A New Kitchen

For Christmas, I feel like a got a brand new kitchen. Tyler (with the help of our Christmas money from the grandparents, thanks!) got me a fancy pot & pan set, new knives, and nylon spatula, whisk, and tongs to go with new pans. I also got the most fantastic cookbook, The Gathering of Friends Volume 2. The authors of the cookbook must have my exact same taste, because lots of the recipes use my favorite cooking ingredients, which are green onions, cinnamon, and semi-unique cheeses. I have spent the entire week cooking, which has actually been really fun. So far we have tried Gorgonzola Crusted Steak, Toasted Cinnamon Crisps, the most amazing almond cheddar tuna melts I have ever tasted, and frozen sparkling limeade. Tonight we are making Asiago Potato Soup and Feta Cheese Toast. I'm not blogging about this to brag about my cooking abilities. I'm really not that great at it. I'm just bragging about the cookbook. I would absolutely recommend it. They have pictures of every single recipe and I would say about 80% of the recipes are things I would actually make on a regular basis. They are not quick-fix meals, but also not so complicated that they are impossible to replicate. The directions are fairly easy to follow and the meals actually come out looking like the pictures, which Tyler was thrilled about. The other night he said something like, "This actually looks like the picture. I am loving this new Martha Stewart thing you have going on." I would like to be clear, I don't want to be anything like Martha Stewart. Anyway, happy cooking! You can go to their website for a few sample recipes, although I don't think they posted their best recipes. And if any of you need a cooking assistant, Jackson is wonderful. You can borrow him for the evening.

And sorry for the long-winded posts lately. I promise to go back to cute picture posting soon :)