Cooking with Julia Child

I love my Julia Child cookbook, The Art of French Cooking. I also love watching her old shows on YouTube. The thing is, following her tips really does make a difference - sometimes a huge difference! Her recipes for ham, casserole-roasted chicken, and just today chicken stock, are wonderful. Here's the thing for chicken stock - you really do have to take the scum off! She calls is blanching the meat (boiling for five minutes, then rinsing thoroughly and starting over), and does it ever make a difference. I also like her herb bouquets, and for the stock she uses whole vegetables, including a whole onion, not chopped. At any rate, it is undoubedtly the best chicken stock I've ever made. I also learned that the basic difference between boiling potatoes and baking potatoes is the thickness of skin. Imagine that! Not to mention, baking potatoes will stick to themselves if sliced and cooked in a dish like scalloped potatoes, so that is when using boiling potatoes is important. Well, that's all for today. :-)

An August Afternoon

We had a lovely afternoon today, perfectly fitting for a Sunday. I was able to get the house picked up before the kids were up this morning, so that was taken care of - otherwise, if it's a mess, I can't seem to relax on Sunday. Adam had the wonderful idea yesterday of making "pizza sandwiches," because he had stumbled across his sandwich cookers, or whatever they are called. So, when we got home from church, he built a fire outside, and we took out a tray of buttered bread, leftover spaghetti sauce, pepperoni, and grated cheese, and he cooked all our sandwiches over the fire. Yum! It was a perfect afternoon to be outside. We had watermelon and s'mores for dessert, and slush for drink, so it was a real treat all around. Afterward, Luke, Adam and I took naps, and the girls played quietly. It was, truly, a restful day - and much needed. Now, the girls are begging for supper and I'm not even hungry. I guess I'll go make nacho chips w/ melted cheese for supper. Keeping life simple, especially since Adam has already left for work.