Today Mary Ellen's Cooking Creations turns the big 1-0!! Ten years of sharing recipes from my kitchen - I can't believe it!
It's funny to think back on how much has changed in ten years both with this blog and with me personally. When I look back through the blog year by year I can remember things happening in my life by the way I was cooking and the food I would make. Kind of like when you hear an old song and it brings back a memory. My food brings back so many memories of times in my life. Oh how things have changed! Ten years ago we were both in our early 30s -
Ten years ago I had never cooked risotto. I had never baked something that didn't come in a box. Believe it or not, I had never worked with bone-in chicken (except that one time I made chicken soup from scratch in high school). There were so many dishes and ingredients I hadn't heard of, or wasn't brave enough to try. I (thought) I loathed mushrooms and blue cheese and eggs. Things like homemade tomato sauce, pan sauces, homemade frosting and whipped cream did not exist in my kitchen. And my knife skills? None. I still used to put my index finger along the top of my cheap knives.
But then after being married for about three years, I took an interest in cooking, mostly because both my husband and I were getting sick of tacos, stuffed peppers, pepper steak, and cheese nip chicken. Sadly, that's about all we ate when we were both home... Thank goodness for work travel!
When I first jumped into
really cooking, I immediately discovered that I did not enjoy measuring and preferred to go by taste, look, and smell. I soon started to read recipes and decide what I'd change before even trying the recipe. I had some failures and some successes, and learned a LOT along the way. Weekly I was trying at least 2-3 new recipes, and Saturday nights were dedicated to date nights at home where we'd cook something new and fancy together (yes, my husband is an awesome cook and loves being in the kitchen whenever he can!). I don't think we ate the same thing more than twice for at least 2 years because I was in love with experimenting and creating new recipes. That is when I decided to start this blog - it was really just a way to keep track of recipes. I had no idea where it would take me.
During those first few years, favorites were discovered and put on rotation, however I never lost that love of creating new recipes. Over the years my food has evolved to suit our lifestyle, and these days, instead of spending hours on one recipe, I focus a lot more meals to feed my family. Although every now and then I do get a full day in the kitchen and love it!!
Writing this blog has taught me and brought me so much more than just cooking.
Entertaining and planning menus is one of my favorite things to do. I love sitting with my notebook writing out ideas and I totally appreciate that my husband lets me run them by him a million times. Luckily he enjoys it too, and we love creating holiday menus together. We often start talking about Christmas months before the big day!
Photography has also become a hobby of mine. I know I still have a lot to learn and hope to find the time to take some classes soon, but on my own I can see much improvement. Those early food pics were pretty homely, as my husband would say! (so please, as I share some old recipes below, be mindful of that :)
And finally, it's crazy to think that I wasn't even on Facebook when I started this blog. There was no such thing as Twitter, Instagram, Yummly, Pinterest, Snapchat, Tumblr, etc. I could go on and on! It has been fun connecting with people through those platforms and learning the best ways to use them to connect with all of you (and meanwhile my 6 year old sees a logo and knows what social media platform it belongs to - it's like second nature to them!).
Since my life and this blog are completely entwined, I can't help but think of how my personal life has changed over the past ten years. Ten years ago I was in my early 30s, married almost 4 years and working in the corporate world, traveling the country (and world) for pharmaceutical and medical meetings. After the birth of my daughter I decided to move on from that life, and now I consider myself very lucky that I am able to work part-time for now so I can be there for the school bus, school events, and extracurricular activities with my amazing 6 year old daughter. Ten years ago I wasn't even thinking of kids yet, and now this little one is almost 7! How awesome is it that she loves to get in the kitchen with me and we can pretty much get her to try (almost) anything. Most recently she tried mussels and loved them! She's an energetic little girl and keeps us on on toes - our little first grader who loves acting, dancing, cooking, singing, playing outside, reading, writing, making lists, playing games and telling jokes.Things haven't always been easy over the past ten years - although blessed to be in our forever home, it has been a continuous work in progress and it always seem like something is going wrong or breaking. We have both dealt with unemployment, secondary infertility, pregnancy losses, and the death of our first dog, Daisy Mae. During all of those times, I always turned to cooking as my therapy. Family and cooking have been my one constant through all of these ten years.
So take a trip down memory lane with me as I share my most popular and/or favorite recipes. These are recipes that have been shared the most, liked the most, and recipes that have been favorites of my family.~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
My top post of all-time comes from May of 2008 -Time for a Party.In this post I shared a menu for a party including this recipe for tortilla pinwheels, and now I see them pinned all over Pinterest. They are a hit! I take them to every party and get asked for the recipe several times at each party. Sometimes simple is the best!
My husband has contributed several recipes, desserts, and wine reviews to this blog. Two of his recipes are in my top searched, pinned and shared recipes!He loves making this Maine Lobster Stew, has made it for the last 2 years on Christmas, and is always looking for excuses to make it again. I'll take credit for helping with the plating and taking the photos.
Another recipe of his that sends a lot of people to this blog through searches is his Beef Negimaki. After ordering it several times at our local sushi place he decided to make it on his own. We both agreed it was even better than the restaurant's! Since this post is from 2009 the pic isn't great, but what I do love about this post are the step by step photo instructions for cutting and rolling the beef.
My top breakfast post of all time, and one that I make often, is a grab and go breakfast - Egg Muffins for Breakfast-on-the-Go.
I'm so happy that this next recipe is in my top ten of all time because it is one of my favorites - Jumbo Lump Crab Cakes with a Lemon-Garlic Aioli. "Too hot to cook" and "grilled chicken salads" are both so commonly searched, and lead my followers to this post for Yakitori Chicken with Cold Veggie and Soba Noodle Bowls. This is one of my top chicken recipes as well as a top salad recipe.
With close to 200 chicken recipes in this blog, it was really, really hard to narrow it down to my favorite. I have so many, from thisFrench Onion Braised Chickenand thisGruyere Chicken with Mushrooms, toShredded Chicken with ChilesandChicken and Dumplings. I finally chose a popular recipe, and it is fitting that it is a bone-in recipe -Garlic Herb Roast Chicken with Vegetables.
Soups are cooked in my kitchen once a week over the cool and cold months, so with over 80 soup recipes in this blog it is hard to choose a favorite. This Potato and Corn Chowder with Bacon is one of my most popular, and it is one of my favorites because it is so hearty and well, bacon!
It's funny that ten years ago I had never made risotto, and now I have over 20 risotto recipes on this blog. Risotto is in my top ten search words, so I picked one of my favorites for this anniversary post - Three Garlic Risotto. I have been making this one for years (it was probably one of the first risotto recipes I ever made!) but finally just blogged it recently.
Still, after ten years of doing this, I only use my crock-pot for shredded/pulled chicken, pork or beef. My top slow cooker and top pulled pork recipe is this amazing Guinness Pulled Pork. I'm so happy it gets so much love because it definitely gets a lot of love in this house!Korean Pulled Pork Tacos
My personal favorite pulled pork recipe is the pork for theseKorean Pulled Pork Tacos. These are pretty popular on Pinterest, too!
And sticking with the pork theme, this Stuffed Pork Loin with a Mushroom Wine Gravy is one of my most popular posts. It is a great recipe, perfect for holidays or entertaining, and the tutorial for cutting and rolling the pork is spot-on. This post, and the picture, are from 2008 -
This is a newer recipe and it quickly became my second most popular appetizer -Cheesy BLT Stuffed Jalapenos, and it is easy to see why. Look how yummy!
Let's finish this off on a sweet note! I don't bake that often - my husband is actually the baker in the house. This cake recipe has become a favorite of both of ours, and is my most popular dessert recipe on the blog - Philly Fluff Cake.
Thank you to all of my readers and followers for making the last 10 years possible. I have enjoyed sharing and learning with all of you, and I appreciate all of your comments, likes and shares. I look forward to continuing this journey in my kitchen and with this blog, and hope you will be there with me!Thank you!
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How to Read & Follow a Recipe
- Read the recipe. Take a good look at the recipe. ...
- Know the assumptions. ...
- Figure out the timing. ...
- Plan ahead. ...
- Bone up on new techniques. ...
- Mise en place is your friend. ...
- Lay out your tools, too. ...
- Make notes or highlight.
Preserving your family's recipes is about more than just preserving food; it's about preserving your family's identity, history, traditions and culture. It's a way to pass down love and knowledge to future generations as a family heirloom.
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Following a recipe is a good way to learn to cook.
- Always read through a recipe completely and make sure you have all ingredients on-hand before starting to prepare and cook.
- Serving size tells you how many people the recipe will serve, or for baked goods like cookies, how many dozen the recipe should make.
America's Test Kitchen is a very real kitchen located in the Seaport neighborhood of Boston. It is the home of Cook's Illustrated magazine and Cook's Country magazine and is the Monday-through-Friday destination for more than four dozen test cooks, editors, food scientists, tasters, and cookware specialists.
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The ingredient list is one of the most important parts of a recipe. It lays out all the ingredients that a reader will need to recreate the recipe at home. It should contain the amount of the ingredient needed, as well as the name of the ingredient.
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Originally Answered: What is the most important thing you have learned about cooking? Taste the food. Even if you know the recipe inside out and could literally cook it with your eyes closed, there are still little inconsistencies that can only be detected with a taste test. Even if it's just to check the salt content.
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Food is one of the basic necessities of life. Food contains nutrients—substances essential for the growth, repair, and maintenance of body tissues and for the regulation of vital processes. Nutrients provide the energy our bodies need to function.
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Cooking together is fun family time.
Kitchen time can be a special parenting time. Cooking together creates closer bonds and helps build lifelong memories. You can also use the time to listen, share and talk with your child.
Why cooking is important in a family? ›
Cooking together as a family is a fun, educational, and fulfilling activity that can bring everyone closer. It provides an opportunity to create lasting memories, develop teamwork and communication skills, promote healthy eating habits, teach practical life skills, and encourage creativity and experimentation.
At what point does a recipe become your own? ›
A recipe can usually be considered “original” if you have changed three or more major ingredients, or three or more steps in the recipe process, and have written everything in your own words.
Becoming a cook is just a matter of practice, which develops knowledge, which brings confidence. All cooks start out as recipe followers. Even established home cooks will rely on a recipe from time to time to try a new cuisine. But they are more apt to leave their usual comfort zone to experiment.
Why are all 3 meals important? ›
Skipping meals is a habit you want to avoid, as it will make it hard to get the variety of nutrients your body needs. When you eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner you are likely to choose different foods at each meal, providing a good variety of vitamins and minerals.
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Americans were shocked in December 2015 when it was announced Christopher Kimball had left all America's Test Kitchen brands with immediate effect. The reason was a contract dispute with America's Test Kitchen's parent company Boston Common Press, but by all accounts, the initial breakup was amicable.
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Leftover food gets put in this community refrigerator and scooped up by hungry employees.
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We add dozens of all-new recipes to our sites every month, including recipes from our iconic magazines, TV shows, and best-selling cookbooks. You can view a limited number of pages free each month. Plus enjoy unlimited sampling with an All Access free trial membership.
Why is sharing recipes important? ›
Sharing your secret recipes can be a great way to bond with your family, friends, and strangers. When you share a secret recipe, you are giving someone something special and unique that will make them feel like they are an essential part of your life.
What is the value of cooking with others? ›
Aside from being rewarding, cooking can also enhance emotional well-being. Cooking with others can improve relationships and build group confidence. It can also boost concentration, reduce stress, and increase overall wellbeing.
What is the value of the family? ›
What are Family Values? Family values are something that we get from our parents in the form of love, care, trust, honesty, kindness, empathy, compassion, perseverance, and many more. They instil these values in us knowingly or unknowingly to make us good human beings.
Ten years ago I had never cooked risotto. I had never baked something that didn't come in a box. Believe it or not, I had never worked with bone-in chicken (except that one time I made chicken soup from scratch in high school). There were so many dishes and ingredients I hadn't heard of, or wasn't brave enough to try. I (thought) I loathed mushrooms and blue cheese and eggs. Things like homemade tomato sauce, pan sauces, homemade frosting and whipped cream did not exist in my kitchen. And my knife skills? None. I still used to put my index finger along the top of my cheap knives.
Ten years ago I wasn't even thinking of kids yet, and now this little one is almost 7! How awesome is it that she loves to get in the kitchen with me and we can pretty much get her to try (almost) anything. Most recently she tried mussels and loved them! She's an energetic little girl and keeps us on on toes - our little first grader who loves acting, dancing, cooking, singing, playing outside, reading, writing, making lists, playing games and telling jokes.
"Too hot to cook" and "grilled chicken salads" are both so commonly searched, and lead my followers to this post for Yakitori Chicken with Cold Veggie and Soba Noodle Bowls. This is one of my top chicken recipes as well as a top salad recipe.
