I hate cooking, except for when...

[Hiddochi wolf]

...It gives me a chance to show off.

'Cause most college students I know can barely cook an egg.

At potlucks, most of them are like "I brought Spaghetti-O's and PopTarts, guys!"

And then I show up with my fancy-dandy caprese salad with balsamic reduction, some bacon-wrapped cheese stuffed dates, and homemade pies. xd

Granted, I'm by no means the best cook, either. I burnt queso dip the first time I tried making it. But I'm excellent at improvising, and when something goes wrong, I can almost always find a way around it. And I have some rather gourmet tastes from all of the awesome foods my mom makes and has introduced me to, so yeah... I tend to put a lot of my peers to shame. razz

I get to bring a dish or two to a Christmas party on Sunday, hosted by a mutual friend of my boyfriend and I. I'll be making the dates and a chopped beet and chickpea salad with homemade Greek dressing.  

[Mama Ame]

A real talent is to be able to fix a dish you screw up.

The other day Daniel was making sausage gravy. He kept throwing "flour" into the pan and was like "Why isn't this thickening up?!"

Yeah. He was totally throwing in powder sugar. Oops!

If it were me I would have panicked and tossed it out. But he fixed it. Granted the gravy was VERY sweet. But with some extra pepper and salt it was edible.  

[Hiddochi wolf]

Mama Ame

A real talent is to be able to fix a dish you screw up.

The other day Daniel was making sausage gravy. He kept throwing "flour" into the pan and was like "Why isn't this thickening up?!"

Yeah. He was totally throwing in powder sugar. Oops!

If it were me I would have panicked and tossed it out. But he fixed it. Granted the gravy was VERY sweet. But with some extra pepper and salt it was edible.

Oh man, I would've facepalmed so hard if I did that. xd Awesome that you guys were able to fix it, though!  

[Mama Ame]

I was all gloating because I figured out the issue. I'm a horrible cook and I noticed that the "flour" was REALLY white.

"Er...is that flour?"

"Of course it's flour! *dips finger in and tastes* See? I told you it was...powder sugar."

Also bacon-wrapped cheese stuffed dates sound amazing. I don't think I've ever had dates. I'm assuming you used feta or something?  

[Hiddochi wolf]

Actually, it's blue cheese. But yeah, feta or goat cheese could easily be substituted based on personal taste.

I'm normally not a fan of blue cheese, but this is one of my few exceptions. The dates get really sweet when you bake them, and the bacon adds saltiness and the cheese adds a slightly sharp zing to it. Mom first learned this recipe from one of my dad's college friends who went on to become a chef.

I found an online version of the recipe. It's super simple:
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/bacon-wrapped-dates-stuffed-with-blue-cheese/  

[Mama Ame]

I can't eat blue cheese currently. I'm not a huge fan but I'd try it after I'm pregnant.  

[Mama Ame]

Prof. Moonie

Mama Ame

I was all gloating because I figured out the issue. I'm a horrible cook and I noticed that the "flour" was REALLY white.

"Er...is that flour?"

"Of course it's flour! *dips finger in and tastes* See? I told you it was...powder sugar."

And obviously he didn't notice that sugar sparkles... and flour tends to be a bit more airy, meaning it "poofs" whenever you try doing something with it. xd

It was powdered sugar.

Powdered sugar doesn't have sugar sparkles.  

[Zphal]

Mama Ame

I was all gloating because I figured out the issue. I'm a horrible cook and I noticed that the "flour" was REALLY white.

"Er...is that flour?"

"Of course it's flour! *dips finger in and tastes* See? I told you it was...powder sugar."

Also bacon-wrapped cheese stuffed dates sound amazing. I don't think I've ever had dates. I'm assuming you used feta or something?

PFFFFT.