Now You're Cookin'!

Food I can now cook that I couldn't, five years ago:

Broccoli-cauliflower casserole
Corn pudding
An Indian-inspired rice dish from The New York Times Food Section
Grilled Rib Eye Steak
Roasted Chicken
Chicken Salad
Pennsylvania Dutch Marinated Cucumbers and Onions
"Poached" Salmon in a foil pack
Homemade simple tomato pasta sauce
Chicken Stock
Chicken and Rice Soup
Tacos
Applesauce
Apple (and Apple-Cherry) pie with Crumb Topping
Pear Cheddar Pie
Dark Chocolate and Choke Cherry Sauce
Caramel Sauce
Caramel Corn
Banana Bread
Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

I have been able to steam or boil or bake vegetables since I was much younger, so please don't think this list is all I can cook.  Hamburgers and pan-fried trout with lemon were also in my skill set, as was spaghetti with a heavily-doctored jar sauce.

My most recent triumph was the chicken stock. It bubbled away on the stove for 5 hours, before I strained the golden liquid into a bowl. I didn't have the desire to learn how to cook, before. Being isolated out here in the New Mexican wilds makes it more of a necessity.

When I really get a hankering to make something, I usually read at least a half-dozen or so recipes online and then use one of them or combine a couple for my creation. I have had great success with this method. The apple-cherry crumb pie is a combination of the filling from the "New Fat Ladies" apple-cherry cobbler and Emeril Lagasse's crumb topping. Not too sweet but somehow, the flavor reminds me of the best Danish Pastry filling. Just so you know, I haven't attempted a crust, yet.

By the way, due to necessity, all of my food is gluten-free.

I'm not painting or drawing, these days, but I guess my cooking is my creative outlet.