Vicky Learns to Cook

 Jan 24:  Sort of like hacking code or looking at scrapbook ideas before embarking on your own pages, I've been studying how to put together plated desserts for my class. I have an assignment and a final exam in the next few weeks entailing 10 different desserts! I have created them all on paper, but am trying out the final exam this weekend, so I have plenty of time to change it if need be.  Jan 28 update:   Finally got the cranberries delivered and changed my mind about the type of frozen dessert, meaning i need to get some mascarpone cheese. We wait some more.  Jan 31 update:  I ended up with a recipes that calls for whipped cream instead of mascarpone cheese. You literally just pour heavy whipping cream in the mixer and whip it on high. I already had that.  I ended up with this:  Pear ginger cake with vanilla pastry cream fill, cranberry lime semifreddo, almond thyme orange tuile cookie,, a pear caramel swish and an almond crunch around the ou...

 Part of what we are learning in Plated Dessert class is that there are a lot of little components that we make to put a plate together.  And we have a final exam where we need to make something of our own. I've been playing with an idea ever since, and wanted to incorporate some ideas I found.  But first, I promised the Vanilla Extract.  So I got the vodka, bottles, and the vanilla beans (turns out it went from Papua New Guinea to Ireland to me).  I thought I'd start with the original plan and start that process first.  Place the scored vanilla beans in the bottle and kind of squash them in there.   Pour in the vodka and seal. That's it.  Now we wait 8 weeks or longer.  It's already turning brown, and it will turn a dark opaque brown before it is done.  Now back to Idea #1 for my final exam.  My idea is to represent the balance of yin yang. Often we hear in class that the main idea of plating is to show a balance between soft ...

  It's been 29 years since I've been in college. That being said, my printer is out of ink and my class starts tomorrow. I need essential printouts like recipes. I had ordered ink but wont be in until Saturday. And it wont print even B/W if I dont have yellow for some reason. So. I'm gonna show my age here. I looked up Kinkos. It was what I used back when I was in college. They have them but they are now owned by FedEx so you just have to find a building with FedEx. Last time I printed something at Kinkos I brought a floppy disc. So I called, can I bring a USB thumb drive and you can print it from there? Yes! I went. I didnt know exactly where the place was but it turns out it was on Main street. A few things struck me. Since I've been in downtown, they put up 3 new buildings and a lot of little igloos. I parked around the corner, paid my quarter, and looked around. Only one store I remembered. Keep in mind I was in downtown in 2018 summer, last. In I go, and stand in ...

I looked up my list of "what are we having for dinner tonight" and rather than a meal listed, i just had "Pork." Hm.  Fortunately I have a cookbook library of recipes on my pc, so I looked around and decided that since I have never had  Shogayaki, a Japanese ginger pork recipe, I would try that.  The first problem was that I  needed soy sauce. I keep forgetting to buy it, you see. And I keep forgetting to write it down, too. Luckily I have soy sauce packets from when we had Chinese food.  The next problem was I didnt have sake. I thought maybe I could substitute vodka, but when I looked up substitutions for sake in a sauce, it mentioned rice wine or sherry, neither of which i had, or chicken stock or even water. I opted for water.  It also called for ginger juice, which I didnt have, but i had that squeezable ginger stuff so I used that. Smells good.  The recipe also called for evaporated cane juice (cane sugar). If you have turbinado sugar, this is wh...

 I took an inventory of what I had for making vanilla, and it turns out I didnt have near enough vodka nor vanilla pods, even when the bottles do arrive.  So I purchased more of both - I sure hope this works - and need to wait until everything is delivered. Sadly the pods wont arrive for another two weeks. They claim holiday shipping for the delay but it was ordered after Christmas but what can you do? Meantime, I tried a few new things over the weekend: City Chicken was one of them.  It's not actually chicken at all. The name comes from a dish cooks made during the depression era using meat scraps and a skewer to fashion a sort of chicken drum stick. The meat is actually pork and veal. In my case I can't get veal right now.  (Interesting side note: if you look up veal in the kroger.com app, you find only ground veal, cuts of beef, bison, and even lamb, but no veal scallops or chops. Try it. Also dont ask me what veal has to do with bison and lamb, I have no idea. No...