

Let's start with breakfast....

Neil and I enjoy a good Sunday breakfast. So this morning we decided on scrambled eggs, sausage, and pancakes. Pretty simple, right? Wrong, especially when I have been a bit spoiled by a man that loves to cook from prep to finish. Well let's just say I have to start somewhere.

On the menu:

• 4 eggs beaten with a splash of veggie oil, milk, sea salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste.

• 2 cups of Aunt Jemima pancake mix (cheating, I know but I never said we were going to make everything from scratch)

• 4 Italian sausages (leftover from dinner two nights ago)
• Sliced green/red/yellow bell peppers (leftovers from a veggie party platter)
• 1/2 medium yellow onion
• Handful fresh Italian parsley

Now here is where it gets funny and sad all at the same time. So I decided to get to chopping, while Neil worked on the pancakes. But before I started to chop I asked Neil two questions:

1. How fine did he want me to chop the cilantro?

2. How do I slice the onion?

You know you have a good thing when your husband doesn't laugh but instead pauses and nicely corrects me on the fact that I was chopping parsley, not cilantro and then shows me one technique to cut an onion.

Maybe next up will be "how to slice/chop veggies 101" with Neil. haha.

We started a blog about cooking... Now what?

So here's the game plan: once a week Neil and I will cook one meal together. It's as simple as that. We will blog about recipes we find, ingredients used, grocery shopping excursions, and maybe share life as a newly wed couple outside the kitchen.

If you have a recipe you would like to share, send us a message!