TRIPLE chocolate chip cookies.

'nough said.

happy turkey day!

Well, Craig's turkey was our biggest ever, a honkin' 22 pounds. It took a loooong time to cook, but in the end it was worth it.


Craig's bird is the word

Thanks to everyone who came to the Leaperville feast. I feel honored (and very full) to have so many good cooks in my family.

Not a thanksgiving dish, but Craig recently made a delicious baked squash stuffed with mushrooms and spinach. I don't know the recipe, but I do know it was tasty.



Baked stuffed squash à la Leaperville

gravedigger cupcakes

Maybe it's kind of lame I'm posting these Devil's food (of course!) cupcakes waaay after Halloween, but I'm rather proud of them. And they were...scary good.

Coconut and "Awesome" Cream Pie

We'll, we had a hoedown in Palo Alto, so I decided to make a pie. This recipe came out of America's Test, and it turned out great, plus is was pretty simple, holler at yo brother if you need the recipe, although I imagine most of you have it already. This first picture is the graham cracker crust, unconventional for this particular pie perhaps, but America's Test points out that it doesn't get soggy like a normal crust would. I can confidently say that this is the best one I have ever made. Perfect amount of butter ensured that the crust held together but was crumbly and not hard. Delightful.

This next picture shows my helpers, they pitched in and it turned out great. I would also like to point out that we were supposed to dress up in western wear, and most people did cowboy, but I went trucker (or white-trash if you prefer). What you can't see is the fake ponytail coming out of the back of my hat. Oh-yeah.
Finally, I think this picture speaks for itself, blue-ribbon! Now, in the interest of full-disclosure it was co-first with everyone else that made a pie, but that is only half the story. Mine was the first pie that was eaten completely, and I only had one small piece. Several people told me how delicious it was, and I was the only guy that baked a pie. So I think that ought to count for something. Seriously though, you can make this pie and crust in under an hour, it just has to chill for three hours, so make it early. Also, the only things that this pie requires that you might not already have at your house is coconut milk and heavy whipping cream, so simple and fairly inexpensive. Finally, I will be attempting chicken and dumplings for the first time this week, so wish me luck!

This is to prove we still intend to cook--even though we are sometimes only 3 of us at home now. Lance came to Sunday dinner to make sure we were doing OK, and it was his idea to post this salad-beautiful and healthy. Look for colorful fruit on sale (kiwis-.15, mango-.85, blackberries-.75)). Drizzle with honey mixed with lime juice and sprinkle with almonds--or pomegranate seeds. Eat happy!

Right behind my number one find at D.I., the infamous Burberry trenchcoat, comes the newest and cheapest addition to my food literature collection. Ruth Reichle's Gourmet Magazine's ultimate compendium. Coming in at an astonishing five dollars, I was pretty excited when I picked it up and realized there was no way this book has ever been used, maybe not even opened, I love D.I. A little different than the teaching basics and techniques of joy of ccoking and Mark Bittman's how to cook everything, this is just a collection from gourmet magazine which Ruth described, "Our goal was to give you a book with every recipe you would ever want." It's a little more advanced, maybe I'm in over my head, but over 1000 recipes for five bucks --I just couldn't pass it up. And, I love Ruth Reichle, read her books, you'll love food even more, but skip book number two, it's not really worth your time. Yeah, I haven't cooked anything out of it yet, I'm pretty busy, ok? But I'll try to keep you posted on my future endeavors...literally.

I can cook anything, and Everything!

It is time for a new post on this site. Last year when I became an adult and started cooking for myself at the age of 26 (translation, I had to start cooking again because I no longer worked at a restaurant or lived close enough to Del Taco to bike there twice a day), my wonderful sister Nikki sent me a cookbook entitled "How to Cook Everything". This is a great book, it is really about being able to cook whatever you want. I was using it this summer to make sure I was cooking eggs properly (I wasn't, LOW heat makes them more tender), and I came across a suggestion for poached eggs. Now we all know that poached eggs are delicious but not so easy to cook, well now they are. All you have to do is put a little water in the frying pan after they have cooked a little, cover it, and viola! The top of the eggs are steamed and delish. Don't thank me, thank the folks at Leaperville. OK, thank both of us.

Dench Frip

because i am the nicest sister ever, i decided to make a surprise dinner for jamie. the dinner wasn't a surprise, the food was (the best kind of surprise.) in wasn't until after all my hard planning and blood and sweat and tears went into this dinner that i learned that jamie doesn't even like french dip.
but this wasn't just french dip, no no, this was french dip supreme. you start with the basics: au jus packet, hoagie rolls, and then elaborate. only the best roast beef in the world (albertson's deli roast beef), tillamook pepper jack cheese (we only live like 40 minutes away from tillamook, it's like not a big deal) and walla walla sweet onions-all broiled to melted perfection. coupled with the rare red pear and simply limeade, what you have is the pinnacle of tastes all complimenting each other nicely.
feast with your eyes and be jealous!

Forget What You Know

Sometimes we get stuck in a rut. Routines can get mundane and boring. I'm here to tell you all that it does not have to be that way. While necessity may be the mother of invention, hunger can also step in to father an invention or two. My roommate Steve is a testament to that fact. He loves to eat, and he loves to try new things. Here he is eating a sandwich that he made on our recent camping trip to Camp Ritchie.

Steve claims to have put everything on the table on this sandwich. Some of what I personally witnessed: mayonnaise, mustard, jelly, turkey, other sandwich meat, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, pasta salad, tuna salad, chicken salad, and I'm sure tons of other stuff. He ate it and loved it. So don't be held back by fear and petty stereotypes, go with your gut. Pun intended.

We Love Tofu

We love tofu in our family. This is Harrison eating tofu.


This is Harrison when he has finished his tofu. He's sad.


I want to get a quick poll if anyone else in the family likes tofu? I have a few recipes I make with it that are delicious, but I'm only going to share them if there are any interested parties. And more importantly, I'd like to know if anyone has any delicious recipes involving tofu?

Quick reasons why it is so delicious:
1) Tofu never has fat, gristle, tendons, bones, bloody/stretchy veins or any other disgusting thing that can often be found when working with meat. It is a joy to work with raw tofu. Seriously, a joy.
2) You can't really go wrong with cooking tofu. It is never pink or raw on the inside and it always tastes delicious (as long as you've put it in a delicious sauce).
3) It is a nice change to the cooking repertoire, and it stays good in the fridge for a long time. No defrosting!!!
4) It is cheap. Maybe I should have led with this one.

I hope I've converted you to this tasty treat or at least reminded you of a food friend you may have been neglecting. Tofu. Now give me your recipes.

Craig's Cheesesteaks

If you like cheesesteaks, you like Craig! This was the most delicious cheesesteak I have ever tasted, and luckily Brooke and I were staying at Nicki and Craig's so we could be there to enjoy it! Thanks again guys!

Lisa+ Kim+ Jamie+ Brooke+ Asher+ Ollie+Harrison+Crepes= PARTY!!

Lisa's famous crepes (well, mom's crepes but with Lisa's special touch; cocoa) are soooo delicious. Add nutella, strawberries, caramel, whipped cream, and yummy cream cheese spread, and you are in heaven! Funny thing is, the adults pigged out way more than the kiddies! But aren't they cute?

Bremon Bars (Brooke and Lemon)

I zested my finger right into these Lemon Bars, but it was worth it to cook with Asher and Ollie.

For my first post...

Kenny and Zukes. Jamie and I had a pact never to go to the same restaurant twice while we lived here in Portland. Well, we broke it.

My First Post

Short, but sweet, this looks like it is a good book and skills worth acquiring:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=107019060&sc=fb&cc=fp"

Next post: the best dressing that uses only what you should generally have on hand and it goes on everything!

summer eats

Summer has been quite a season for good food so far. It's been a while since i've posted
so i thought i'd give a little sampling of what's been cookin...

strawberries and spinach with pepper and balsalmic vinegar

ATC's risotto with parmesan and pepper

Risotto cakes with the leftovers, stuffed with Mexican blend cheese!

Parmesan pepper polenta with pan-seared blacked chicken,
this one really turned out awesome, and it's so easy!

I just got back from my west coast tour here are some of the food highlights:
Portland: Lisa's french toast, waffle turkey havarti sandwich, Craig's steak sandwiches,
and the creme brulee was pretty good too.
LA: Kim's chinese chicken salad and asperagus risotto, delicious Pad Thai at Natalie's.
San Fran: Pho soup at an awesome Vietnamese place, and Matt's Rice a Roni.
Thanks to everyone who made the vacation delicious!

5 meals with 10 ingredients

I wish Mark Bittman would just make up a little menu and shopping list for me every week:

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/24/the-10-ingredient-shopping-trip/

I like the part where he basically says, it's bacon, it's delicious, stop worrying about the fat.

Happy 4th of July - Watermelon Lemonade

Byron and I started a new holiday tradition of spending our holiday morning making holiday themed treats!! We had such a fun time, and thanks to our friend's tablecloth, our picture is incredibly patriotic.

We decided that we are going to try a new summer recipe for our 4th of July celebrations, and for our inaugural choice, we went with Watermelon Lemonade.

I wish I had thought to take a picture of the watermelon, the two lemons and the bunch of mint before we started making it, because those are three of the four ingredients!

• Just juice the two lemons (leave lemon rinds in), add a cup of mint leaves and 1/2 cup of brown sugar and pound with a wooden spoon until the mint is bruised and the sugar is dissolved.
• Food process your seedless watermelon (about 9 lbs) and run through a fine sieve until you have about 8 cups of juice (we went with only 7 cups and it was plenty watermelony) and add the juice
• Optional: Add one cup of vodka. We opted out of this one, so I can't vouch for it either way.

Sounds easy and delicious, right?

The truth is, de-rinding, cutting, processing and straining a watermelon is a little more work than you would first imagine. However, I thought is was delicious. More watermelon tasting than lemonade tasting, but that would be my preference anyway. And I think making the drink is at least as much fun as drinking it.

All told, it made for a delicious and refreshing holiday drink, perfect compliment for a BBQ.

Graham Crackers: I love them

and I am pretty sure they love me.

They have sustained me at many times, and in many different forms.

These include:

• with chedder cheese: cold or microwaved-for any and all meals and snacks
• crushed and mixed with applesauce-after school snack
• with whole milk vanilla yogurt (watch for future post on whole milk and its products)- while watching little Harrison enjoy his own yogurt treat
• dipped in milk- 24/7
• dipped in chocolate milk- after watching Renee do this, while feeling a little sad it isn't regular milk
• with cream cheese- never tried it, but apparently it tastes like cheese cake
• dunked in the sauce from homemade mac and cheese- post-lunch dessert
• plain- on the way to school in the car
• In any shape or form- amidst constant criticism

Be careful because not all Graham Crackers are created equal. Nabisco Honey Maid are the absolute best. Let's face it: you get what you pay for.

I love Graham Crackers so much. They have been my friend for many years, and have replaced many meals. They are the perfect snack because they are sweet and delicious, but are not that bad for you. I think my body is so used to this treat that it calms my stomach when I feel sick, comforts me when I feel down, and brings me so so so much joy! I love you little buddy.

Something for the non-SLCer's

Firstly, Renee you are a blog-idea-stealer! Just kidding, thanks for getting this started. I know we talked about it and I had the best name ever, but I never did it, so you win.
Secondly, and most importantly, I have the recipe that all non-Utah residents have been waiting for. I wish I could take the credit, but I found it on Favorite Family Recipes and it is awesome. Cafe Rio Pork Salad. No joke. I've made it a couple of times and it always turns out great. This picture is from the site because it was so good last time I ate it before taking any pictures.

Steak and Bake (or Fry)

While I feel like I will mostly be taking ideas from this blog, from time to time I hope to add my two cents worth to the great recipe conversation (I hope people are getting my philosophy joke about the great conversation). Anywho, this is just a simple recipe that most of you know, but I want to start off slow.
So New York steaks were 50% off today (which still means $5.99 lb, but a $5 New York is a great deal). I just grilled it on the George Foreman, which purists will abhor I am sure, but how you grill it is not near as important as how long and what quality of meat you buy, so it turned out great.
Note: the best part of the New York is the strip of fat up the side, if you cook it right, it will get a little caramelized and then I try to eat a little bit of the fat with each bite of steak, awesome. Also, a time honored steak trick is to put a pat of butter under the steak so it melts, that really adds some flavor.
I also sauteed some onions and mushrooms. I used normal cheap yellow onions and they were really good, I just cooked them slow so they did not burn, and the mushrooms I bought bulk so I got 4 for like 60 cents. I really fell in love with cooking with fresh mushrooms here in S.F. great flavor. Now I used quite a bit of butter to saute these, and I added the onions about a minute before the mushrooms because they take a little longer to cook and I like my mushrooms and onions really soft so they are sweet with the steak and not spicy. I also added a little beef bullion to the onions and mushrooms which Lance suggested.
Top this tasty meal off with some home fried steak fries and enjoy. Those of you without fryers could bake the fries, but then you would have to call them bakes and hate yourself. Oh well. Pics below. Great blog Nene.

i love pepper jack

Let me give renee' a shout out for how awesome this blog all ready is, and how great it's going to become. Matt did do some urging for me to get my idea rolling, but nothing ever came of it, i'm very busy people, and a bit on the lackadaisical side, so thanks renee'.

I couldn't think of a better way to celebrate this blog than to post one of my favorite recipes: it's super fast, super delicious, and i happened to create it myself. Now, i know i'm one of the worst cooks in this fam, so i'm open to suggestions on improving my recipes, just give it to me straight people.

I made this tonight, starting at 11:11, and was eating by 11:30, plus i wasted quite a bit of time once it was finished...so here it is:
creamy pepperjack spaghetti with peas

1/3 lbs. spaghetti
1 cup WHOLE (or whatever you have you gross blue water drinkers) milk, half n'half, or cream
peas
salt, pepper, a little rosemary, a lot of parsley, a small shake of red pepper flakes
2 slices pepperjack cheese
1-2 cloves minced garlic

I cook for myself so 1/3 lbs of pasta is what i make which is a pretty big serving, for that amount i've found just less than about a cup of sauce is perfect. I don't measure any of these ingredients so just throw it all in a pan, take out what you don't want and add what you do want in terms of spices. This recipe turns out a perfectly spicy creamy sauce. I like using half and half for the sauce, but you can use milk too, if you do use milk, start it off with 1 tablespoon butter melted and cook 1 tablespoon flour into it for a roux, then add the milk and as soon as it starts boiling it will thicken right up. Using half n' half or cream, just throw it all together and simmer it until the consistency makes you happy. Just keep tasting and smelling and basically do whatever you want, it'll turn out great. One last thing: I add the peas at the very end, warm them up in the simmering sauce, turn the heat off and add the cheese. Boiling it with the cheese in there has messed things up for me before, so don't mess with it. Save some of that pasta water to loosen the sauce if it gets too thick.

I love this sauce because it is so fast and so good, plus you can make it in about a thousand variations: use any cheese you want, i've used cheddar, parmesan, and pepperjack, whatever i have. Plus, i always have the ingredients because they are so basic. Sometimes i don't have pepperjack, but I always have parmesan and that is what the beloved alfredo is made with anyway. You better all make this soon...

Shout Out To Mom

Thank you, thank you, Renee for starting this blog!! I know after Lance brought up the idea I tried to a couple of times, but I just couldn't get the name right. You picked the PERFECT name!!

So, just to get the ball rolling on additional contributors, I'd like to make a special request that Mom sign up and contribute to this blog.

First of all, she did introduce every single one of us to food (who can forget blood and guts, tuna on toast and linguine!!)

Second, the parents have given me a VERY weird taste preference (and I'd actually like to see if any other siblings are afflicted with this particular quirk). I love to eat food cold. Cold Chinese food in particular, but I like many many things cold that your average individual would find repulsive in a chilled state (or so Byron tells me). In my extensive analysis of the matter, I've decided that it is the result of years of eating Mom and Dad's leftovers after their dates. Please tell me I'm not alone. (As Tobias would say, "There are dozens of us!!" Thank you, Arrested Development)

But actually, I want mom to post a specific recipe. Her Sweet and Sour Chicken. I love how Renee's initial post defined cooking: "preparing good wholesome tasty varied meals for the ones you love." The Sweet and Sour Chicken is very simple, but Byron LOVES it. I'm not sure how wholesome it is (since he picks out all of the peppers and onions and leaves them on my plate) but it is an easy and delicious recipe and pretty much all you have to have on hand out of the ordinary is a can of pineapple. As an added bonus, I can assure you that if you have kids, they will love it (Since Byron tends towards favorite foods such as chicken fingers and grilled cheese sandwiches, he can be a pretty accurate indicator of what a young child might enjoy).

So thanks to Renee for starting the blog, thanks to mom for having such awesome kids and for the sweet and sour chicken recipe and thanks you all of you, who are going to give me delicious recipes and delightful anecdotes!!!

how have you been hiding this?

I moved in with Jamie a few weeks back.  Either I don't use the freezer as much as I thought, or I'm really nonobservant. But either way, just a few days ago I opened the freezer door to see a frozen, white container.  'Jamie!' I screamed, 'you have an ice cream maker?!'  

Now I don't want to brag or anything, but ice cream is sort of my thing.  I've cooked a lot of custards in my time.  And so Jamie and I made a Bowman original, honey ice cream.  It only takes two cups cream, four egg yolks and half a honeybear, but it is super rich.  It would be even better with high quality, local honey instead of the WF clover I had going on.  An added plus, it's soft right out of the freezer.  Stop by if you want to taste it.  It certainly taught Jamie not to keep culinary secrets from me.  

Lance says that the introduction is the best part of any cookbook - their love for food and motivation to cook is hard to duplicate.  Instead of attempting my own introduction, I did what any self-respecting, slightly lazy Harrison would do; I copied real intros and pasted them below.  To avoid any hassle with copyright law, and any school expulsions for plagiarism, I've included the reference. enjoy

Food is a central part of our lives.  It provides the body with fuel and raw materials for maintenance growth and repair.  It draws together family and friends anchors celebrations and rites of passage, and sometimes soothes the soul.  It has the power to heal, and also to harm.   the Joy of Cooking

Baking is my favorite culinary activity because at heart, it is based on mythology.  Mysterious events occur in the oven that are beyond our ability to either observe or understand.  And this leads to the whole sale creation of baking folklore that attempts to explain what cannot directly be understood.    ATK (america's test kitchen) Family Baking Book

"Haughty cuisine" - fancy food - is best left to restaurants.  Home cooking is best when it is simple, straightforward, unpretentious and easy.  

Our exposure to ultra sophisticated cooking- whether at restaurants, in cookbooks, or on television, sometimes makes us forget how wonderful simple food can be.  Everyday cooking is not about striving for brilliance but about preparing good wholesome tasty varied meals for the ones you love.  This is a fundamentally satisfying pleasure.  Your results need not be perfect to give you this gift to which all humans are entitled.  How to Cook Everything

So, have at it, and don't forget restaurants and recipes, cooking failures and favorites, anything to do with food. 

anyone who wishes to be an author, shot me an email, reneelharrison@gmail.com