Green Tea, Black Tea, Rooibos Tea

My daughter’s last full day in the states included a trip to see her brother in college.  After a tour of the campus, we stopped in for a pot of tea at one of our favorite restaurants.  My son, who has a Japanese-Italian friend,  has been trying to educate me on all things Asian for years.  Green tea is not fermented, Black tea is fermented, White tea I can’t remember,  and Rooibos isn’t even a tea  and of course there are health benefits from them all.  While I am not ready to give up my morning brew of coffee just yet, I have been searching the internet for my own teapot and plan on making a trip to the farmer’s market soon to buy some loose leaf tea.

We are still waiting on the Internet to be up and running at my daughter’s apartment.  Wonder what she has been serving up for dinner?

Dinner and a Movie

My husband has always been a fan of my cooking. There is a country song by Shania Twain that goes something like this, “when I cook him dinner and I burn it black, he better say, mmmm I like it like that.” I would have to say that has been John’s approach–to encourage and not criticize. He continues the tradition with his daughter. She cooked us dinner last night while we just watched and talked. We enjoyed the meal so much that she didn’t have to beg too much to get her Dad to watch the chick flick “Letters to Juliet” with us! The scenes of the beautiful Italian countryside was worth the watch.

The New Edition of The Betty Crocker Cookbook has a wonderful section on poultry. The section begins with poultry basics and ends with timetables for cooking poultry and has recipes in between. So when Taylor apologized for leaving the chicken breasts in the plastic shopping bag (ok i left the reusable shopping bags at home again) when she put them in the refrigerator, I told her that I always leave my meat in the bag because sometimes the juices will leak and make a mess. Betty makes that same recommendation in poultry basics. Also, I told her not to hesitate to cut into the thickest part of a chicken breasts to check for doneness. Betty recommends also to do this to make sure that the juices run clear and that the center is no longer pink.

Chicken Croissants

3 oz. Cream cheese
1 tablespoon sour cream or mayonnaise
1 tablespoon minced onion
1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese
Croissants, split
Bacon slices, cooked crisp
Sliced tomatoes
Ripe Avocado, sliced
Cheese slices
Alfalfa or other Sprouts

Cooked chicken breasts

Combine cream cheese, onion, parm cheese, and sour cream. Mix well. Spread on top and bottom of croissant. This makes enough for 4 sandwiches.
On croissant bottom add a layer of sprouts, tomatoes, avocado, chicken, and cheese. Broil until cheese melts. Top with bacon and top of croissant and serve with pasta salad.

My husband’s advice to our new son-in-law? Encourage your wife’s cooking endeavors. It worked well for him

Tiger trying to get packed into the shipping crate to Italy.

Our Betty Crocker Journey Begins

In a few short days, my husband and I will taking our daughter to the airport so she can fly to Italy to live with her husband, who is stationed in the military there. What an awesome opportunity and experience for them! I got out my old Betty Crocker cookbook from 1980 to give to her. It was a gift from my mom, who had her own 1978 edition and I am fairly certain my grandmother owned a 1968 edition. The cover is ripped off and there are stains on most of the pages. I wondered if Betty had a new edition? Of course she does and it is beautiful! I cried as I looked through it pages, (My husband will tell you that I often read cookbooks like they are novels.) and saw the modern updates to this staple. As a former Home Ec teacher I know the importance of the basics and if a new cook can only own one cookbook, then it should be a Betty Crocker Cookbook.

What I hope to accomplish with this blog is to document a journey between my daughter and me using The Betty Crocker Cookbook as our textbook. We will Skype and cook and learn together and I am certain that we will both be fine cooks when we are done, but what I look forward to most is how our relationship will grow. My fondest memories of my mom and my two grandmothers occurred in a kitchen.