Lilith70

about me

I'm one of those lucky people who gets to work from home (for now), so I have a bit of time here and there to try out new ideas in the kitchen to keep my foody-brained kids and hubby entertained.

I'm also a compulsive do-it-yourself-er. I knit, sew, cook, sculpt, paint, and do whatever home improvements I can shoe-horn into my budget.

I tend to buy base ingredients in bulk and then make as much as I can from scratch. I also (most years) try to keep a well-stocked garden for fresh veggies and herbs, and that's a heck of a challenge up where in rural Wyoming.

As far as cookbooks are concerned, I am painfully spoiled since I inherited all of my grandmother's gourmet cookbooks, including her translations of my grandfather's royal Austrian recipes. And yes, that includes squab, quail, boar, venison, and moose. Beyond that, I also tend to collect as many recipes as I can get my hands on, modifying them to fit the kids' tastes and my locally-available ingredients (a serious consideration, especially in the winter time).

Favorite Foods:

As much as I adore seafood, I have a hard time trusting most fish, and that'll probably be the case until I see the global mercury levels going down. Still, when I can find wild-caught shrimp, crawfish, mussels, salmon, and catfish, I try to cook with it.

I love my veggies, especially the A foods - asparagus, artichoke, and avocado. I'm a big fan of blanched spinach, but if it loses its brilliant green color, it's totally ruined for me. I love trying to bring together unusual ingredients, or recasting well-known combinations in different media.

My friends and family know me best for my Garlic-Honey-Rosemary Thanksgiving Turkey (stuffed with quartered baby red potatoes and other veggies). I also make a killer Fuji apple pie (usually with various kanji carved into the top as the vents), an amazing Beef Stroganoff, and an incredible Shrimp Gumbo. (Being quarter-Cajun has its advantages...) One of my favorite canned foods to share is my homemade salsa - a combination of my mother-in-law's traditional tomato salsa and my Texas influence.

http://www.normalityfactor.com