Saturday, June 23, 2012

Experimenting

Lately I'm hooked on the Food Network shows Chopped and Iron Chef America.  I love seeing what celebrity and every day chefs are able to produce, especially when presented with the oddest of ingredients.  Unfortunately, my family is not always so impressed with what I come up with in the kitchen.
Last week I made whole wheat spaghetti with broccoli and a spicy peanut sauce.  I loved it but the boys gave the dish a thumbs-down.  Oh well!  More for me!
On Friday, I made cheesy polenta with spicy shrimp.  Hubby rolled his eyes and said "where do you come up with this stuff?"  Ha!  They all liked the spicy shrimp, but no one liked the polenta.  Once again, I loved it!  (I don't think they have working tastebuds.)
Today I made gozleme which I've made many times before and everyone loves.  Hubby was supposed to bring fresh spinach home but wound up with something else that turned out to be quite bitter.  We still ate it, except for Zack.  For him, I made zatar fatayer using the same dough as the gozleme.
Munch, munch, munch.  Mmmm these greens are good for lunch.
I've also been experimenting with yarn and a coffee can (I've saved tons of them).
I think I need to add more flowers.  I have a real problem with empty space.  What do you think?

Have a super Saturday!

23 comments:

Lori ann said...

i think you are quite clever and i would love those dishes! i remember having the same experiance with my children. now that they are grown they sometimes introduce me to new foods!
love your coffee cups, the flowers and butterflies are so cute added on!

K @ Aurora Blythe said...

Your dinners look fabulous to me! I, too, love polenta although whole wheat noodles are just okay. But with all the lovely dressings you added it still looked good to me! I think men in general do not try to many new foods. Either they are a foodie and cook (rare find) or they want the same staples all the time with nothing new entering the mix... boring! haha
What a great idea for the coffee cans! I like the butterfly one as is, but maybe adding a couple smaller flowers in the spaces between on the red floral one would be cool.
So much fun visiting with you today!
Oh... and I love Cupcake Wars on the food channel. Amazing creations!

GwendolynKay said...

I love CHOPPED! I watch it all the time. I was watching it recently and one of the ingrediants was kombucha tea! No kidding! Yesterday Aiden turned 1. Jamie and jonni are having a party for him today. Her family came from Ohio for it. love you and miss you.
p.s. I think the dishes look pretty good.

Mrs. Micawber said...

Yes, more for you! The peanut sauce sounds wonderful.

We like greens for lunch too - but we try to keep them down better than a cat usually does. :)

angeliki said...

Ηi Tammy! Your post made my (tiring) day! I think experimenting is the best part of life makes it more interesting! I also think your crochet work on the coffee can is sooooo perfect! I like a lot! The number of flowers is ok, otherwise it's gonna look "too much", but that's only my opinion! I will try it too;-)
And something technical: I can't see your "followers gadget" and don't know why, anyway
Lots of kisses,
Angeliki

val said...

I love your fearless experimentation in the kitchen....and your family is too funny! Cute coffee cans...I have a can I keep just the other day for the same reason!

Melanie said...

I love the show, Chopped - watch it quite often. I've made pasta with broccoli and spicy peanut sauce before...love it! Also love polenta, but I'm afraid I'd have to pass on the shrimp, as I don't like seafood. Happy cooking!

Diane said...

I think it's amazing that your family DOES give everything a try - even if they're not crazy about it. My husband would never be that adventurous. Have a wonderful weekend. Diane

oldthings said...

Dear Tammy
You cooked many dishes !! I think you have holidays from your work and i hope to fun with the things you love !
Have a nice Sunday
Olympia

Peli said...

wow! these crochet cans are really cute Tammy!!!! make loads of them...i love the colour combinations and i cant decide which one's my favorite!!
as for your dishes...well they look yummy enough for me!!

Mosaic Magpie said...

I have to hand it to you for trying all those different recipes. I get in such a rut with cooking. The crochet on the coffee cans is neat, you could add some swirls of crocheted chain to fill the voids that bother you. Of course you add more flowers too, no one can ever have too many flowers.
Deb

Catherine said...

Kitties do indeed enjoy munching on their greens don't they? Haha!

I like your little knitted coffee can. I think it looks perfect.

Happy Sunday Tammy!
xo Catherine

Vicki Boster said...

Hi sweet Tammy--- hmmmm I think your guys do have bad taste buds- I think all your new dishes sound wonderful- especially the polenta!!!

The coffee can idea totally rocks- I think that you have such creative ideas!!

Hugs to Jingles-- he's such a sweetie!
Love
Vicki

koralee said...

Just look at you my friend...you can come and cook for me anytime...love your creations. Hope this week brings you some sweet surprises...xoxo

Anonymous said...

Good for you for trying new recipes, Tammy! I tend to make the same ol' things over and over again... these all look sooooo good! :)

Unknown said...

I found that with my kids, texture is everything - more than taste. Experiments in the kitchen are hard when there are so many palettes to please!

Your crocheted cans are wonderful! If you don't like the empty space, I can picture some dashed line stitching that would end in a little bee or butterfly. Flitting around between your flowers. Or maybe a button here or there with legs to look like ladybugs.

Maya Kuzman said...

I would love to taste all those dishes!! They sound {and certainly look} delicious!!
Gomleze is also made in my country {the world is indeed small} and I cannot have enough of it whenever there is some :)

Mereknits said...

Those are my husbands two favorite shows, sometime I would like to tell my husband he has been "chopped!". I think your food looks amazing, I'll be right over for leftovers.
Meredith

Anonymous said...

your really make some lush looking food!
i like the coffee can covers, i like minimal and think they look fab as they are :)

Susan said...

Hi Tammy....Your culinary creations look mighty yummy to me. Come to think of it, I didn't eat any lunch (yet). ha ha ha Your family is so lucky you cook. Susan

Cat Stegall said...

Thanks for stopping buy my blog and yes you should start art journaling,,,just jump in! I just started last year and am using it to practice in and get my feelings out some days...get a small art pad with heavy paper -throw some gesso on it -and paint over it or stamp or whatever!!

Dagmar said...

I love the fact that if it can have a crocheted cover, it should have..l..this is great..looks good to me..❤well done..another great idea shared.

Sam I Am...... said...

It all sounded good to me! Tell them they can take over the cooking if they don't like it. Ha! Ha! I used to tell my family that and they all got real quiet then! LOL! I love peanut sauce. Not sure what the other stuff was but I was raised with lots of different types of food and lots of veggies so I'm pretty open to most things.

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