Altered Notebooks

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Making Pasta

Today was very busy and fun for me. My family and I went to the beach:) It was an enjoyable time. Instead of eating dinner at one of the wonderful seafood places we decided to come back to the lake and make fresh pasta.

Making Irish Soda Bread

I had loads of fun making this bread. It was absolutely delicious. My whole family enjoyed it.

Working with my mixer encouraged me to create some of my other favorites like fresh pasta.

Tune in next week when I will prepare fresh pasta with meat sauce.

Please email me with other ideas. Remember I am not a real cook so make sure it's a recipe even I can do.

I love playing in the kitchen.

Irish Soda Bread

Well, I did not go to the lake this week end but I did make the Irish Soda Bread. I had so much fun and I have to thank my good friend Julia for the recipe.

What was funny about creating this recipe was the fact that most of my cast iron pans are at the lake. I have just a few cast iron pots and pans at home.

I ended up creating my Irish Soda Bread in a cast iron wok:) It sounds strange, and it was, but the results were excellent.

Julia's recipe calls for me to mix all of the ingredients in a bowl and by hand. I just couldn't do that. I love my mixer and decided I had to use the mixer.

I simply loved the whole process. I felt like such a cook. Stay tuned and I will put up a video with a few snaps of the process.

Next week I will try to get down to the lake and I will prepare some pasta (from scratch) with sauce I will make in my cast iron pot. Now, that's cooking with cast iron.

Irish Soda Bread

A good friend of mine, Julia, gave me a lovely idea. Next weekend I will make Irish Soda Bread. Stay tuned and we will be back at the lake.... Cooking with Cast Iron.

See Ya Then.
Viv

Polly Pens

What's For Breakfast? Again?

This morning was beautiful at the lake. The birds were singing their lovely songs and the sun decided to shine brightly.

As much as I thought I would sleep in, I couldn't resist standing at the window and watching the beauty of a sunrise. It was not long before my little ones were asking for breakfast. They wanted pancakes.

I have done a pancake video before but they insisted I do another so I said, "Why not?"

I love pancakes too so it was not a bad idea at all. The recipe is not difficult and requires only one and one half cups of water. The best part of the recipe is shaking the plastic jar. I really have fun with that. Sometimes, however, there are clumps of mix and I don't like that so I sometimes pour the mixture into my measuring cup and mix it up a bit in there just to get the remaining lumps out.

I made these pancakes in my little cast iron pan. It was actually a present from a good friend here at the lake.

Chicken Recipe from Barbara

Well, we are back at the lake! How exciting it is to be here. There is a peace here that is good for the soul. Please don't misunderstand me. I LOVE the beach and one of the things I love about the lake is that it is closer to the beach.

We have a lovely view of the lake and it is hot enough to enjoy the cool water. Actually, I'm at the age where I enjoy watching others in the water. I don't even put my little toe in the water. I simply enjoy looking at the water. This will be strange to many but there are a few of you, I'm sure, who will understand what I feel.

We have been cooking. When I say we, I mean me. Let's be clear. I am at level zero when it comes to cooking so I do very simple meals. Fortunately, they appeal to my family and maybe they will appeal to yours.

I find joy cooking but I think I have the greatest joy playing in the kitchen with the gadgets and pots. I do have a love of cast iron pots. Many ask me why I like cast iron pots. The answer is simple to me but I'll explain. I hate things to break and things that are ruined easily. For example, when I was wed my mother gave me a very expensive set of pots (I asked for). I was soon dismayed and disappointed to find the expensive pots and pans peeling. It was as disgusting as it sounds. I threw the whole set away, I had no choice.

I actually went through several sets of pots. Some were more expensive than others. In any case, when I ran into cast iron pans it was not love at first sight. In fact I thought they were hideous and heavy. It took me sometime to actually buy one. I believe my first purchase was small cute frying pan. It was not expensive but if the truth be told, I think I purchased it because it was cute. I enjoyed it very much but it would be years later before I would actually start appreciating the joy of cooking with cast iron.

LeCruset pots and pans came into my life during a shopping trip to an outlet. I fell in love with the colors. I immediately started collecting the cobalt blue set. My appliances are cobalt blue and the pots and pans matched perfectly.

Cooking in the LeCruset pots and pans was a dream. I have had them for years now and I can't tell you how much I love them.

The rest is history I suppose. So what you see here in my online magazine are simple recipes I prepared with them.

I sent letters to people who I thought could cook, asking them for recipes. My dear friend Barbara called me and told me a chicken recipe. It was so simple that I didn't write it down. I was very excited to make the meal. In the video I share this experience with you. I do hope you enjoy.