As I was anticipating pouring a jar of Prego into a pan to heat for a quick and easy spaghetti dinner, the proverbial light bulb went off in my head...
"THAT'S what I forgot to get in the store earlier!"
I went into 'train wreck' mode, a term that's held on from college days where I took whatever I had (which was never very much) and threw it into a pot, heated it, and added spices to taste.
And so I happened on a neat twist to spaghetti, if you're feeling adventurous. I took a can of tomato sauce and added a can of Rotel (original recipe) which is always useful for mexican dips. I opened up the spice cupboard and randomly grabbed "Herbs de Provence" which is one of those large Costco spice bottles (great for fish, too!), and ground Sage, and put in some healthy amounts (along with a wee bit too much black pepper!). I added to that the ground beef I'd alrady browned with olive oil and Worcestershire sauce, and it was pretty darn tasty, if I do say so myself.
You have to truly understand how much of a formal cook I am NOT. So I had this pot of sauce...I see a spice bottle, unscrew the top and sniff, and mentally 'picture' how it might taste in the tomato-mix, and put it in...always a different combination, never measured, just a culinary adventure at every turn. Usually works just fine.
Usually.
-------------------
Looking for an alternative to dialing 411 for information when you can't find a phone book or have internet access? This info came in a forwarded email recently and as I did some snooping it's legitimate...from the fine folks at Google. Pretty sophisticated service, too...
1-800-GOOG-411 (link to website with more information)
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FINALLY have my video shoot for the Michelin X One tire (truck), a gig I landed back in the end of August and only now (tomorrow) coming to pass. The economic bust had Michelin holding off on projects, then scaling back the original concept to a much shorter, smaller shoot...but it's always good to be thankful for whatever work you can get.
Since I always absorb myself into the product and scripts, I read up more on that tire...crazy concept that's been on the roads about 8 years already, but it is really something, all the science behind it. On 18-wheel rigs, tires are paired (except the front cab axle)...the X One is a wider tire so that one replaces 2, while actually increasing fuel efficiency by up to 10%.
Always good to learn something new, eh? Enjoy the blessings of the day!
"THAT'S what I forgot to get in the store earlier!"
I went into 'train wreck' mode, a term that's held on from college days where I took whatever I had (which was never very much) and threw it into a pot, heated it, and added spices to taste.
And so I happened on a neat twist to spaghetti, if you're feeling adventurous. I took a can of tomato sauce and added a can of Rotel (original recipe) which is always useful for mexican dips. I opened up the spice cupboard and randomly grabbed "Herbs de Provence" which is one of those large Costco spice bottles (great for fish, too!), and ground Sage, and put in some healthy amounts (along with a wee bit too much black pepper!). I added to that the ground beef I'd alrady browned with olive oil and Worcestershire sauce, and it was pretty darn tasty, if I do say so myself.
You have to truly understand how much of a formal cook I am NOT. So I had this pot of sauce...I see a spice bottle, unscrew the top and sniff, and mentally 'picture' how it might taste in the tomato-mix, and put it in...always a different combination, never measured, just a culinary adventure at every turn. Usually works just fine.
Usually.
-------------------
Looking for an alternative to dialing 411 for information when you can't find a phone book or have internet access? This info came in a forwarded email recently and as I did some snooping it's legitimate...from the fine folks at Google. Pretty sophisticated service, too...
1-800-GOOG-411 (link to website with more information)
-------------------
FINALLY have my video shoot for the Michelin X One tire (truck), a gig I landed back in the end of August and only now (tomorrow) coming to pass. The economic bust had Michelin holding off on projects, then scaling back the original concept to a much shorter, smaller shoot...but it's always good to be thankful for whatever work you can get.
Since I always absorb myself into the product and scripts, I read up more on that tire...crazy concept that's been on the roads about 8 years already, but it is really something, all the science behind it. On 18-wheel rigs, tires are paired (except the front cab axle)...the X One is a wider tire so that one replaces 2, while actually increasing fuel efficiency by up to 10%.
Always good to learn something new, eh? Enjoy the blessings of the day!
2 comments:
I had to laugh ... fond memories myself of college “one pot cuisine”! Back in the day (late 70’s – early 80’s), we didn’t have microwaves our dorm room, or ANY of the modern conveniences of home that the kids today have ... you were lucky if someone down the hall had a toaster oven! So on those days when you got home late from classes and the dining hall was already closed, and/or you had the late-night munchies, the “UNIVERSAL, ALL-POWERFUL, ELECTRIC HOTPOT” cooked it all !!! The hotpot boiled water for instant coffee, made mac-n-cheese, spags (spaghetti), various soup-from-scratch creations(!), and anything else that required boiling / heating foodstuffs! And on REALLY desperate days when you hadn’t “done dishes” in the bathroom sinks / tubs in the community bathroom down the hall, you even ate right out of that amazing hotpot!!!
Kids today have it “easy”, but I think we have all the cool, bizarre dorm-life memories!!!
When I think about it all now in retrospect, I think my college hotpot cooking was the precursor to my one-pot cooking with my tiny little gas stove on backpacking trips!! You REALLY get creative on backpacking trips, although there are some really tasty freeze-dried foods these days.
Suzy :)
Yep, kids today have it easy, as it relates to food prep...harder in other ways, I'm sure! Sadly, I'm still known to pop open a Progresso Lentil soup can and eat it cold. Some habits die hard...!
bob
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