Home Town:
Alabama,
USA
Living In:
Shanghai,
Shanghai (Municipality) ,
China
Member Since:
Dec. 2007
Cooking Level:
Expert
Cooking Interests:
Grilling & BBQ, Frying, Slow Cooking, Asian, Mexican, Italian, Southern, Low Carb, Healthy, Vegetarian, Quick & Easy
Hobbies:
Gardening, Walking, Reading Books, Music, Charity Work
I just became a grandmother! I have a wonderful husband of over 30 years and we have three amazing daughters.
My favorite things to cook
I love the taste of anything cooked slowly, such as BBQ ribs and chicken; a roast that's cooked for hours, so that the meat is falling apart; gumbo that you have to cook in layers, so that it takes hours to cook...just stuff that you allows you to put your "love" into it. I love southern/soul food, but I don't cook those things all the time anymore due to health issues. However some of those things are major comfort foods and when I am in need of comfort, I get busy and make the greens with ham hock and make that big cast iron skillet with cornbread and fry that catfish!
My favorite family cooking traditions
Just getting together with family before major holidays and cooking for days until you almost pass out! Lots of fond memories of grandmother, mother and aunt cooking when I was small. Always LOUD in the kitchen! I have always loved to cook because of the women in my life. My favorite tradition with my own children was/is sitting down at the table to eat each meal. Now it's just my husband, 18 year old daughter and I, but we sit at the dinner table each night and talk about our day.
My cooking triumphs
I would consider my biggest triumph to be years ago when I was asked to bring my dressing (some call it a stuffing)for Thanksgiving at my in-laws and everyone perferred it while the dressing someone else made sat basically untouched. My father-in-law who is the pickiest eater ever, would always ask me to make it for holidays.
My cooking tragedies
My middle daughter brought her boyfriend (at the time) over for Thanksgiving, which was the first time we met him. We decided to smoke the turkey overnight so that'd it'd be ready in time for lunch. (I usually cook it in the oven, but we sometimes we like to smoke one.) My husband and I took turns getting up during the night to make sure it was smoking, so it got plenty of attention. The next day we took it off of the smoker and let it sit for about 20 minutes and right when the new boyfriend showed up we sliced it, only to find it was a bad turkey--no meat inside at all---all gooey fat. I have never, ever seen anything like it. Thankfully I had made a ham as well, so all's well that ends well...