Wednesday, January 6, 2016

Now Commencing Cooking Blog....

Psych! I was just kidding, but something amazing has happened since Christmas day. We went to Christmas dinner at a friend's house, where there were 28 people eating, and it was the most hospitable event I've been to. My friend gave me a Pioneer Woman cookbook as a gift, which I was totally not expecting. In fact, they gave every person there a Christmas gift, which was incredible. (Thank goodness I knitted her 2 dishcloths and wrapped them up fancy, or it could've been awkward!)

Well, I've read Pioneer Woman's blog when my sister sends me a funny post, but I'd never thought about cooking anything till I got this book. She's hilarious! I knew she had a sense of humor from the blog, but the cookbook is off the chain wacky. She has a very self-deprecating attitude, and when I hit the paragraph about how she hates going to the grocery store, I was sold. This woman is like me, except she cooks. Behold my first creation, Chicken with Mustard Cream Sauce.


Sadly, Dean was on call and Drew was out, so Lucas was the only one to join me in the delectability. He ate it all and used the sauce for the corn even! The next day I gave Drew a bite of the leftovers, and he said he would definitely order that in a restaurant. (You have to understand that they have never enjoyed my cooking, thus my ecstatic-ness.)

Next up was Orange Chicken, which is based on a Chinese dish she loves. Let me just say the sauce involves orange juice, soy sauce, sesame oil, orange zest, brown sugar, garlic, ginger, and white vinegar. It also involves cubing chicken thighs, dipping them in egg whites with cornstarch, and deep frying them. Guess what I realized while I was cooking? I've never deep-fried a thing in my life! What 48-year-old woman from Alabama has not deep-fried something? Shocking; and so I was nervous about committing errors, but Dean thankfully left the kitchen to do something else while I cooked. (He was probably hiding behind a door with a fire extinguisher waiting for tragedy to strike, as it inevitably does when I'm in the kitchen. Have I mentioned baking a dessert and using wax paper instead of parchment paper, which subsequently filled the house with smoke but thankfully didn't catch on fire?) To everyone's amazement, though, there was not a single mishap.


And so I give you the most delicious, orangey, perfectly-cooked chicken dish I've ever made! Lucas ate three helpings, Drew went back for seconds, and Dean declared it was tasty - I can die a happy woman now!


Back to reading more of the cookbook...

5 comments:

BeckyW said...

Looks really good. My Sam won't eat cheese so Americanized Asian dishes are a goto at our house. I'll have to try this one.

Pam said...

That is so fantastic! I've been trying to improve my cooking skills! I took cooking classes in Italy and am obsessed with Italian food. Looking forward to more good posts!!

Ann Made Studio said...

Oh I feel the same about cooking. These dishes do look good!!!
We eat healthy and I do cook healthy meals however it feels like a chore. (Not like sewing:)

Dr. Fun (AKA Sister) said...

Oh, and the most important thing about this cookbook (that my friend pointed out very kindly) is that she has pictures of every single step, so I can tell if I screwed something up - fabulous!

Junior said...

Is that her newest cookbook? Those meals look delicious! I've never deep-fried anything either....too scared!