cook's profile


Vance
 
Home Town: Manistee County, Michigan, USA
Living In: Traverse City, Michigan, USA
Member Since: Apr. 2000
Cooking Level: Expert
Cooking Interests: Grilling & BBQ, Slow Cooking, Mexican
Hobbies: Walking, Fishing, Hunting, Photography
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About this Cook
Many varied interests. I took up running in April '06 and have been trying to eat balanced ever since. Cooking has become part of this and quite sucessfully at that. I love being outdoors and have rediscovered fresh, local, produce now that I'm on a "health" kick.
My favorite things to cook
Dishes from scratch: dry beans, slow simmer soups & stews, roasts, etc. I am so sick of convienence - gimme something I can COOK and I don't mean just throwing it in the microwave. I very much enjoy roasting my own coffee beans. You just cannot compare any commercially roasted coffee to home roasted beans.
My favorite family cooking traditions
Scalloped corn, Grandma's "chop suey", mom's chili...
My cooking triumphs
Teaching my children how to cook. With my oldest getting married soon I'm am so proud that she will be able to walk into the kitchen with confidence. My other two are just a few steps behind her and will be great cooks themselves.
My cooking tragedies
I am so very critical of myself I find it tough to just say "that's pretty good!" People enjoying my food often cannot say enough about it but I pick it apart wondering what I could have done differently. LOL
Recipe Reviews 17 reviews
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
Moist and not overly rich. An excellent variation of a classic.

0 users found this review helpful
Reviewed On: May 23, 2012
Beef Stroganoff III
Unaltered this is a fantastic recipe. I harvest wild mushrooms and had some dried ones on hand. I rehydrated them in hot water being careful to make sure I'd have at least 10 oz of "mushroom water" left over. I removed the rehydrated mushrooms and added beef bullion to the mushroom water and used that in place of beef broth. OUT OF THIS WORLD! Also, because dried mushrooms tend to remain a bit tough, I added them to the mixture at the beginning of the simmer to get them extra cook time. To up the creaminess you can also add 4 oz of cream cheese.

1 user found this review helpful
Reviewed On: Mar. 21, 2012
Date Nut Bars
Easy and straight forward. Date bars are nostalgic for me and this recipe takes me there. Sweet but not cloying. The dates and nuts work in balance to really bring this date bar forward. No need to "gussy up" this recipe in my opinion - it would detract from this gem. The only thing I did different was use unprocessed dates and unshelled nuts and only because that is what I had on hand. It significantly prolonged the process but it was well worth it in the end.

0 users found this review helpful
Reviewed On: Feb. 24, 2012
 
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