I am a prolific collector of all things "I'll-do-this-someday." If you read regularly, you'll know that I took the "No More Patterns" pledge. Prior to that, and less formally, I decided I didn't need any more recipes. I have a file drawer crammed full of recipes. For a couple of years I made as much as three new recipes every night! My friends all thought I was crazy, but I LOVE cooking. It always makes me sad when I hear people say they hate to cook. We have to eat, and therefore, we have to do some form of cooking, right? So if you're going to do any form of cooking, why not make something really good?
Now I actually know the answer to this question because I've given it quite a bit of thought. It really comes down to this: Cooking is all about the time and the tools. The Two T's, if you like. After I stopped working, I had time to burn (although I'm not sure what happened to all that time). I started watching the Food Network most of the day. Eventually, I fancied myself a chef, and I half expected the Food Network to come knocking on my door at any moment. Because of that, I always had something baking, braising, roasting, etc., just . . . in . . . case. In the process, I watched all these TV chefs using all of their cool appliances and gadgets. Most of the real time-savers were fairly inexpensive. The more expensive ones can often be found at Goodwill. I figure they were purchased by home cooks, like me, who had sworn off frozen dinners, but then . . . well, you know. Time got in the way.
Seriously though, with the right tools, you can cut your cooking time down significantly, and having the right tool for the job makes things so much easier. There are a lot of different gadgets that can make an onerous job seem simple. One of these days, I'm going to tell you what I consider the indispensible tools that every kitchen should have. And I'll tell you the ones that are dispensible, yet still desirable. But that's for later. See how my mind works? I'm doing okay there at the trunk of the tree, and next thing you know, I'm up in the tiniest branches of my original thought.
So back to my Cinnamon-Apple Cake. When I get these recipes from Myrecipes.com, I always look first to see how many people have rated it, and how many stars it was given. Anything less than five stars is immediately deleted. As I started to say, I am so inundated with new recipes, that I'm avoiding accumulating any more. And when I was making up to three new ones per day, I amassed an incredible database of recipes that I keep on my computer in the form of MasterCook Deluxe 9. I love this database because it allows me to keep all my recipes in my computer and when I want to use them, I just print out the page. Then I can spill anything I want on it, and I haven't spoiled my beautiful cookbooks. I have plenty of those too, and when I use them, I copy the page first so I don't mess up the cookbook. And if I like the recipe, I type it into my database for next time.
So how did my Cinnamon-Apple Cake stack up in the ratings?
It was rated by 152 users. Now that's pretty impressive. (Can you tell I don't get out much?) And that means, it passed the first test of whether I should make it or not. And given that it called for the exact amount of creme cheese that I already had opened in my refrigerator, it moved to the top of my "must make someday" list. And I must say, it was so moist and yummy. Kind of like a coffee cake, but good enough to be dessert:
And now, I wonder what I'm going to do with the rest of the rest of my apples. Applesauce maybe? Hmmmmmmmm.
1 comment:
Cream cheese and I go way back to junior high and saltines. Apples and cream cheese can only taste better than either alone.
Post a Comment