Why I Can't Write a Cookbook, (Erin).

In short, because my food doesn't always turn out. And sometimes it's a down right failure. (If you're interested in the details, read on.)

Adventures in the kitchen continue...

But unlike most Mommy-Blogs that pridefully boast over all the amazing stuff they cook, today's post comes with a hefty dose of reality: like that dinner party I hosted when we lived down town and my angel food cake that I slaved over turned out to be one giant salt lick.

It's true: my 'stuff' doesn't always work. Just ask my friend Caitlyn about the salty-foodcake debacle.

Take yesterday's meal plan for example: Mexican Food -- Onion & Red Pepper Fajitas (with steak for Danny), black beans and cilantro lime rice. A first attempt at whole wheat tortillas, with fresh homemade salsa and guacamole (plus the fixins')

Sounds pretty tasty right?

Here's the reality:

Grilled veggies anyone can make - and quickly - and they turned out fine.
The guac and salsa, pretty much easy-peasy.

The tortillas? Hit and miss.

How do you roll out a circle? My first attempt did not quite work...

A few later, I kind of start to figure it out...

The finished product (albeit made with butter instead of lard. Though I think I will try with olive oil sometime too.) I almost can't believed it worked...

Well some of them worked. The first one was more along the lines of a crispy tostada than a soft shell tortilla... but there's a learning curve in my kitchen.

The rice and beans did not have fate smiling upon them. My rice was too lime-y, not to mention still crunchy. How hard is it to use a rice cooker? Apparently really hard when it comes to my talent set or serious lack there of.

The beans? Besides the fact that the pot boiled over TWICE (you think I would've caught on after the first round.)...and they cooked for close to 2 hours plus soaking time, and they still were not cooked enough. Ugh!

How does Cafe Rio do it?

Thankfully, Holden will pretty much eat anything -- so he enjoyed the beans & rice. And Danny was so tickled I cooked red meat for him (I honestly can't remember the last time I made cow for this man), that he declared dinner a success. But the truth is, even with a biological grandma born in central Mexico, I did obviously NOT inherit the Mexican cooking gene.

Better luck next time? Or maybe I just ought to stick to making cheese quesadillas.


PS. Erin, thank you for your vote of confidence. But I mostly just steal everyone else's ideas and try to do it myself. You are too kind, but very good for my self esteem friend.