cook's profile


Connie
 
Home Town: Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Living In: Pasadena, Maryland, USA
Member Since: Aug. 2007
Cooking Level: Intermediate
Cooking Interests: Baking, Slow Cooking, Asian, Mexican, Indian, Italian, Healthy, Quick & Easy
Hobbies: Gardening, Hiking/Camping, Walking, Reading Books, Music, Genealogy
Just me :)
About this Cook
My name is Connie and I am 25 years old. I live in Pasadena, Maryland in a small apartment with my boyfriend. We have been living together since May 2007, and since then, I have become quite the industrious cook! I have unfortunately been unemployed since September, and even into the new year, I am struggling to find a job. This has left me with plenty of time to try new recipes and hone my cooking skills. I really love to cook for my boyfriend, and he always tells me what tastes great and what doesn't!
My favorite things to cook
I love making soups and stews. Not only are they usually easy to make, there is also so much room for adjustment in terms of what spices or other ingredients to add. We try to be health-conscious as well, so the soups and stews I make are generally (and very easily) healthy and low-fat, but still flavorful. My absolute favorite soup recipe from Allrecipes.com is "Roasted Chicken Noodle Soup." We have it at least 2x a month! In addition to making soups and stews, I also really enjoy baking because my boyfriend loves cakes, cookies, pies, etc. Again, I always try to find healthy alternatives and ways to make baked goods as healthy as possible. His favorite cookie recipe so far has been the "Apple Hermits."
My favorite family cooking traditions
My family is mostly German, so we have a lot of German style foods around the holidays. My grandmother, in particular, prides herself on her sour beef and dumplings. One year when I was a little girl, I remember going into the pot to sample some, and discovering that my grandmother had used a nylon sock as a spice bag! My brother and I asked her if it was used, and she jokingly responded, "Even if it was, it'd add more flavor!" My grandmother also makes amazing spaghetti and meatballs (with lots of yummy spices). She always taught me to approach cooking with a sense of humor, and also to enjoy it and just have fun.
My cooking triumphs
My boyfriend and I made "Chicken Tikka Masala" and "Lemon Coconut Cake" from this website for Mother's Day 2007. Our moms and the rest of the family really loved it and were astounded at what a great job we did!
My cooking tragedies
I seem to have a lot of trouble with making Indian food, even though it is one of my very, very favorite types of cuisine. Anything I've made aside from Chicken Tikka Masala usually winds up much too overpowering in terms of spiceyness. I'm still working on Indian recipes, but for now will have to continue going to my favorite local restaurant to satisfy my cravings.
Recipe Reviews 16 reviews
Mango-Banana Smoothie
I am currently addicted to Starbucks' Orange Mango Banana Vivanno smoothie, but all the stores in my area are out of them so I decided to see if I could find a replacement! I'm so happy I did because this is EVEN BETTER! This is an incredibly delicious, flavorful drink, chock full o' vitamins and nutrients. I will definitely be making this very often! Thank you so much for posting this delicious, healthy, and simple recipe.

21 users found this review helpful
Reviewed On: Aug. 26, 2008
Baked Chicken Nuggets
These are so yummy. I also made some modifications to make it healthier: for dipping sauce, I used 2 beaten eggs as recommended by others. I used Panko bread crumbs because they were the only type I had on hand and added the spices as indicated in the recipe. I used a light coating of cooking spray on the cookie sheet and then put in oven at 400 for 15 min as recommended. I then broiled, but only for 2 or 3 min as they would otherwise burn. They came out so tender and so delicious! Some reviewers recommended the Honey Mustard Sauce from this site, but I thought it was extremely fatty so I left out the mayo. I just added equal parts spicy brown mustard and clover honey and voila - a great dipping sauce for these yummy nuggets, and much healthier to boot!

1 user found this review helpful
Reviewed On: Mar. 20, 2008
Raspberry and Almond Shortbread Thumbprints
I followed the recipe using MarcieJ's recommendations (like many others here) but when I mixed the flour into the sugar/butter mixture, the resulting mix was extremely crumbly and difficult to work with. When I went to roll up some of the dough into a ball, it would crumble, making it impossible to put a thumbprint indentation on the dough. I had to wind up sprinkling some water on each ball so that the dough would stick. The end product was good, but it was rather on the buttery side and became very overwhelming after the last few bites. After baking, I had to add more raspberry jam to each cookie to even out the strong butter flavor. I doubt that I will make these again.

0 users found this review helpful
Reviewed On: Feb. 11, 2008
 
ADVERTISEMENT
 
Select Your Version:  United States  |  Canada  |  United Kingdom & Ireland  |  Australia & New Zealand  |  Germany  |  France  |  China  |  Japan  |  Frequently Asked Questions What's this?