Tag Archives: cooking tip

Cooking Tips #12

Posted on by Jinxie G

I know this should be common sense, but some people fail to see the issue, so listen to me when I say…

If you have longer hair, always, ALWAYS pull your hair back/up BEFORE you start cooking, even in your own damn kitchen. I’m sorry, but finding a hair in my food makes me want to vomit and I’ll probably never eat at your house again. Just sayin’. I find it completely repulsive.

And that’s coming from a woman who’s owned dogs over the past 20 years and claims “The chef is not responsible for dog hair in the food.”

A Thankful Day

Posted on by Jinxie G

Every year, people write posts, articles, emails, tweets, etc. about the things they’re thankful for. Every year, I roll my eyes and scoff at the holiday just like I Bah! Humbug! Christmas because, quite frankly, without children in my home, holidays just don’t mean a whole helluva lot to me anymore. I’m single. I’m childless. I live with my elderly mother, for whom I will actually decorate this Christmas because she’ll get all depressed if I don’t. For me, holidays are simply the same as any other day. Don’t feel sorry for me. I’m perfectly fine with it. I’ve spent my share of bustling holidays with family over the years and have even cooked several holiday dinners and hosted them in my own home. A home I no longer have.

At this point, you’re probably thinking this is going to be a depressing post. It’s not. I promise.

Before I left for Cincinnati, OH on the 10th, my dear friend and author Shawna Thomas had me as a guest on her blog on the 9th, and since I was in the midst of packing and working and God knows what else, I didn’t have a chance to tweet/Facebook/blog about it until yesterday. A Very Jinxie Thanksgiving can be found here, along with several other wonderful Thanksgiving posts that I encourage you to check out when you have a moment. I discuss what my Thanksgiving used to be, and my favorite memory.

And since it’s Thanksgiving and everyone discusses the things they’re thankful for, I’m going to do the same.

I’m thankful…:

  • that the lump in my breast earlier this year didn’t turn out to be cancer, and pray for a cure to save the women who aren’t so lucky.
  • for my dear friend Juliette Terzieff, who pulled me into the Zombie Survival Crew at the very beginning of the insanity, which has given me some of the most memorable moments of my life.
  • for my friend and business partner Sharon Gerlach, without whom Forever Nocturne and Running Ink Press, LLC wouldn’t exist.
  • for meeting such wonderful friends from all around the world in the least likely of places – Twitter.
  • for the opportunities given to me over this last year, and I don’t regret a damn choice I’ve made regarding them.
  • that Umi is okay after the scare on my birthday, which happened to be two days after my grandmother passed away. She’s doing just fine now.
  • that my Moonbug is still around and gives me that goofy puppy face every once in a while. She is my child.
  • for growing up with such an incredibly wonderful, loving, and caring family who never ceased to show me how important I am to them.
  • for having the opportunity to learn some things about my father this past summer that make me finally admire him, and for finally being able to build some semblance of a relationship with him over the last year. He passed away one year ago. That may not make sense to you, but if you know me at all, it will.
  • for the best beta readers and critique partners a writer could have!
  • for the dating site because I’ve recently realized that I don’t need to date anyone and I’m not settling this time, which is why my standards are so high.
  • for the wonderful reviews on my book Nemesis, including the one that wasn’t so good because I learned a valuable lesson with it.

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving, stuff yourselves full of great food, and get the chance to relax and enjoy your family and friends.

My Cooking Tip of the day is this: Go for a nice leisurely walk after dinner.

Happy Thanksgiving!

*mwah*

Cholesterol…Damn It!

Posted on by Jinxie G

In lieu of my typical recipe post, we’ll be talking about my health today. Why is this important, aside from the fact that not eating healthy can kill me? Well, mainly because it’s going to change the recipes I post on this here little blog. But that’s a good thing, trust me, because I can’t stand bland food, so I’ll be finding ways to make healthy good-for-you-food taste great. Hey, it’s what I do.

So my arteries are getting clogged up. That’s what high cholesterol does to you, which puts you at risk for heart disease. Awesome! But here’s the kicker….high cholesterol is 240 mg/dL and higher; mine is at 1900+. Wait, WTF? Yeah. Shouldn’t I be dead?

So here are the things I can’t eat anymore with my notes attached:

Butter, margarine and shortening - um, WTF? How am I supposed to cook and bake now?

Coconut and palm oils - not a problem! They aren’t in my diet to begin with.

Cheese – But I LOVE cheese!!! *pouts*

French fries – don’t care much for these anyway

Doughnuts – *gasps*

Whole milk – looks like I’m going back to 1% milk

Cookies – are you fucking kidding me???

On the plus side, olive oil, avocado, walnuts & almonds (neither of which I eat), sunflower seeds (along with sesame and pumpkin seeds), and seafood along the lines of salmon, mackerel, and herring are IN.

And on top of this, I essentially need to switch to a low carb diet with anti-inflammatory foods. Hey! Avocado is an anti-inflammatory food! Homemade guacamole, here I come!

Time to start looking up recipes….and of course, modifying them. :)

Cooking Tips #11

Posted on by Jinxie G

The first and foremost ingredients in seasoning your food is salt and pepper. Why? Using salt and pepper first brings out the flavor in any dish. If you don’t use salt and pepper, give it a try once and taste the difference.

Cooking Tips #10

Posted on by Jinxie G

Today’s cooking tip comes from Twitter friend Rachel Graves, who has a pretty wicked website here!

Defrosting Meats Quickly

Meat products will defrost wicked fast if you put them in a Ziploc bag and then in a bowl of warm water—ten minutes from rock solid to ice crystals for chicken breast; twenty minutes to completely defrosted. Faster if you swap the water as it cools.

That is an awesome tip! Thanks, Rachel!

Mangia!

Cooking Tips #9

Posted on by Jinxie G

This one may seem a little silly and obvious, but I find it funny and I’ll explain why. Last Saturday, while at my grandmother’s house and after taking my mother to the ER again the night before, I wanted to have some of the leftover Red Clam Sauce my uncle made a few days earlier. So, we got out a pot, he filled it with water as I heated up the sauce in the microwave, and I dumped a small handful of angel hair pasta in the pot and walked away.

*ahem*

Today’s tip is do not ever place uncooked pasta in a pot of cold water. Yes, I did this. My uncle informed me of it Monday evening. I laughed at myself, so by all means, laugh at me.

Do as I say, not as I do. Wait for the water to boil, THEN you can add the pasta to the pot.

 

Cooking Tips #8

Posted on by Jinxie G

Do you know how to contain a grease fire? Most people don’t. The picture below will show you what happens when a grease fire gets out of control.

My oldest niece, who recently graduated from culinary school around the same time this fire happened (I know, it’s hysterical), now knows what a grease fire is like. She used a fire extinguisher. I’m guessing that’s because the fire got completely out of hand, judging from the photo. However, she and I no longer speak to one another so I had to pull this from Facebook.

But if the grease fire has just started, cover the pan with a lid quickly. Do NOT spray water on a grease fire EVER. Water and grease don’t mix together well. The water makes the grease pop, and what happens when grease pops? It pops right out of the pan. Kind of like when you’re cooking bacon.

But the most important rule of this tip is that if you’re ever cooking something greasy, like bacon, do NOT walk away from the pan, even for a minute. That’s why the microwave above is melted. She walked away. If you have to leave the stove, either turn off the burner or remove the pan from the burner.

It’s pretty simple, really. Kind of like “don’t leave your kids around water.”

Mangia!

Cooking Tips #6

Posted on by Jinxie G

Ever have your tomato sauce taste “tinny” or have that metallic taste to it? Yeah, we so understand. This is what happens when you cook tomato-based sauces in aluminum or any reactive metal pan/pot. Sometimes, even copper will have this effect.

To fix that taste, however, add a dash or two of Balsamic vinegar. Other than that, don’t cook in reactive metal pots. :)

Mangia!