Cooking Meme

This one is for Amy and Donna. Comment here when you do it so that I can go read yours.

1. How many meals does most of your family eat at home each week? How many are in your family? There are four of us, and we eat out about once a week at most, usually less, due to the allergies we have. That means about 20 meals a week- 3 meals a day. That's a lot of dishes to wash with no dishwasher, just ask my kids, lol.

2. How many cookbooks do you own? About 50. I have about 35 upstairs, and another 15 in the basement library that I rarely use but can't part with.

3. How often do you refer to a cookbook each week? Maybe once a week, sometimes two. I don't use them much anymore, I must admit. Lots of my standard recipes, the Indian ones included, are in my head.

4. Do you collect recipes from other sources? If so, what are some of your favorite sources? I collect recipes from the WTM boards, and people of other cultures in my neighborhood.

5. How do you store those recipes? My dh has a spiral notebook from before we were married, and he got me a write in your own recipe book I use. There are also some on my computer, and a myriad of recipes scribbled on paper and tucked into the front of various cookbooks. I know, I know.

6. When you cook, do you follow the recipe pretty closely, or do you use recipes primarily to give you ideas? For me, recipes are really just a springboard (a Graham Kerr term). Even if it is the first time I have used it, I usually make changes, either due to allergy restrictions, or my own imagination.

7. Is there a particular ethnic style or flavor that predominates in your cooking? If so, what is it? I cook a lot of Indian food, probably 3 to 4 times a week. I also cook Thai, Chinese, Japanese, and Morrocan/Lebanese. I rarely cook "American" and am not sure what that really even means anymore.

8. What's your favorite kitchen task related to meal planning and preparation? (eating the finished product does not count) I love to cook as part of entertainment. My friend D and I cook every couple of months, and I love that- especially sharing the chores to make a huge feast. I really love cooking with Papa- it is a bit of an aphrodesiac for me, he he.

9. What's your least favorite part? Well, Amy said it well- I get bored with the day-in, day-out of it. For me, cooking 3X day gets old very fast, especially not having a choice about it.

10. Do you plan menus before you shop? Nope. I plan meals around what meats are in the discount section in the meat dept. and what veggies are ripe and ready at the fruit stand. Make sure I always have rice, noodles, and potatoes, and I am set!

11. What are your three favorite kitchen tools or appliances? I love my bench knife, my handle-free rolling pin, and my pastry cloth. These were anniversary gifts from the Papa Dude one year, and I love them all. Since the pastry cloth and rolling pin go together, I will also add my lemon zester.

12. If you could buy one new thing for your kitchen, money was no object, and space not an issue, what would you most like to have? A double oven.

13. Since money and space probably are objects, what are you most likely to buy next? Well, we need to remodel the entire kitchen, but I think the floor will come first.

14. Do you have a separate freezer for storage? We have a refrigerator/freezer in the basement. Right now it is full of frozen peaches and plums, which I really need to either make jams or pies and cobblers out of, before the protective ice layer becomes too thick.

15. Grocery shop alone or with others? I try to sneak out while Boy is at morning classes, and Girl is home doing her piano. I HATE taking the kids, but I do like to sneak out with Papa sometimes in the evening.

16. How many meatless main dish meals do you fix in a week? Almost none. I am good at extending a small amount of meat, but we almost always have some.

17. If you have a decorating theme in your kitchen, what is it? Favorite kitchen colors? Oh gosh, there is the uglies gold linoleum on the floor, green peeling counters, and yucky cheap wood cabinets with really sad-looking pulls on them. What I do have is a wonderful built-in china cabinet that is very full! If I could pick new colors, they would probably be bright and cheerful, or would match the tones in my Fiestaware.

18. What's the first thing you ever learned to cook, and how old were you? English muffin pizzas, and hamburgers. 12 to 13.

19. How did you learn to cook? Actually, Papa and his first wife (we were friends) taught me the basics, then I just jumped off from there.

20. Tag two other people to play. Want to play? Let me know where I can read your answers. You can answer any or all of the questions in the comments if you don't have a blog.