I have a problem. Food excites me just a little too much. It can strike at any moment. On this such day it 
was in the doctor’s waiting room.
As I sat with Mr. in the stark room waiting for the doctor, hoping he would finish-up his game of Connect Four with the two blind mice backstage and call Mr.’s name from his list of one, I indulged in the October issue of Cooking Light. Every picture in the magazine got me cooing like a school girl head-over-heels in love, “Oh my goodness, Hmmm, Wow, I want it!” My mouth moistened while my entire body began to tingle with anticipation, I was officially experiencing a food-gasim. I’m not purposefully trying to make the 40 and over crowd squirm; I’m simply describing how passionate some of us can be about what touches our lips. And why shouldn’t we be? In a lifetime the average American eats 87, 520 slices of bread. Sounds a little boring if you ask me.
Now, Mr. enjoys a good meal, but its come to my attention that a food magazine is never quite going to “do it” for him like it does me. After the 5th time I interrupted his read to show him a picture of a tantalizing dinner choice it was apparent that I was the only one food-gasiming here. The dinner choice was all mine.
After much debate between me, myself, and the recipe photos battling for my attention: a mushroom patty melt, potato soup, and caramel apple recipe clearly came out on top in honor of Memphis’s first fall-like day.
Two hours later Mr. still had an aching ankle, we had no caramel apples due to two failed attempts, our potato soup’s texture closely resembled whipped potatoes, and we had sandwiches that consisted primarily mushrooms-Opps! We don’t even like mushrooms!
It was no one’s fault really. The potato soup and sandwiches actually tasted just fine by normal standards. But after all we had just been through to get them to our dinner plates, I think we were expecting to bite in to some sort of nirvana. The truth be told, dinner doesn’t always turn out indicative of my enthusigasim toward food. But, if you love food, you understand that sometimes half the fun is in the anticipation and surprise.
If you rarely get excited about food, it’s rather difficult for your taste buds to reach the climax of their potential. Enough said on that topic, some of you have wandering minds….
Recipes and Reviews:
Mushroom and Provolone Patty Melts: B, The provolone Patty Melts were a hearty choice for a cold day. Neither Mr. or I are big mushroom fans, and I’m not sure if I have ever eaten a patty melt, but the picture got me-so I took a leap of faith. The rating of a B reflects my personal feelings toward mushrooms, but don’t let this discourage you. This is defiantly a healthier version then I see on restaurant menus so it’s defiantly a good bet if this is a staple type of sandwich in your world.
Loaded Potato Soup: B, After reading the ingredeint list I had the brilliant idea to add in 30% more red potatoes to get in more of nature’s goodness. If I would have thought that through I would have realized I was going to be making gloried mashed potatoes. By the time I was done, there was little liquid consistency left. It obviously tasted fine, it’s pretty had to mess up a potato beyond repair, but we didn’t succeed at making soup. This recipe is great in terms of prep. time. I loved that I didn’t have to peel the potatoes and that the recipe called for red skins. I thought the soup lacked a little flavor. I would doctor it up with more spices to get it to a rating of an “A” next time.
Carmel Apples, Not Rated, This recipe never came to fruition. In the first batch Mr. put all the ingredients in at once and later realized he had to start again. The next batch was even worse. The “caramel” that we were making from scratch burned to the bottom of the pan and stunk up the kitchen. I guess the candy thermometer they suggested was more then a casual tip. Honestly, this version takes a long time and it’s still made with unhealthy ingredients. Save yourself the trouble by buying the premade Kraft candy caramels at the grocery store to coat your apples.
Each weekend we have resolved to learn to cook something new as Mr. & Mrs. The kitchen is not in our original blood so you never know what may happen. We love to hear your comments, that way we know that we are not the only ones who have set off the fire alarm or sent a spoon through the side of the blender! ;)
[...] a virgin to making it. Our only attempts have been a veggie soup in Week 8 and a potato soup in Week 31, neither were examples of our finest work. But, as I slowly realized that there are all these [...]