Amy - Ellie's Mommie

about me

I live in Florida with my mother and my daughter. I stay at home, so I have time to really get into cooking. I grew up cooking for my mom and my brother, and they both say I am one of the better home cooks they've met! But since my mom's idea of cooking is opening soup cans and my brother lives in NYC and eats out a lot, that may not be saying much!
I am one of those people who reads cookbooks just for fun, even when I am not looking for a recipe. My favorite cookbook is "The American Woman's Cookbook" from 1930-something. My grandmother had a copy of it, and my mom found a copy for herself years ago (updated for the 1960's) and she gave me that copy when I moved out on my own. I like it more than "modern" cookbooks because it has actual recipes in it; not just heat and eat steps! When your recipe requires you to use your can opener and packet opening scissors more than your knife and spice cabinet, something is wrong!

Right now, I am trying to learn to cook the cuisines of Asia, mostly India and Vietnam. I am also trying to learn to bake bread. My mom may not be able to cook without Campbell's soup, but she can bake homemade bread like no one else!

Favorite Foods:

My favorite foods are, well, everything! I'll try anything once (even red bean slimy "dessert" at my favorite Viet cuisine place). I really like cellophane noodles right now, but next week, it will be something different.

In my family, I am known for the "weird" food. The first dinner I made on my own for my dad and my brother was baked fish, rice and green beans. Well, I was only 11, and I had always seen my mom make pan gravy for meat coming out of the oven, sooooo...I made "Fish Gravy". It tasted good enough for the guys to eat, and I liked it, too, but to this day, when I am concocting something new, all I hear is "Fish Gravy" jokes!

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