Tag: Exit 51

Chicken, Main Course

Simplicity

by Wendi7 Comments on Simplicity
image from http://www.istockphoto.com

While I’m away on my imaginary vacation, I’m leaving the pantry stocked with posts from Exit 51 that would have been part of the Flashback Friday series. The following originally appeared on 7/6/09 at Exit 51.

Simplicity

My friend Merriam-Webster defines simplicity as:

  • the state of being simple, uncomplicated or uncompounded
  • lack of subtlety or penetration
  • freedom from pretense or guile
  • directness of expression
  • restraint in ornamentation

In most things, I would never be associated with any of those definitions.  On my best days, I am anything but simple or uncomplicated.  But when it comes to cooking, I am consistently drawn to recipes that are simple, direct, and even restrained.  Maybe it’s an attempt to bring a small bit of balance into my life.  Or maybe it’s just that I don’t buy into the notion that all good things come at a high price whether that be monetary or otherwise. Continue reading “Simplicity” →

Side Dishes, Vegetables

Alton Brown’s Ginger Glazed Carrots

by Wendi6 Comments on Alton Brown’s Ginger Glazed Carrots
image from http://www.istockphoto.com

While I’m away on my imaginary vacation, I’m leaving the pantry stocked with posts from Exit 51 that would have been part of the Flashback Friday series. The following originally appeared on 7/8/09 at Exit 51.

Alton Brown’s Ginger Glazed Carrots

It should come as no surprise that I plan out meals in advance.  When I do my planning, I try use a Garanimals approach.  Remember Garanimals?  The line of children’s clothing, originally from the 70’s, designed to let kids put together coordinated outfits.  From their website:

“The kid-friendly Garanimals mix-and-match separates provide a simple, coordinated system that makes clothes easy to pair and fun to wear. The Garanimals pairing system brings creativity and independence to young children as they select their own clothes and dress themselves. Through these small, successful decisions, children develop early feelings of self-confidence.”

That is so what cooking should be.  Easy, fun, and confidence building.  Which is why I totally think of recipes as separates, that when combined, make a coordinated outfit on the plate. Continue reading “Alton Brown’s Ginger Glazed Carrots” →

Random

Flashback Friday – Now You See It, Now You Don’t

by Wendi8 Comments on Flashback Friday – Now You See It, Now You Don’t

Flashback Friday

The following originally appeared on 6/8/08 at Exit 51.

Now You See It, Now You Don’t

Not even two days after I was drooling over the prospect of a great new eatery here in Charm City, I am sad.  Sad because one of my favorite special occasion restaurants is gone.  Poof. Continue reading “Flashback Friday – Now You See It, Now You Don’t” →

Random

Want

by Wendi6 Comments on Want
image from http://www.istockphoto.com

While I’m away on my imaginary vacation, I’m leaving the pantry stocked with posts from Exit 51 that would have been part of the Flashback Friday series. The following originally appeared on 7/9/09 at Exit 51.

Want

Will somone please tell me which kitchen god I need to pray to in order to make these beauties my own?  For the life of me, I cannot explain why I am obsessed with these mini-cocottes.  Lord knows I don’t have anywhere to store them, and there are much larger items on the priority list right now.  But these just look so damn happy.

Want

In a perfect world, both my kitchen and my bank account could accommodate this.  For the time being, they are just one more item on my wish list.

Random

Blog Roll

by Wendi14 Comments on Blog Roll
image from http://www.istockphoto.com

While I’m away on my imaginary vacation, I’m leaving the pantry stocked with posts from Exit 51 that would have been part of the Flashback Friday series. The following originally appeared on 7/10/09 at Exit 51.

Blog Roll

As if there were a shortage of websites to consume my daytime productivity, I had to stumble across this post on Bitten where Mr. Bittman opened Pandora’s Box.  It was a simple enough question, what food blogs are people reading.  In the seven days between when this post went up and when I read it, 619 comments had accumulated.  Want to guess how long it took me to take a look at the sites that people recommended?  Go ahead, guess.

An entire day.  That’s right, approximately eight hours of my life was spent cutting and pasting and clicking on http links.  If it weren’t for the fact that some of the recs are blogs I already read, and others were duplicates, lord knows how long it would have taken.  In the end, I only bookmarked a few sites but I printed out recipes from some others that I may go back to in the future.

Who knows, some of them may just end up on the blog roll here at Exit 51 for your enjoyment.  Time will tell.

But it got me wondering, what food blogs are you reading?  I’d love to know.

Main Course

Weird Science

by Wendi6 Comments on Weird Science
image from http://www.istockphoto.com

While I’m away on my imaginary vacation, I’m leaving the pantry stocked with posts from Exit 51 that would have been part of the Flashback Friday series. The following originally appeared on 7/13/09 at Exit 51.  Clearly, this was back when CI and I were on friendlier terms.

Weird Science

Remember how you were always told in school that math and science were important in life?  Me, I didn’t believe it for one second.  I think my response was something along the lines of “yeah, whatever”.  But if I could, I would go back and tell my adolescent self to sit up and pay attention because, I swear, it’s true.

I use math in the kitchen constantly.  Want to scale a recipe up or down?  You’ll need to know your fractions.  Planning on putting a turkey on the table for Thanksgiving?  You’ll need to tap those times tables to figure out how much oven time Tom’s going to need.  That’s the easy side of things.  The science of cooking, I leave to the experts to figure out for me. Continue reading “Weird Science” →

Side Dishes, Vegetables

Intersection

by Wendi8 Comments on Intersection
image from http://www.istockphoto.com

While I’m away on my imaginary vacation, I’m leaving the pantry stocked with posts from Exit 51 that would have been part of the Flashback Friday series. The following originally appeared on 7/15/09 at Exit 51.

Intersection

Here at Exit 51, like in life, it’s funny how sometimes totally unrelated things intersect.  One day I’m going on and on about pickled this and pickled that.  The next I’m gushing over my glorious mandoline.  And today, I shall bring the two together.

Because nothing makes a more perfect combo than thinly sliced cucumbers and onions bathed in a pickley brine.  Yeah, chocolate and peanut butter are two great tastes that taste great together and I do love me some salty sweet watermelon with feta.  But none of them are especially suited for the mandoline. Continue reading “Intersection” →

Dessert, Sweets

Don’t Judge a Book By the Cover

by Wendi2 Comments on Don’t Judge a Book By the Cover
image from http://www.istockphoto.com

While I’m away on my imaginary vacation, I’m leaving the pantry stocked with posts from Exit 51 that would have been part of the Flashback Friday series. The following originally appeared on 7/20/09 at Exit 51.

Don’t Judge A Book By The Cover

You never get a second chance to make a first impression.  Not only is that some commercial tag line, it’s also the God’s honest truth.  Sometimes, bad first impressions can’t be overcome.  Other times, if you look past them, you find that you were totally wrong.  Like that time in middle school when both Kristen Heher and I thought each other was trouble, with a capital T.  Maybe we were, but after we got to know each other, we were best friends for two years.  As hard as it is for me to admit when I am wrong, it’s even harder not to share with you something so ugly it’s good. Continue reading “Don’t Judge a Book By the Cover” →

Random

Julie & Julia

by Wendi10 Comments on Julie & Julia
image from http://www.istockphoto.com

While I’m away on my imaginary vacation, I’m leaving the pantry stocked with posts from Exit 51 that would have been part of the Flashback Friday series.  The following originally appeared on 7/15/09 at Exit 51, where I promise, it was completely topical at the time.  Now, not so much.

Julie & Julia

Did you think that I would not eventually get around to talking about this?  The movie trailer has made its way across the Internet and the movie opens soon.  So I guess it’s about time for my two cents on the whole Julie/Julia thing. Continue reading “Julie & Julia” →

Dessert, Sweets

Waste Management

by Wendi4 Comments on Waste Management
image from http://www.istockphoto.com

While I’m away on my imaginary vacation, I’m leaving the pantry stocked with posts from Exit 51 that would have been part of the Flashback Friday series. The following originally appeared on 7/24/09 at Exit 51.

Waste Management

Buying items just because they are on sale is only a bargain if you use them.  Otherwise they’re a  huge waste of money.  Impulse grocery shopping usually comes back and bites me in the butt.  My most recent example?  Those cherries on sale at The Fresh Market were a great price.  I was expecting cherries as delicious as the ones I got direct from the farm at Baugher’s.  What I got instead was a heaping serving of disappointment. Continue reading “Waste Management” →