Weekend cooking

made a tart this weekend. will post pictures. http://www.latartinegourmande.com/2006/08/31/tarte-aux-nectarines-et-framboises-nectarine-and-raspberry-tart/

Salty Cheetos

A couple days ago Ethan asked what we were having for dinner. I replied, "Salchichitas" (sal-chi-chi-tas).

It's a dish from Priscila's childhood - cut up hotdogs simmered in pasta (tomato) sauce for a good while. Priscila's mom would make the sauce from scratch. In Argentina back then, you couldn't find a jar of pasta sauce in the store. Everyone made sauce from scratch.

Ethan asked what we were having for dinner and I told him. With a curious, inquisitive and confused look on his face he replied, "Salty Cheetos?!?!?"

Soup needs time

I made soup tonight from a random selection: ground beef, green beans, spinach, carrots, onions, white and red beans, bell pepper, and tomatoes. The beans and tomatoes were canned - everything else was fresh. Liquids were (by quantity) chicken stock, beef stock, water, and a little beer. Seasonings were some Kirkland no-salt seasoning, my house seasoning, worcestershire, garlic & parsley.

My house seasoning is shamelessly stolen from Paula Dean's recipes at foodnetwork.com. It's one part black pepper, one part garlic powder, and 4 parts salt. Just a little goes good on most any veggie, fish, meat, soups, etc.

Make a mireproix. Brown the meat, throw in the liquids, veggies (add extra carrots and celery), seasonings and let cook. When cooking the meat, it just smelled nasty. Not sure why. After more seasonings and time, it started coming together. Not the best soup I've ever made, but it's better than tossing all the goodies when they spoil.