cook's profile


BABYDANE
 
Home Town: Temecula, California, USA
Member Since: Jun. 2002
Cooking Level: Expert
Cooking Interests: Baking, Asian, Mexican, Indian, Italian, Nouvelle, Mediterranean, Healthy, Vegetarian, Dessert, Kids, Quick & Easy, Gourmet
Hobbies: Scrapbooking, Knitting, Quilting, Sewing, Gardening, Hiking/Camping, Camping, Reading Books
About this Cook
I'm a wife and mom of 3 young redheads. I'm going back to school after a long time and have one more science class to go before I can apply to nursing school.
My favorite things to cook
I love to cook it all! I've loved cooking and baking since I was 6 years old, which is how old I was when my mom let me make my first dish on my own-it was a crazy cake, and I still remember that day! I make alot of theme meals, such as Asian (it can be Chinese, Japanese, or Korean), Greek, Indian, or, of course, American.
My favorite family cooking traditions
I spent my early childhood up until my teens growing up in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and the regional cooking there influences me to this day. Even though I was born in California and have lived there for over 25 years now, I still crave whoopie pies, shoe fly pie, drop sugar cookies, (to mention the sweet stuff), plus chicken pot pie, (which is really a stew), pork and saurkraut, and red beet eggs. I remember mostly home-cooked meals, and to me, because this is how I grew up, coming from a box is NOT scratch!
My cooking triumphs
Pulling off a beautiful Thanksgiving dinner one year for 20. I had help from all sides, but for me, that's part of the victory, since I usually refuse any offers of help in the kitchen.
My cooking tragedies
Forgetting to put the sugar in the first pumpkin pie I made for Thanksgiving, at age 16. Then, again, just this last year! :-)
Recipe Reviews 12 reviews
Pat's Baked Beans
I can't believe I haven't rated this recipe yet! These are the best, I actually crave them, but only make them when company comes since my family isn't into beans. (I can't figure out why!) Don't change a thing, unless it's just a substitution for the beans, and use the best beans you can find (brands really are different, especially with the garbanzos--some cheaper brands have a really metallic taste to them). I'm making them tomorrow for Memorial Day and I'm going to try the crockpot.

0 users found this review helpful
Reviewed On: May 26, 2009
White Mountain Frosting
Originally, I was just looking for a substitue for Seven Minute Frosting, and since I only have a stand mixer,this recipe seemed to fit the bill. I didn't read any of the reviews, or perhaps I wouldn't have tried it. And, initially, after the first taste from the bowl, I thought I'd made a mistake in making it. But now I'm not so sure... First of all, it's marshmallow frosting, to the T! It's sticky, gooey, and even my 4-year-old daughter thought it tasted just like marshmallow. I wasn't too happy with that, since I was going for a light, airy frosting (like seven minute!) Anyway, I had made it, it came out correctly, so I slathered it on the dark chocolate cake we had made. The recipe makes a TON, but you'll need it, because if you try to spread this too thin, you'll be picking up cake like mad. Turns out, this recipe on dark chocolate cake---tastes like heaven! I'm not sure what it reminds me of, something like Sno Balls, but fresher and no coconut (although coconut on it would be awesome!) You can tell I'm a child of the 70s! Next time, though, I'll make cupcakes (dark chocolate, of course). The cake really is quite hard to cut cleanly. I also don't know yet how this will store--or even where to store it. For now it'll stay on my counter. The only reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 is because I'm not sure how this will hold up over the next 24 hours. As it's cooling, it's getting quite stiff, and it may just be because when cooking the syrup I went just a

2 users found this review helpful
Reviewed On: Apr. 27, 2009
Teriyaki Sauce and Marinade
I don't think I've ever rated a recipe one star, and I hate to go against all the 5 star reviews, but I have to say I really didn't like this! I didn't want to look up my usual recipe, so I thought I'd try this one, given all the great reviews. I thought it was soooo salty, (and I use low-sodium soy sauce.) I kept adding sugar to try and cut the saltiness. I've managed to salvage it that way, but I probably added close to 1 cup of sugar, and I don't think my kids are going to like this (though we'll give it a shot) I looked up my recipe, which is from a Japanese cookbook, and it's basically equal amounts of soy/mirin/sake(or not, there are variations), along with about half the amount of sugar. So, 2:2:1, soy, mirin and sugar. I always add garlic and black pepper, and sometimes the vinegar, usually not though. I also don't usually add the oil (though my recipe does call for a tiny amount) Anyway, I guess our tastes are for a sweeter, stickier teriyaki sauce, and this recipe just wasn't it. Sorry!

8 users found this review helpful
Reviewed On: Mar. 19, 2009
 
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