Fresh Eggs

Apparently the number one tip for souffle success is to not use farm fresh eggs. You want the opposite. You want eggs so old they are ready to throw themselves into the garbage while berating your housekeeping skills. It seems the older your eggs are the better they hold air when beaten. And for a dramatic, light, puffy fluffy, mile high souffle you want those egg whites to hold a lot of air.

Unfortunately I did not know that top tip. So when my wonderful friend Katt (who is the brand spanking new owner of six egg producing chickens) brought over a dozen of the most beautiful big brown eggs I have ever laid eyes on I thought to myself "I must make something special with these!"

I always wanted to make a souffle but just never mustered the ambition to do it. I guess I never had eggs I felt were worthy because just the sight of them made me immediately think souffle. These eggs inspired me.

Which was kind of mean since the eggs probably knew they were the exact wrong kind to use for souffle.

Unfortunately my troubles did not stop with the eggs. It seems I have lost my souffle dishes. Pat swears he did not break them but he also remembers we had a nesting set when I showed him a photo of the missing item. Thus I had to settle for twice baked souffle. Still yummy but not as dramatic.

That's what I get for not making a casserole for almost a year. I blame the slow cooker. The poor dishes must have felt abandoned, unloved, useless and rather than sit around feeling like cupboard space stealing bums ran away. I hope they found a happy home with a french family.

Anyway back to plan B. Twice baked souffle.

I got everything out and waited for it to come to room temperature. I read my recipe twice to make sure I understood everything. I separated my eggs and started the butter melting. So far so good. Then Pat and Isy came home and everything went to hell.

No no actually if went well. It just felt like hell. I don't know why but I find cooking stressful. Especially when trying something new. Thus it is always better for me to do it in private. I tend to vent and rant and rage. Pat knows this and beat a hasty retreat to Isy's room while I laboured over a hot stove and oven.

Needless to say dinner was about an hour late. Pat had to take the souffle out of the oven because the second bake happened during story / snuggle time. Isabelle was looking forward to trying one but unfortunately they don't keep.

Especially when stored in an adult belly. Yum. Deflated but delicious!

I will attempt this again when I have a souffle dish. And old eggs. Gonna makes some poached or maybe coddled with the rest of my fresh.

Actually now that I think of it. When do they officially become not fresh? After all I have had them for two days now. I wonder when these eggs will become souffle ready.

Photos available!

Once a Month Cooking: Verdict

Bacon and Butternut Squash casserole is a hit. Pat thinks it's good but needs chicken. This is an almost meatless meal. The original calls the dish vegitarian even though it has bacon in it.

Once a Month Cooking: The Day After

I was not able to finish my big cook day. I ran out of ingredients and in one case containers. Very upsetting and I'm pretty pissed about it. I know the container issue was not my fault. The ingredients may be my fault. Pat and I were pretty frazzled toward the end of shopping that night. I know a couple times I grabbed a normal amount of something (ie one bunch of kale) rather than the actual amount listed on my grocery list (two). But I know for a fact I got the exact number of containers listed. Today I will do an inventory and go to the store and get the missing items.

Luckily the items left are all non cooking dishes. They are simple assemble, package, and freeze. I'm still not going to do them today. I'm tired and want to spend some time with my family.

I am very thankful I cleaned as I went last night. I did not do a final clean before going to bed but the kitchen is only a little messy it is not a disaster. I guess I should be thankful I am so limited in pots and pans as that certainly made it necessary to clean over and over. Not sure I would have kept it up at the end if it was just desirable.

Despite the setbacks I will be doing this again next month. I actually enjoyed myself. I did not once "get my rage on" which hasn't happened while cooking since I was pregnant. Even in the evening when I had many distractions and ran out of ingredients I remained calm and in control. Plus I have a freezer full of yummy easy to serve food.

I'll have photos and more details after my morning cuppa, an inventory, and a good clean.

Once a Month Cooking: In Medias Res

Dear Me,

Never ever ever never ever do a big cook day without chopping everything, that can be chopped in advance, in advance. You would be laying in bed with your feet up awaiting your baby and your chocolate shake by now if you had done your homework. Instead you may never be finished. Learn from your mistakes.

Once a Month Cooking: Break Two

Ugh. My feet and back are hurting bad. I'm a bit behind and need help but Pat is still on the train so I'll just have to soldier on alone.

It's going pretty good. I didn't buy enough kale (who ever thought I'd make that statement) so I added some leftover spinach from the mac n cheese. I am perplexed as to where I went wrong but I have three trays worth of Bacon and Butternut Squash Casserole not two. Maybe it was the pasta. I couldn't tell if the measurement was for cooked or uncooked. The casserole looks well proportioned so hopefully it won't matter.

I'm going to make some tea, roll my oven baked fajitas, clean the kitchen and then get to preparing my Pasta e Fagioli.

Once a Month Cooking: First Break

I am going to have to put my shoes on. My feet are going to be toast at the end of the day. Thus far I have made the  oatmeal, peanut butter and banana muffins, spinach mac n cheese cups and oven baked fajitas. I am starving. The fajitas are in the oven and smell great but the mac n cheese is what I want. I'm not sure I'll be able to restrain myself til they are cool enough to put in the freezer.

I had a moment of panic when I couldn't find the ricotta (Pat packed the fridge last night while I did the pantry) but I found it while ringing Pat's cell. He and the whole family took the train to the parade and apparently Isabelle did not like it. Too noisy. Poor baby. I wish I was there.

Anyway, I found the ricotta and thus far everything is turning out fine except the oatmeal. The directions said to put it in 8 quart sized bags and I only had enough for 4 and there were only two labels so I am not sure what is going on there. Plus the oatmeal seems pretty mushy to me. I know oatmeal is a mushy meal but I don't know there just doesn't seem to be enough oats in there.

Oh well that's what I get for not testing that one first (but really since when would you need to test an oatmeal recipe). Live and learn. It's not an expensive meal so no harm no foul if we don't like it.

Once a Month Cooking

I joined Once a Month Mom last month but due to the timing of special events (Quilt show , birthday, etc) I had to postpone my first "big cook day" until today. So far I am off to a bad start. I was unable to finish the chopping last night (even with DH's help we were up way to late and had to stop) and had a late start this morning helping DH and DD get out the door on their grand adventure.

There will be no photos. Pat took the camera. He'll be with Isabelle and all moments must be documented. They went to the St Patrick's Day parade downtown with the in laws and visiting relatives so I hope there won't be a ton of photos of the tops of floats and the backs of people's heads.