Bawlmerese for Enjoy Your Meal
I wouldn’t exactly say that we procrastinate here at BAH, but we cut some deadlines pretty close. Thanksgiving is a perfect example. It’s not like we don’t know it’s almost here but we just can’t seem to get our act together and decide on what to have. So here we are at T-2 and unless we make some decisions, we might end up having cereal for dinner. Continue reading “Rock The Boat”
I know I often say how any given recipe I’m discussing can be adapted to use what you like or what you have. That ready for the EasyBake Oven cake you see? It’s a perfect example. I took the Blueberry Buttermilk Cake and changed it up. Instead of blueberries, I used raspberries. And because I love the flavor combination of raspberry and ginger, I added a tablespoon or two of diced crystallized ginger to the batter. How cheeky of me.
So be bold. Sing your own tune and make your own adaptations.
I’ve never been skilled in crafty things. It was evident early on. My school arts and crafts projects were dreadful: the ashtray from kindergarten (remember when we actively encouraged young children to make ashtrays for mom and dad…good times) was nothing more than a baby blue glazed blob of clay, my soda bottle vase had huge gaps between rows of yarn that we glued to the outside to make a “pretty” design, and let’s not even dwell on the macaroni or tissue paper art. I don’t know how I came home with straight A’s on my report card because I don’t know how I managed to pass art.
Things didn’t get any better as I got older. There was that one time in college with the fabric covered photo albums but that was about as successful as I got. And in hindsight, that was pretty bad too. Thanks to Martha Stewart, my self esteem got even lower when I couldn’t recreate a single one of her Good Things crafts. Damn that woman and her glue gun.
So crafts and I don’t spend much time together. I remember dreading the assignment when I was pledging my sorority to make a college that said something about me. What I really wanted to do was show up to that meeting with a blank piece of paper. But like a good student, I busted out the scissors and glue for some old fashioned cut and paste. To this day, I hate cut and paste. Not because of that collage, but because even with a craft as simple as that, my skills are woefully lacking.
There’s another reason I hate cut and paste that has nothing to do with crafts. I hate cut and paste because this blog does not have one of those nifty “print” buttons I see at other websites. WordPress.com, oh wordpress.com why can’t you include that in your templates? Sure, I could just “print page” and whatnot but then the page format is all wrong and the sidebars print and it’s just not what I want. So each post that I print out has to be cut and pasted from wordpress into Word. And then I have to change font, and resize images, and change page margins. What a pain. Between Exit 51 and BAH, I’ve been blogging for over two years. That’s a lot of cut and paste going on.
And what about you? Are you less inclined to actually try one of the recipes posted here since there’s no pretty “print page”? I hope not.
I was convinced there was no solution to this cut and paste problem until I either learned how to code or convinced The Mistah to code for me. And then I stumbled on a blog post that may change my life. It explained how to set up a “print page”. My days of cutting and pasting my own blog posts may be behind me.
Now, you’ll see a {Printable Recipe} hyperlink on my posts that will open up a browser window with a formatted and printable copy of the recipe. Don’t be alarmed when it takes you to a site with a completely different name, nobody has hijacked BAH. It’s just that until the print function gets built into my blog the right way, the printable recipes have to live somewhere else. Since this somewhere else happens to be a completely different website, and BAH only links to it, there may be glitches from time to time depending on how the Interwebs feel.
I don’t know about you, but I’m happy to be able to put down the scissors and glue and get back to cooking.
UPDATE: Once I started working on incorporating links to printable versions of the recipes in my posts, I started to get a little uneasy. Sending you to another website, even if it was one that I set up, just didn’t feel right. It also meant that you could bypass BAH altogether and go straight to Site B to download the recipes. So, I’ve found an alternate solution.
It may be a bit clunkier since it involves you opening pdf files in your browser. But as long as you have a pdf reader (they’re free you know) installed on your computer, you should be fine. Just look for the {Printable Recipe} link, click, open, and print.
Wow, I feel much better now.
After the decision was made to Eat Down the Fridge (EDF), the first step was to figure out what was in the fridge. And the freezer. And the pantry. Because I had absolutely no idea what kind of supplies we were sitting on. So instead of going grocery shopping during Week 1, I sat down and made lists, our EDF roadmap. All that chickenscratch you see up there? That’s what we had in the freezer and pantry. And yes, my handwriting really is that bad. Looking at that list, how many different meals do you think we came up with? If you don’t include leftovers, the count is currently at 17. So far, we’ve had: Continue reading “EDF Update”
Halloween is the one day a year that we revel in ghouls and goblins, witches and warlocks, and all manner of frightful things. Not only do we revel in them, we invite them to our homes with the promise of treats. We invoke the names of Bloody Mary and Black Aggie and we watch through finger shielded eyes as Jason and Freddie pick off helpless teenagers who go outside. Alone. At night. When there’s a killer on the loose. The other 364 days, we hide from our fears. Continue reading “Who’s Afraid Of…”
When I listed seven things about myself in my Kreativ Blogger post, I omitted a very important fact…I always follow directions, unless I don’t want to. Then I make up my own rules. Pretty convenient, huh? I mean, when it comes to important stuff like traffic laws, anything having to do with electricity, or the ratio of vodka to tonic in my drink, I’m a completely by the book kind of girl. But where I think I can get away with it, I’m a little more free with my interpretation of the guidelines. I got to thinking about this when I had to give the KB award to seven other bloggers. Why seven? Why not as many as I want to recognize? Continue reading “And The Award Goes To…”
Anyone who has ever been a roommate of mine can attest to the fact that I have an unnatural, almost freakish compulsion to watch A Christmas Story (ACS) anytime it is on television. The Mistah learned this the hard way one Christmas Eve as I sat glued to TNT during their 24 hour ACS marathon. That man, he puts up with a lot without so much as a complaint. He just went down to the basement where he had days worth of European Soccer games waiting for him on Tivo. Nothing says Happy Holidays like quality time spent in front of the tele. Continue reading “It’s A Major Award”
Today’s first random link comes via The Kitchn where they brought up a great topic…how to properly season a dish. I confess that I usually stop after salt and spices. Just look at how many other ways you can develop the flavor of your dish.
The second link is for folks like me who are obsessed with reusable market bags. Now, you can have reusable produce bags in addition to your grocery bag. I’ve never tried these myself but if they live up to their claim that “using these three bags just once a week can save as many as 150 bags a year” then that’s definitely a win-win.
Bon Appetit Hon.
I debated whether I should start this post by asking who died and made Chris Kimball boss….looks like I just did. Mr. Kimball has taken it upon himself to suggest that the world of food bloggers is somehow a slap in the face to trained professionals who, in his words, possess “thoughtful expertise…that comes from real experience, the hard-won blood-on-the-floor kind.” I’m referring to his recent Op-Ed in the New York Times in response to the announcement that Gourmet magazine will cease to exist.
I understand perfectly that this is Mr. Kimball’s opinion and he’s entitled to it. He’s also entitled to share that opinion with all who will listen. But please Mr. Kimball, don’t self righteously express your voice when it suits to get your opinion printed in the New York Times and then discount others doing the same when it doesn’t suit your business model. The idea of each person having a voice, people in this world die for that privilege.
Mr. Kimball, do you really think that “the world needs fewer opinions”? Personally, I think its imperative that different opinions can be expressed and considered. Not all opinions will be good ones, but why is it that you think only the opinions of “experts” are worthy? Is that really the world you live in? I don’t.
And what about your idea that only those who graduate from the “school of hard knocks” are credible? Are you saying that my life experience has no credibility? Really, could you be THAT arrogant?
Furthermore, how can you defend this opinion that so blatantly insults your publications’ readers? Do you realize that some of us on this “ship of fools” are the same people who make it possible for your magazines to exist? We’re the ones who subscribe to Cook’s Illustrated or Cook’s Country. We’re the ones who buy your annual cookbooks. We’re the ones paying YOUR salary Mr. Kimball.
Let me know if I’m following your logic correctly…if I aspire to become a credible cook, the only way to do that is by enrolling in an accredited program? If that’s the case, then why have I sent your company a check for the last three years? Silly me, I thought that by using tested recipes, my skills would grow.
And about those recipes, you do know that you ask us, the “instant pundits”, to test them during development for your publications. You do know that, right? Why would you do that if you think that our experiences are not worthy? Or did you just mean anyone who doesn’t belong to your CI, CC, or ATK club?
And please, I really would like to understand your logic behind making print subscribers also pay additional for online content. Is it really necessary for you to double dip into my finances just so I can access your Premium Content online? You may call that “a thriving paid Web site”. I call it greed.
I would never presume to say that my skills in the kitchen are anywhere near those of someone who has been to cooking school. But since when do you have to wear a chef’s hat in order to be a good cook?
When all is said and done Mr. Kimball, I do respect your right to your opinion. But I respect myself more than to be a pawn in your world. So I’m going to express my opinion in the one and only way that matters to you, with my pocketbook. Gourmet may be gone but your magazines aren’t the only other players left in this game.
Will it make me a hypocrite to leave the Cook’s Illustrated recipes up that I’ve posted here? Maybe so. But I’d rather be a hypocrite than a fool. And if I were to continue to subscribe to your publications, that’s exactly what I’d be.
Thanks for the memories Chris. You really know how to ruin a good thing.
For other responses to the OpEd piece, mosey on over to The Amateur Gourmet for Adam’s post, or to Sky Full of Bacon , Wise Ax, The Gurgling Cod, or The Breakaway Cook. And for Mr. Kimball’s blog response to all this, click here.
Happy Anniversary to The Mistah!
Bon Appetit Hon by Wendi Mosteiko is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Bon Appetit Hon 