Heading down to the Jersey shore on Saturday morning, and back again last night, gave me quiet time in the car on my own. Something that very rarely happens these days! I’m so not used to it, I hardly know what to do with myself. I pop in a CD, lower the windows and start singing loudly … and badly. Eventually, my mind starts drifting to food … new recipes to make, tried-and-trues to revisit, holiday menus and so on.
My stream of consciousness thinking this weekend drifted to things that I haven’t made … things that I probably should have made before, but just haven’t. I can make a delicious Creme Brulee and throw a dinner party with the best of them, but a baked potato? Believe it or not, I’ve never made one, even though I do love to eat them. Homemade lemonade? Nope, haven’t made that either, and it’s another favorite of mine. For the lemonade, it’s the daunting time-consuming task of making the simple syrup and squeezing all the darn lemons that has probably put me off all these years. Chalk it up to laziness, I suppose. It’s just as easy to pop open a canister of CountryTime and make a quick pitcher. And Panera now has a great homemade lemonade (as long as you add the sugar they seem to have forgotten), so my excuses grow longer. As far as baked potatoes, I guess it’s a time thing as well. No one in the house eats them, so I just don’t bother.
I can whip up a tray of Creme Brulee without batting an eye at the recipe, but I’d actually have to look up a recipe for how to make lemonade. And this, my friends, is my confession for the day. I’m sure everyone has simple things that they have just never made, for a variety of reasons … now it’s your turn. Purge your soul and confess away. What is so simple, but you haven’t made? What are you scared of making? Can’t wait to hear what you’ve got to say.
P.S. ARF/5-A-Day is tomorrow. Don’t miss out – come join in the fun!
I’m a bit scared to make Vietnamese Spring rolls and Spanikopita. However, these are both on my list to make by the end of the year…so I must overcome my fears!
Was that you I heard singing last night beyond the crickets of suburban Atlanta? Ha!
Okay – here it goes – I cannot make a normal looking lasagna to save my life. And – manicotti crepes? uuuuh – no. Can’t do. Shame on me and my Italian self!
I am terrified of pie crust, and my husband loves pie. I compensate by making alot of fruit crisps and buying crust when necessary. There, my dirty little secret is out. Don’t tell my mother in law!
until about 3 years ago, i couldn’t make scrambled eggs. i could make near perfect poached eggs but i couldn’t scramble an egg to save my life. it turns out all i needed was a nonstick pan and some patience. eventually, i got both but i wish they sold patience on amazon.com, too — far fewer eggs would have been wasted in my pursuit for passable scrambled eggs.
I used to not be able to roll out pastry crust. It was patched and ugly every time. Then I got a Silpat for making caramel and also promised someone a “real American pie” so I gave it a whirl and voila! Pie crust became easy. But the rotten memories live on and I still think it’s trouble, so they don’t get a lot of “real American pies” here.
PS/ you can’t buy short crust here or I would have!
Wondering what normal looking lasagna looks like? I see lots of variations here in Italy. Betcha at least one looks like Chris’s.
I’ll try to cook just about any crazy ole thing but the one I always seem to avoid that seems quite silly is homemade pasta. I keep forgetting to submit recipes for ARF but today’s post would fit I think http://stoneview.typepad.com/stoneview/2007/07/one-potato-two-.html
I’ll definitely make the sweet potato ones again, yum.
I love singin’ in my car!
I love eating chicken, and the vast majority of my meals consist of some form of chicken. I can do almost anything with it, but after a single tragic episode with a chicken kiev, I am never willing to put ANYTHING inside my chicken, nor am I willing to fry it. I will bake it with a crust that will make it seem fried. I will put stuff on top. I am now just too scared to fill or fry!
The horrible truth is I have never poached an egg.