I have been stuck in a rut with food and cooking for way too long. I
am craving some new ingredients, flavors, and textures.

Yesterday, I went to the Indian grocery store. I bought naan,
prepared frozen dishes (mutter paneer, something else with okra,
tomatoes, and potatoes), rice snacks, cardamom and pistachio ice
cream. Nothing wakes up my palate like Indian food. It has a
combination of flavors that I don't get from anything else. I wanted
to buy tons more, but I have the summer off now so I will prolong the
pleasure by giving myself the excuse to go in and browse more often.

So, that was the quick fix. The food section in my local newspaper
has a weekly column featuring produce in season. Each column has a
recipe showcasing a more unusual fruit or vegetable. I am going to
make that recipe each week. This week is kohlrabi. I know kohlrabi
is not incredibly exotic, but I have never cooked it. I'm not sure
if I have ever eaten it.

That's my plan. Does anyone else get stuck in a rut?

Tara

Tara > wrote in message
...
> [..] Does anyone else get stuck in a rut?

No.

"One is a lonely number."

The Ranger

Tara said...

> Does anyone else get stuck in a rut?


Tara,

All my life!!!

It was my fault!

Best,

Andy
--
Bread & Butter

On Jun 5, 11:24*am, Tara > wrote:
> I have been stuck in a rut with food and cooking for way too long. * I
> am craving some new ingredients, flavors, and textures. *
>
> Yesterday, I went to the Indian grocery store. * I bought naan,
> prepared frozen dishes (mutter paneer, something else with okra,
> tomatoes, and potatoes), rice snacks, cardamom and pistachio ice
> cream. * Nothing wakes up my palate like Indian food. * It has a
> combination of flavors that I don't get from anything else. *I wanted
> to buy tons more, but I have the summer off now so I will prolong the
> pleasure by giving myself the excuse to go in and browse more often.
>
> So, that was the quick fix. * The food section in my local newspaper
> has a weekly column featuring produce in season. * Each column has a
> recipe showcasing a more unusual fruit or vegetable. * I am going to
> make that recipe each week. * This week is kohlrabi. * I know kohlrabi
> is not incredibly exotic, but I have never cooked it. * I'm not sure
> if I have ever eaten it.
>
> That's my plan. * *Does anyone else get stuck in a rut?
>
> Tara

Years ago my friend Bev had a share in an organic garden . One
summer she got about a bushel of kohlrabi. Called me for ideas and I
gave her the only recipes I could find (B4 the internet but tons of
cookbooks!) One of the recipes was stuffed kohlrabi in a cream
sauce. I think it was ground veal. She is a frugal person and won't
waste anything. Unfortunately, she will never eat kohlrabi again!
Lynn in Fargo

"Tara" > wrote in message
...
>I have been stuck in a rut with food and cooking for way too long. I
> am craving some new ingredients, flavors, and textures.

Hit the seasoning section of your local grocery store. You wouldn't believe
the selection they have these days.

>
> Yesterday, I went to the Indian grocery store. I bought naan,
> prepared frozen dishes (mutter paneer, something else with okra,
> tomatoes, and potatoes), rice snacks, cardamom and pistachio ice
> cream. Nothing wakes up my palate like Indian food. It has a
> combination of flavors that I don't get from anything else. I wanted
> to buy tons more, but I have the summer off now so I will prolong the
> pleasure by giving myself the excuse to go in and browse more often.

It can be spicy! Mexican food also. My family loves some of the spicy
dishes we get when we eat out.

>
> So, that was the quick fix. The food section in my local newspaper
> has a weekly column featuring produce in season. Each column has a
> recipe showcasing a more unusual fruit or vegetable. I am going to
> make that recipe each week. This week is kohlrabi. I know kohlrabi
> is not incredibly exotic, but I have never cooked it. I'm not sure
> if I have ever eaten it.
>
> That's my plan. Does anyone else get stuck in a rut?

Yes, it happened to us. But then I decided some years ago to start adding
more variety to our diet. And now that we're both retired we have more time
to spend shopping, cooking, gardening and canning. I started to doing
searches on the net, asking friends and family for their favorite recipes
etc.

>
> Tara


--
Kelly..........
If you're a past or present resident of
NYC and want to share past experiences
and current events with others from NYC,
check out this free message Board:
http://members6.boardhost.com/QueensNYer/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Tara" wrote

>I have been stuck in a rut with food and cooking for way too long. I
> am craving some new ingredients, flavors, and textures.
(snip)
> That's my plan. Does anyone else get stuck in a rut?

No, not really. See, when I was growing up, Mom was a wonderful mother but
all food was repetitive and bland for the most part. It was hot, on time,
and plentiful.
I have no complaints as she taught me other skill areas and was (still is!)
really great.

Then, when I moved out, my roomates exposed me to much more. I set an ethic
to always buy at least one food which I'd never tried before. It didnt have
to be fancy or expensive, but each trip I'd get 'something new' to me. It
was *real* easy at the start in the fresh veggie section and if some didnt
work (don't try to just boil up some garlic for a veggie!) enough did or I
learned how to cook one that didn't work the first time (bake eggplant
please, straight boiled eggplant with skin on it just nasty).

For 30 years I've been doing this although I don't 'always' find something
new that appeals on every trip. At least once a month though, we do still.

So, you are on the right path in general. Just get a few new items and
you'll find some are keepers that slip into your diet. You won't get in a
rut, if you have a wider array of things you like.

Personally right now, munching on a slice of home made bread, toasted, and
thinly spread with Promite and butter.

On Jun 5, 9:24*am, Tara > wrote:
> I have been stuck in a rut with food and cooking for way too long. * I
> am craving some new ingredients, flavors, and textures. *
>
> Yesterday, I went to the Indian grocery store. * I bought naan,
> prepared frozen dishes (mutter paneer, something else with okra,
> tomatoes, and potatoes), rice snacks, cardamom and pistachio ice
> cream. * Nothing wakes up my palate like Indian food. * It has a
> combination of flavors that I don't get from anything else. *I wanted
> to buy tons more, but I have the summer off now so I will prolong the
> pleasure by giving myself the excuse to go in and browse more often.
>
> So, that was the quick fix. * The food section in my local newspaper
> has a weekly column featuring produce in season. * Each column has a
> recipe showcasing a more unusual fruit or vegetable. * I am going to
> make that recipe each week. * This week is kohlrabi. * I know kohlrabi
> is not incredibly exotic, but I have never cooked it. * I'm not sure
> if I have ever eaten it.
>
> That's my plan. * *Does anyone else get stuck in a rut?
>
> Tara

Almost always during the week- with our commute, we're gone for 12
hours out of the day, so the last thing I feel like doing is cooking
something different or detailed. I save that for the weekend! Tomorrow
is my husband's b-day, and he has requested Bob Pastorio's Fish in
Crazy Water, made with halibut my brother in law caught a few weeks
ago...

On Jun 5, 9:47*am, Andy > wrote:
> Tara said...
>
> > Does anyone else get stuck in a rut?
>
> Tara,
>
> All my life!!!
>
> It was my fault!
>
> Best,
>
> Andy
> --
> Bread & Butter

I got stuck in a rut one time...just to see what it felt like.

On Fri, 5 Jun 2009 18:07:53 -0400, "cshenk" > wrote:

>"Tara" wrote
>
>>I have been stuck in a rut with food and cooking for way too long. I
>> am craving some new ingredients, flavors, and textures.
>(snip)
>> That's my plan. Does anyone else get stuck in a rut?
>
>No, not really. See, when I was growing up, Mom was a wonderful mother but
>all food was repetitive and bland for the most part. It was hot, on time,
>and plentiful.
>I have no complaints as she taught me other skill areas and was (still is!)
>really great.
>
>Then, when I moved out, my roomates exposed me to much more. I set an ethic
>to always buy at least one food which I'd never tried before. It didnt have
>to be fancy or expensive, but each trip I'd get 'something new' to me. It
>was *real* easy at the start in the fresh veggie section and if some didnt
>work (don't try to just boil up some garlic for a veggie!) enough did or I
>learned how to cook one that didn't work the first time (bake eggplant
>please, straight boiled eggplant with skin on it just nasty).
>
>For 30 years I've been doing this although I don't 'always' find something
>new that appeals on every trip. At least once a month though, we do still.
>
>So, you are on the right path in general. Just get a few new items and
>you'll find some are keepers that slip into your diet. You won't get in a
>rut, if you have a wider array of things you like.
>
>Personally right now, munching on a slice of home made bread, toasted, and
>thinly spread with Promite and butter.
>

I think it's odd that for 30 years you've been *conscientiously*
trying new things. Was your culinary upbringing so confined that you
really have eat something new every month? I think my personal
experience was fairly limited (except for special occasions), but I
don't feel like I have to rebel and eat durian.

--
I love cooking with wine.
Sometimes I even put it in the food.

On Fri, 05 Jun 2009 12:24:31 -0400, Tara wrote:

> I have been stuck in a rut with food and cooking for way too long. I
> am craving some new ingredients, flavors, and textures.
>
> Yesterday, I went to the Indian grocery store. I bought naan,
> prepared frozen dishes (mutter paneer, something else with okra,
> tomatoes, and potatoes), rice snacks, cardamom and pistachio ice
> cream. Nothing wakes up my palate like Indian food. It has a
> combination of flavors that I don't get from anything else. I wanted
> to buy tons more, but I have the summer off now so I will prolong the
> pleasure by giving myself the excuse to go in and browse more often.
>
> So, that was the quick fix. The food section in my local newspaper
> has a weekly column featuring produce in season. Each column has a
> recipe showcasing a more unusual fruit or vegetable. I am going to
> make that recipe each week. This week is kohlrabi. I know kohlrabi
> is not incredibly exotic, but I have never cooked it. I'm not sure
> if I have ever eaten it.
>
> That's my plan. Does anyone else get stuck in a rut?
>
> Tara

i don't mean to sound simplistic, but is there anything you used to cook
and like that you haven't made in a long time? i find that happens to me
sometimes.

your pal,
blake

"sf" wrote
> "cshenk" wrote:

>>For 30 years I've been doing this although I don't 'always' find
something
>>new that appeals on every trip. At least once a month though, we do
>>still.

> I think it's odd that for 30 years you've been *conscientiously*
> trying new things.

It got to be a habit and one the family likes.

> Was your culinary upbringing so confined that you
> really have eat something new every month? I think my personal
> experience was fairly limited (except for special occasions), but I
> don't feel like I have to rebel and eat durian.

Grin, it was that limited. We used to pray for TV dinners and school
lunches. To give an idea, Mom never made a pizza the whole time I was
growing up. Pizza is too 'fancy' (even boxed frozen). I remember she got
celery once. Thanksgiving was cool because thats when you saw Gravy (from a
packet, add water and heat), Stuffing (from a bag, nothing added but what
the bag's basic directions called for), and sweet potatoes (from a can).

Every meal was a balanced meat (hamburger, baked steak well done, baked
chicken, on rare times - baked fish sticks), a vegetable (green beans, peas,
pea and carrots, on rare times - lima beans), and a starch (boiled potates
or baked, on rare times- rice-a-roni). Once every 3-4 months she'd get wild
and make macaroni and cheese or she'd stuff a green pepper.

There were occasional forays into other things but they were very 'standard'
and she didnt have a spice cabinet, just a jar of cinnimon, and some salt
and there was a rarely seen black pepper shaker. Imagine lasagna made with
no spices (grin).

Although I was aware there were cereals other than Corn Flakes, I never saw
them at home except once she got a box of shredded wheat (her version of try
something new). It was Corn Flakes or Oatmeal. Once a month, she'd get ice
cream (Vanilla, chocolate or Strawberry only).

Grin, Mom was always delighted to have our friends join for dinner but for
some odd reason, they tended to do it only once.

Now, before you think Mom was a bad one, nope! She's just not much of a
cook. It's her *only* failing. She raised 3 highly successful kids on her
own by doing what today is called 'flipping houses'. Extremely unusual in
those days to see a woman with 3 kids doing that alone (strange even today
come to think of it!).

I was raised by a woman who believed and _lived_ that 'people, even women
people, could do anything if they just studied the problem up and then got
to work on it'. It's people who don't study up or just don't start the work
who have problems.

So, I learned to lay wood floors from raw planks with standard hand tools
over slab cement by age 11 (I was tiling floors by age 8). I learned to do
wallpapering (and was the only one of us 4 with that skill) by age 10. My
sister (biggest one of us all, ended up a hair under 6ft) did plummer work
and wall framing. All of us do drywall and painting. I do custom
woodworking (including raw wood to replacement window frame parts that have
rotted out) and have even done a whole kitchen cabinet set starting with raw
lumber (had the formica tops cut for us to measure I admit). My brother
does anything electrical short of replacing the master panels but Mom always
arranged a professional to come check before anything was actually wired to
the house. By the time he was 12, they never found an error. When I was 13
and my brother 14, Mom set us to finishing off 1,600 feet of basement (She
and Sis were primary on upstairs, Bro and me on basement). Took us 2
summers to finish that house but it was really *nice*. Mom made 92,000$
profit off that house in 1975 after 2 years living there with us all (we
always lived in the ones we were fixing). Anyways, nuff about that but you
get the picture.

So Mom can't cook fancy? Thats not really true. See, she just wasnt
*interested* in learning how. She did teach me how to make hamburger helper
though! I think I was 16 or so?

To come back to topic, new purchase this month: Artichoke heart. It's just
a little thing in a glass jar but have never tried it. I bet I'll like it!
I assume 'heat and serve with butter at the side?'

On Sat, 6 Jun 2009 13:05:32 -0400, "cshenk" > wrote:

>To come back to topic, new purchase this month: Artichoke heart. It's just
>a little thing in a glass jar but have never tried it. I bet I'll like it!
>I assume 'heat and serve with butter at the side?'

I'd use jarred artichoke hearts "in" something. Start here
http://artichoke-recipes.epicurean.c...rtichoke+Heart

Have you ever eaten a fresh artichoke? Here are some interesting
recipes to dip the leaves in http://artichokes.org/recipes.html

--
I love cooking with wine.
Sometimes I even put it in the food.

"sf" wrote
> "cshenk" wrote:

>>To come back to topic, new purchase this month: Artichoke heart. It's
>>just
>>a little thing in a glass jar but have never tried it. I bet I'll like
>>it!
>>I assume 'heat and serve with butter at the side?'
>
> I'd use jarred artichoke hearts "in" something. Start here
> http://artichoke-recipes.epicurean.c...rtichoke+Heart

Uwww. Hate that site. Coated with icky popups and sales junk. Sorry.

On Sat, 6 Jun 2009 16:55:54 -0400, "cshenk" > wrote:

>"sf" wrote
>> "cshenk" wrote:
>
>>>To come back to topic, new purchase this month: Artichoke heart. It's
>>>just
>>>a little thing in a glass jar but have never tried it. I bet I'll like
>>>it!
>>>I assume 'heat and serve with butter at the side?'
>>
>> I'd use jarred artichoke hearts "in" something. Start here
>> http://artichoke-recipes.epicurean.c...rtichoke+Heart
>
>Uwww. Hate that site. Coated with icky popups and sales junk. Sorry.
>
HUH! It looked like a perfectly site to me. Switch to Firefox and
install AdBlock.

--
I love cooking with wine.
Sometimes I even put it in the food.

cshenk wrote:

> To come back to topic, new purchase this month: Artichoke heart. It's
> just a little thing in a glass jar but have never tried it. I bet I'll
> like it! I assume 'heat and serve with butter at the side?'

If they're MARINATED artichoke hearts you can just toss them with angel hair
pasta and sprinkle with grated parm-reggiano. If you want more oompf, add
some sautéed chicken livers.

Bob

"Christine Dabney" wrote
> "Bob Terwilliger" wrote:
>>cshenk wrote:

>>> To come back to topic, new purchase this month: Artichoke heart. It's
>>> just a little thing in a glass jar but have never tried it. I bet I'll
>>> like it! I assume 'heat and serve with butter at the side?'

>>If they're MARINATED artichoke hearts you can just toss them with angel
>>hair
>>pasta and sprinkle with grated parm-reggiano. If you want more oompf, add
>>some sautéed chicken livers.

> They can also be good in a frittata, or on a pizza. Or in a salad..
> That is, if they are marinated...

They are and thanks both! I was looking over my recipe database and found
some interesting ideas. I don't have angel-hair pasta but I do have some
nice rice noodles. I was looking at making them up simple then topping with
the artichoke and slivers of a hard grating cheese (parm like but not in a
jar pre-grated, label gone now and have a decent block left). It sounds
like a few cold boiled shrimps wouldnt be astray on it.