Dinner Belles

Pretty much any recipe can become DIY Design. Baking makes things a little more complicated, but enough trials and eventually you can develop your own personal gem.

My friend Eric, one of the Breakaway dudes, is all about modifying flour to his own personal tastes. Below is his recipe for anything-you-want muffins; you can add pretty much any chip or fruit or candy thing!

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It’s been a long time. A very long time. Because my energies have been career-focused, our cooking lives have greatly deteriorated! Our household plan has been cheap but relatively healthy foods, and soup’s been particularly satisfying. I feel like its taken me a few years to realize that soup is about THE easiest thing to make, and when supplies are down, its hard not to get creative. Below is this past Saturday’s solution- we typically make chili or soup for a day or two later, as the seasonings really settle in.

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On perusing Hulu for new material the other day, I came across a handful of BBC comedies that are exclusive to the site (in the States), one of which centers around a kitchen staff in a high-end hotel. Whites follows head chef Roland White, his Sous chef Bibs, manager Caroline and a handful of other staff- my favorite is the meat vendor. While its a little similar to an older show, Chef!, its pretty funny. In lieu of legitimate posts this week, I hope this offers some entertainment.

Watch it here!

Bonus: The likes of The Black Keys, Beck and The White Stripes serve as background music, which is a special bonus. Usually a good sign for a show.

Don’t cook so much. It’s awesome outside (it is in Memphis, anyway!) and you can frolic and rejoice. And when you’re done, you’ll be hungry. Here’s the Dinner Belles Method to dealing with mealtimes when you want to stay out of the kitchen, and its all in stocking your pantry well:

• Buy lots of kinds of vegetables and fruit. Try to buy half squash, lettuces, berries, zucchini and tomatoes and half hardy greens, potatoes and cruciferous things (broccoli, cauliflower). The plan is to avoid going to the grocery store more than once a week: Have salads Monday, Tuesday and Wednesdays and roasted sandwiches and things until your next visit.
• In that same vein, buy breads (besides the basic loaf!), pasta and a variety of grains and legumes (quinoa, lentils, rice).
• Keep canned canellini, black and pinto beans around all the time.
• Round out your sources- different cheeses, oils and vinegars allow for invention
• As previously mentioned here and here and here and here, little toss-ins such as olives, sundried tomatoes, etc. add character
• When you have time (or its raining), make pizza crust, pie crust and dips for later.

Doing these things will allow you to throw something together at pretty much any time within a short time frame. Cook vegetables that are reaching their age limit and throw them into your creations, and the hardier produce will be there waiting for you. Combinations of produce, starches/carbohydrates/fats will make you feel like you’ve done something AND keep you going!

Ideas are (and this is really how we eat, easily and efficiently, without resorting to take-out or frozen dinners):

• frittatas
• vegetarian tacos
• quiche
• pizza
• roasted veggie sandwiches
• pasta
• chicken salad