Tagged Again – Double Post Alert!

Regular post for today follows below. In the meantime, trying to catch up on my recent meme tagging.

Sylvie of Food – Got to Love It tagged me for the newest meme that’s floating around the food blogosphere and I’m happy to participate. Nicky over at Delicious Days is the originator of this one. Here goes:

What is your first memory of baking/cooking on your own?
Not sure if you can call it “cooking,” but I had several failed attempts at making pudding from a box! in my Mom’s kitchen growing up.

Who had the most influence on your cooking?
I don’t know that I’ve had any hard-and-fast influences. I enjoyed helping my mom prepare for dinner parties when I was old enough to, but don’t have any real memories of being taught to cook. I just started helping her out and learned as I went. Necessity really IS the mother of invention, because I really started working on my cooking skills when I moved into my first apartment by myself. Had great Melrose Place parties then! One thing I DID learn from my Mom, though, are some of the little non-cooking techniques she does. For example, when entertaining, she has a list of all the dishes she’s going to make, and checks them off as she gets them done, one-by-one. She goes one step further and even makes a timeline. I don’t go that far, but I do put together a running list to keep track of what I need to do. She also has an “entertaining journal” that she writes down info on parties she’s had, who’s come, what she made, etc. She’s been keeping them since before I was born, and it’s fun to look back and see the celebrations and parties she’s had. Even my Baptism menu is in there! Like her, I started keeping an Entertaining Journal a few years ago.

Do you have an old photo as “evidence” of an early exposure to the culinary world and would you like to share it? None available that I know of.

Mageiricophobia – do you suffer from any cooking phobia, a dish that makes your palms sweat? Nothing that makes my palms sweat, but I’m real squeamish about dealing with food in their original form, i.e., rotisserie chicken is a little too “real” for me, and often times, I have The Husband shred it for me. If we order lobster in a restaurant, he has to take it apart for me. I swear I could be borderline vegetarian.

What would be your most valued or used kitchen gadgets and/or what was the biggest letdown? My parents got me a Kitchen Aid mixer last year for my birthday, and I really love using that. No real let-downs in terms of kitchen gadgets, but most of those “as seen on TV” deals are better left there, on TV!

Name some funny or weird food combinations/dishes you really like – and probably no one else! In high school, I remember eating Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom Soup straight from the can.

What are the three eatables or dishes you simply don’t want to live without? I love avocado and tortellini. Probably my two favorite stand-alone items.

Three quickies:
Your favorite ice-cream: pretty much any from the Starbucks line, or Welsh Farms’ Peanut Butter Twirl

You will probably never eat…venison, frogs’ legs, duck, lamb, veal, snails … see a theme?

Your own signature dish… The Husband would say it’s probably my Jugged Chicken and my Mom would probably say my Cinnamon Apple Cake, so I guess it depends on who you ask.

Passing the torch:
I looked through the map on Delicious’ Days site, and don’t believe that Kayaksoup, Dispensing Happiness or Banlieue Blog have been tagged yet. The map that Nicky put together is a pretty comprehensive “who’s who” of the food bloggers, literally spanning the world. Interesting stuff. Have fun, ladies!