I like cooking

I like cooking, especially if people have ideas of what they want.  I don't mind all that much if they have no idea and are the type that eats whats in front of them either (as long as it meets dietary restrictions).   I am trying my hand at many different things.  The no nightshade thing makes it really hard to go out to eat, especially for me and the trace amounts.  I have been doing so much better now that I have been avoiding even trace amounts (much easier in "own" kitchen, and not going out as much.) Dinner tonight was an experiment, I found this recipe online and I just had to try it.  I have had something similar at an SCA feast a few years back, and I knew there must be a recipe somewhere, so I googled and found one.  I do prefer recipes where I'm not leaving something out or making a substitution on my very first attempt.  It turned out fairly good, next time I want to make my own whole wheat crust (I cheated and used store bought crusts) and toss all the filling ingredients together before putting in the pie for a more flavorful chicken.  Tomorrow we get to see if it is as good cold, as the recipe says it is good either hot or cold.

When I first got here I made my Vivian safe BBQ sauce this time using persimmons that I had brought with me, from a friends tree out in California (at least the ones I hadn't eaten during the drive out.)  I think I like it better with apricot but since it is not stone fruit season the persimmons make a decent substitute, and now I have enough to last me until summer.  The texture just isn't as smooth, and I pureed those persimmons, then let them cook and then took the immersion blender to it, which helped a ton.  I also made some Meyer lemon marmalade with the lemons from my mom's tree, canned up a bunch and still have a decent sized bowl in the fridge, unfortunately my impatience got the better of me and I didn't quite allow it to cook long enough.  Still delicious but a tiny bit more of the bitter taste than I like.  I'll still eat it and the stuff I canned is still going to go on the road with me and get eaten because marmalade.  I had a few lemons left over and have slowly been using them to give a little flavor to my water.  OMG am I drinking a ton more water, the air is so much drier than I am use to.  Squeezing just a little lemon into the water makes it taste so much better to me that I am keeping hydrated.

I'm also trying my hand at the Field's family truffle recipe that was shared with me before I left California.  Today I made the insides, and have set them to cool.  Tomorrow I get to dip them in chocolate and decorate, I'm hoping it goes well.  As it is chocolate there is very little I could do to make it so no one around here would eat it, and have had to tell the humans to not eat my chocolate until I have finished making them.  Maybe if they turn out pretty you will get pictures, but I'm not a big believer in taking pictures of my food type person so I might forget.