Day 15: the edibles (and some kitchen tips!)

I tell you what, there is sometimes nothing more delicious and comforting than a couple of beautiful fried up eggs. Fried is definitely my style these days. Poached are delicious, but I can't do that yet. So fried I stick with. Alone, with toast, with a tiny bit of ketchup, on a bowl of steaming soup, with hash browns, in the morning or right before bed... whatever. Eggs are delicious. And basically the most perfect food known to man.

Obviously this fall I've done a lot of baking. It's what I do when I want to feel cozy (read: all the time). It makes the house (apartment) smell delicious, and I love feeding people. I swear, once I'm rich and famous I'm going to cook for people constantly. Yeah, ya heard. I'm pretty sure I'm going to elope someday then come back from the honeymoon and throw my own party in celebration of the event. I am already planning on what I'll make.

Anyway. Remember how I got that job in the back of a kitchen? It's The Black Sheep Cafe in Provo, down right next to Center Street. It's southwestern cousine, with delicious Navajo tacos and nanni bread. Everything is made from scratch every day, including all of their hot sauces and bases for all their soups. They go all out (which is why some people complain about pricing, probably. that and people in Utah are cheap). Anyway, I've been learning all sorts of sweet tricks already. I've always felt pretty comfortable in a kitchen, but man! I'm learning so much! It's exciting! (So many exclamation points!) I'm thinking I'm going to start sharing them here, because really anybody and everybody should know them. Plus, that was a request from one of my followers, so these are for you! More to come later.

Number 1. Use really sharp knives. They can definitely hurt you if you don't use them right, but blades that are super sharp are SO much nicer because they  just  work  better. Trust me. Wash them by hand immediately, never in the dishwasher. It dulls the blade to put them through that, or to allow food to stay on the blade for too long.

Number 2. Be safe. If you're slicing down the center of a sweet potato or squash, remember to plank it by slicing of a sliver on one side so you have a flat surface so it doesn't slip around resulting in lots of blood and missing fingers. Which brings us to the rag: use a damp rag, folded in quarters, between your left hand and the knife when you're slicing through the middle and needing to put extra weight there. If the knife slips, it will cut into the towel and not into your hand. Knives do not cut through wet towels well. More to come on chopping things up later.

Number 3. If you're looking for a lighter (not less calories, fluffier) version of cream cheese icing for your cake (we use this on carrot cake), just fold in some whipped cream. Here:

8oz cream cheese, 1tbls butter. Cream those together.
Add 1/2 cup powdered sugar. Beat that up. Add another 1/2 cup. Now beat that till shiny.
Now, in a different bowl, beat 1 cup of heavy whipping cream and about 1tbls of sugar together until stiff peaks form. The sugar helps it stiffen.
Now here's the trick to a lighter frosting: fold all the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture with a big rubber spatula. Be gentle, but make sure to completely incorporate. And there you go!

Number 4. This one is simple, but useful. Always remember that the way you store food is very important. You know when you get your organic green mixes in those plastic containers and you find a slimy leaf in there almost immediately sometimes? It's just too much moisture. I know it's a no brainer, but I haven't thought of rectifying the situation on my own (embarrassing, I know). So open up the container immediately, dump it into a big bowl, line the plastic container with paper towel, put greens back inside container and put another paper towel on top. It keeps it fresher longer because it soaks up the moisture.

Happy Cooking!