good food friday????

Happy Good Food Friday!!

I apologize for the posting hiatus. I just haven't felt very inspired lately. Especially when it comes to food. I love food. And food loves me. It comes to visit and then decides to stay forever. It makes me sad. And mad. So I've been boycotting my love for food, by not posting or saying anything good about food, but to no avail.

So, Good Food Friday and I are back! Hurray!

Since some of you asked questions about food, I thought today would be an appropriate day to answer them.

Let us begin.

Allyson asked: "Okay, where do you find your recipes? You always have such fun ones - do you have a favorite book/books, websites, etc"

Allyson, I blame all of this on these two people:

My dear ol' Mom and Dad (no they are not about to be abducted by aliens in a giant silver UFO. It's some crazy place in Chicago. I'll tell you all about it next month.)

A long time ago my Mom and Dad were almost hippies. They lived in a hippie college town (Corvallis, OR). They were part of a communal garden project. They cooked with tofu. They frequented odd smelling health food stores. They grew their own sprouts in little plastic cages. They even grew their own yogurt.

Then they grew out of their hippie phase and decided to master the fine art of Chinese Food. They bought woks. They bought cleavers. They bought cookbooks. They came, they saw, they cooked chinese. Food. Not people.

The point is, my mom and dad aren't afraid to try new things -- even though, as kids, we sometimes were.

As a result, I like to read cookbooks and cooking magazines, and even the occasional cooking blog. And I subject my family to the recipes that sound most intriguing. Some successful, some not so much. If you ever want to watch PB&J turn green and start to dry heave -- just say "Huevos Rancheros."

"We take no prisoners."


As I've mentioned before, I like Cooks Illustrated, Bake or Break, Bakerella, Pioneer Woman (try the cheesy olive bread) and I have a huge collection of mostly untried recipes that I've ripped out of magazines.


Kate asked: "What is your favorite dessert? And when you need a quick sweet fix, what do you head for? (ie, chocolate chips, peanut butter, nutella, you get the picture)."

Kate, the truth is, I love all desserts. Just like I love all my sisters. I don't believe in having favorites. And I suffer with indecision issues.

But, my favorite sweet fix these days involves taking a scoop of Nutella, microwaving it for a few seconds while I wash and slice up a couple of strawberries, and then snarfing down strawberry slices coated with nutella as fast as I can before the kids catch me and want me to share.

Amy asked: "So my real question, where do you come up with all your fun posts? Specifically the pictures, recipes etc."

Amy, I am just honored that you think some of my posts are fun. I do love to take a gander at the crazy pictures people post on Flickr. Give it a try! It's a great way to waste time!

See, I just found this picture of Flickr and now I am dying to try kiwi with nutella!



Melanie asked: "You always have such great recipes. What's your all time favorite meal? Not necessarily one that you make - doesn't food taste better when someone else makes it anyway?"

A-men to that Melanie! (Although nothing makes me crankier than going to a restaraunt and paying good money for food I can make better.) Anyway. Though I don't believe in favorites, I would say my favorite meal would be a Thanksgiving mutation -- except with steak instead of turkey -- and it wouldn't be complete without the green bean casserole, cranberries (oh, but then you need the turkey), yams, homemade rolls, butter, homemade jam, and at least 5 pies (apple, pumpkin, pecan, lemon meringue, AND cherry) and possibly bread pudding to boot. Have I ever told you I heart carbs?


I do.


And last, but not least, Shem asked: "What is your favorite local restaurant? (local counts the county north of us)"


Right now, Shem, I would have to say I love The Cheesecake Factory. I am totally in love with their Bang Bang Chicken. And I have a hard time tryinganything else, when I get to go there so infrequently. I found a knock-off recipe for Bang Bang Chicken here, and it is pretty darn good. Just don't look at the calorie info at the bottom. It only depressed me. I try to justify it by not eating the rice. I hope it works.


And now, so-as not to let you down, I am going to share with you a long time Lunchroom standby for my official Good Food Friday recipe. My sister Farm Girl already blogged about this, so I will just refer you to her blog if you are looking for some entertainment. Anyway. This recipe for "Oatmeal Glop" was created by me and my sibs back when we were starving hungry kids, waiting impatiently from our Mom and Dad to come back from Area 54 or the grocery store -- wherever they were hiding from us. But I don't recommend you try it. I am just trying to keep things real.

As an extra bonus Farm Girl also included a recipe for Toaster Gross, created by her husband in college.





I REALLY don't recommend you try that.




nutella picture by Hoobygroovy
huevos picture by mag3737


picture of my parents stolen from Kate.