Deep or shallow--everything will pan out!
A stranger to most of the cookware and cutlery stored inside my kitchen drawers and cupboards, I began handling Tupperware and Rubbermaid containers, utensils, glasses, bakeware, pots, and pans—scraping the surface in washing dust away from every vessel hardly used. Part of my spring cleaning ritual, and more than likely, revisiting these same receptacles again in winter, I never fail to chastise myself for hanging on to relics of a bygone era.
Prior to launching a writing career, a few years after retirement from teaching, I took pride in collecting recipes and categorizing them inside a thick binder by appetizers, sides, soups, and subdividing main entrees according to fish, beef, poultry, pork, and pasta. The luxury of time granted me wide latitude to experience “the joys of cooking,” revamping recipes to suit my taste for prepping and pan handling. From pots and pans to plates, I concocted many meals pleasurable to the palette. Here’s just a sampling of my cuisine to salivate for:
Spinach Tortellini Casserole
Shrimp, Lemon and Tarragon Risotto
Lasagna (Ricotta cheese with layers of ground sirloin, spinach, and portabella mushrooms)—cuz it’s all about that base!
Jumbalaya with Chicken
Ranch Beef Skillet Supper
Sloppy Joe
Shepherd’s Pie
Veracruz-Style Shrimp over Linguine
Oven-Barbecued Pork Ribs
Chinese Beef Stir-Fry
When it came time to roast a turkey, I prepared my own bread stuffing enhanced with ground sirloin, onions, celery, whole-berry cranberry sauce, apple juice, and finely chopped pepperoni.
Now, my cast iron skillet rests on its laurels. On occasion, I use one of my sauce pans to boil eggs for garnishing a dinner salad. However, I dig out my oblong Pyrex dish during the holidays for family gatherings. My Sweet Potato Casserole is in demand. And, I’ve been told that my spinach quiche aka “Quiche Simone,” aptly named for the recipe’s significant impact in my Contemporary Women’s Fiction novel -- is the best quiche ever eaten!
You’ll find the recipe in the epilogue of ‘An Enlightening Quiche’. Bon Appétit!
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Your favorite dishes remind me of the superb lasagna my ex-wife made and the sloppy Joe's that my mom would break out with other kids would come over.
Ron