Member Since:
Jun. 2008
Cooking Level:
Intermediate
Cooking Interests:
Baking, Stir Frying, Asian, Mexican, Italian, Mediterranean, Vegetarian, Dessert, Gourmet
Hobbies:
Gardening, Hiking/Camping, Boating, Walking, Reading Books, Music, Wine Tasting
Feb. 16, 2011 7:48 pm
Updated: Feb. 17, 2011 7:23 am
February in Northern Minnesota; darn the ground hog either way. I can tell you myself we've got two hard months left of the cold, the wind, the snow, sleet, rain, ice, and salt. As the rest of the country begins to thaw out with the warm days of early
Spring, I remain trapped in hibernation,…
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My name is Monica Anderson and I am from Duluth, Minnesota. Of course I love to cook, but I also like to spend my time traveling, reading, gardening, tap dancing, and being with family & friends.
My favorite things to cook
I have many traditional family recipes that I cherish, but I also love to try new things. My husband will eat anything, so he makes for a good guinea pig. I love to bake, especially muffins, breads, and pies. I also love pasta, with lots of vegetables! And I have an insatiable craving for Thai food, so we eat lots of Thai inspired soups, salads and stir fry. Deep down, my husband is a meat and potato guy, so I also like to indulge him every now and then with a nice steak or pork tenderloin and garlic mashed potatoes.
My favorite family cooking traditions
I grew up baking and cooking with my mom, aunt, and grandmothers, who passed down many family cooking traditions. One of my first cooking memories was making hot crossed buns with my grandmother for Easter. Though, I must say that my favorite tradition is the annual birthday cake. Growing up, my aunt Marcie would always make my cake, from scratch. Marcie is known for making the BEST German Chocolate Cake. Everybody in the family started to request the cake so often that she and my mother decided to make a rule that you may only have a German Chocolate Cake for your birthday if you are 30 or older! Thus, I have waited many many years for my cake. It will be epic.
My cooking triumphs
My best triumph was making my great grandmother's pie crust recipe. I used her recipe to make a pumpkin and a pecan pie, without using a food processor or a pastry blender. I made it the way I know she did it, by hand. Another triumph was the day I got my Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer. What a revelation! I call it "The Artisan."
My cooking tragedies
I've definitely had my share. Once I was making a curry dish for me and my husband. We had been painting and working on our house all day and we were starving. The curry was smelling so good, and the dish was turning out great. We sat down to eat and the curry was so spicy that it was inedible, and we like spicy food. I realized that while I was scaling down the recipe in half, I failed to adjust the amount of Thai Curry Paste in my dish! We were sweating, our eyes were watering, we ordered pizza.
