Question #3 Favorite dish to make

I guess everyone knows that I like to cook. It is a labor of love for me and rarely feels like a chore. Even when I lived alone, I would prepare dinner for myself . All of my single friends were amazed..I hate packaged food and TV dinners and I couldn't afford to eat out. I remember the reality setting in that the kids really were gone (they were away at school) the day that I opened the fridge and found leftover shrimp from the night before.That never happened before!

It's not just the cooking per Se, it's the anticipation, the planning, the shopping, the creativity the coordinating of flavors, the aromas. One might call it an obsession :-). Actually I worked with a Chef once who told me that she had never met anyone like me, who could be eating one meal and talking about the next.

I totally distrust people who don't relish food. Of course I understand in today's world of working parents, soccer Moms, workaholic Dads, quickie meals, tight food budgets and disjointed dinner times that the art of meal preparation has been lost. But it can be a time of conversation, learning and bonding that should be passed down.
Sometimes I get so inspired by cooking shows that I can't wait to try out recipes on Jim, but quite honestly I don't always get the new trends...Foam??? Whatever happened to sauce OVER something and not UNDER it? What's up with Bleu cheese ice cream? And grits, which I have learned to love, ain't just for breakfast anymore and can jack your check up in a restaurant by having something fancy served over them.

We rarely have dinner guests anymore, but when we do I love to set the table, using linen cloths and napkins and my best china. It so rewarding for me to watch others enjoy what I have created. I just can't fathom that some people just eat to live. To me food is joy, and life and celebration. And if people think I am a good cook, then that is my gift.
There are many dishes which I have mastered over the years and some that I haven't. I am proficient in Italian, always make my own sauce from fresh ingredients and have even made fresh pasta on occasion. ( Too much work for more than four). Italian is probably my favorite cuisine, it must be the garlic and the enticing aroma of the sauce.
I love to make soup and can make it out of literally nothing. It's a good way to use up limp celery and carrots , potatoes with tentacles and pieces of meat that are too small for another meal. Add some noodles, rice or barley and there is lunch or a dinner first course. What a neat way to clean out the fridge.
I enjoy baking bread, but it is one of those things that practice makes perfect and I can't afford, (waist wise,) to get perfect by making it every day.
I don't know why, but even though I love salads, I like them best when someone else makes them. They always taste better to me in a restaurant. Maybe that is because we a rarely had them growing up , and when we did it was usually a leaf of iceberg lettuce with a slice of tomato topped with that pink french dressing.

Out daily fare now is usually chicken, pork, ground beef, steaks, chops, fish and other. seafood. always served with a starch and veggie, my favorite starch being a potato of course :-)

Anyway, after much thought I have decided that my favorite dish to make is Sour Beef and Dumplings, mostly because it represents special occasions to me, and secondly because it is a treat for those of us who grew up in Baltimore in the early to mid 1900's. People either Love it or hate it and the people who love it think it is too time consuming and too difficult to make. It is a hardy, savory dish with a sweet and sour flavor, beef in gravy, served with potato dumplings.

I use my mother's recipe which was handed down. She literally wrote it down for me as she made it , estimating the measurements as she combined the ingredients.

I have a theory that this is how every German household learned to make it as they came to Baltimore, using what was available here and adapting too it. Some people use white vinegar, or wine vinegar . It makes a difference in the flavor. When we were in Germany we ate nothing like it save for a venison dish with spaetzle and a similar sauce.

Baltimore still has a large German population, and many local churches sponsor Sour Beef Dinners in the Fall as fund raisers. Some restaurants and Delis offer it as well on their winter menu.

I would love to share it with you, but I feel it would be a better experience if we made it together for the first time Just let me know where and when :-)

Here is a recipe for a refreshing Pasta salad that everyone loves...NO mayo

CORK SCREW SALAD

1 # Spiral Pasta (Rotelle)
1 1/2 cup v1negar

1 1/2 cup sugar
2 t prepared mustard

1 t salt

1 t parsley

1 t pepper

1 medium onion, chopped

Cook pasta in salted water until al dente. You can add a few drops of yellow food coloring if desired. Rinse and drain.

Blend remaining ingredients until liquefied and stir together. add 1/4 cup of oil and refrigerate overnight.

Bon apetit!