Take In Tonight

Last night I really did do take out (PF Chang's) but I've been eying this recipe for Pad Thai for a while and decided I'd do it tonight. Now I;ve never actually had Pad Thai from any of our surrounding Thai restaurants, so I can't vouch for the authenticity of the dish. I deviated from the recipe a bit -- in the sauce I added twice the original amount of brown sugar, substituted mirin for the fish sauce (mama don't do fish sauce,) as well as adding a touch of chopped cilantro and sesame oil. I also thinly sliced some chicken breast, massaging the pieces with a touch of oil, cornstarch and sriracha, adding it to the pan after the eggs had come out. All in all, it was a fine meal. I kept cruising the bottom of the bowl for tasty bits. For me, I thought it needed a little less garlic, husband thought it was perfect and son added extra sriracha. When I make this again, I will save the peanut garnish for individual servings -- added to the whole dish, the peanuts dropped right to the bottom with very little encouragement.

For dessert we had cheesecake I'd made yesterday (part of the reason why I didn't cook when dinner time arrived...) I used this recipe but made a lot of changes. I used chocolate wafer cookies instead of the graham crackers, didn't add the lemon zest, but doubled up on the orange zest and added a rounded half teaspoon of ancho chili powder. Once it baked and cooled, I made up a milk chocolate ganache (milk chocolate chips and cream,) smoothed it over the top and grated more orange zest over the top. Yummy. When I make this again, though, I might add some orange extract (or orange liqueur) with the vanilla.

Next up: the story and recipe of Gallagher's Goulash.

A Blog Manifesto

Or mission statement, if you prefer a corporate reference. I just thought I should say a few words about this, my blog. What I’m going to talk about. What I’m not going to talk about. And how I’m likely to break my own rules.

“In Between Cooking” refers to the things I do when I’m not cooking. And/or to the cooking I do in between other things. I love to cook. Most days. And I’ll include pictures and recipe links along with tips and my own personal variations of recipes. But this blog won’t be all cooking – I am also in love with other things. Writing, for instance – I’m the author of 9 published books (eight novels and one story collection,) and every so often I’ll talk about writing and my process. I might even do a little shameless self-promotion of books – old when viable and new when possible. Then there is the candle making. And the cosmetic creams and lotions manufacturing (made necessary by my allergies to most commercial skin-care products.) I might even talk about my family or my pets. Or tell you how palm trees never fail to make me smile.

I will not talk about politics. There’s far too much of that out here these days. I drink my coffee black, my tea with milk and sugar. I put two spaces after my periods. I tend to be a homebody, partly because I am semi-handicapped, partly because I love my home, and partly because I am just a tad agoraphobic right now. (Although lately it seems that agoraphobia might just be a sane response to an insane world...) I have the soul and heart of a redhead – the hair growing out of my head may not always agree, but I keep it well-dyed. I’m a stickler for spell-check and will constantly edit if needed. I like to smile, love to laugh until I cry, and am a sucker for purring cats, multi-colored Christmas lights and chocolate ganache. What else is there?

I'm sure I'll think of something.