Cooking?

Okay, so I just couldn't help myself ... after the post about cooking? Ah, I love to cook. I wish I had more time to cook. My favorite dish? Gumbo... done right, Gumbo takes several hours to complete, but the entire house smells of fresh green peppers, onions, smoked sausage and other fabulous odors! I guess that's one of my favorite things about cooking, smelling everything separate and then together as it mixes flavors over a warm fire. Roux, sausage, broth, garlic and everything else fabulous and nice makes for a savory meal that can't be duplicated by any box!

Other favorites? Lasagne, anything in the Dutch oven and - oh, I love buffalo chicken wings ... the homemade ones are the best! I learned to make them recently with a recipe that exceeds Chilis! It's a favorite in my house now and I get to stand beside my children, all adorned in aprons, as we roll the chicken pieces in milk and egg, into the flour and seasonings and then to the oil.

I suppose that's one reason I love to cook, spending time talking with the children as we scrub potatoes or mix chocolate chip cookies. I love teaching them to cook also! My kids love baking and they're learning to cook quickly and loving it too. It's the process we fall in love with, I guess, the time it takes to relax and combine ingredients that will melt in your mouth.

My children all bake entirely on their own now, from the flour to cracking the eggs to scraping the cookies off the pan. My youngest, five, even bakes cookies by herself, though I insist on helping her with the parts that involve heat. It's a riot watching them learn new recipes and experiment in the kitchen. Sure it makes a mess, but when you bite into that slightly baking soda flavored cookie and the kid has this huge smile on their face ('cause they made it all by themselves), any amount of mess is worth it.

I learned to love cooking in the south. Now they can cook! I learned homemade puddings, bisque, jambalaya, etouffe, beans and cornbread. I learned to fry fish and even squirrel. Ma Ma taught me to make chicken and dumplins with real homemade dumplins ... no noodles for this family! Of course, Ma Ma rolled her dumplins just so and cut them each exactly the same size. I opt for a little more creativity in the dumplin sizes.

Oh, I'm ready for supper. Oh, yeah, and for those of you looking for something new, check out my mom and dad's website. We all wrote a Dutch oven cookbook a while back and now have a website with free recipes and tips and all kinds of good stuff. You've got to try the peach pie, or so I've been told, the one with the cream cheese in it ... my sister said it's heavenly!

MyDutchOven.com