America's Most Wanted Recipes by Ron Douglas

The Great American Taste Test

"Discover the recipes from America's most popular family restaurants and cook them at home for a fraction of the price!"

"Wouldn't it be nice if you could treat yourself to dishes from your favorite restaurants anytime? Now you can -- at home! In America's Most Wanted Recipes, Ron Douglas reveals copycat versions of carefully guarded secret restaurant recipes and shows family chefs how to prepare them at home, saving time and money. With these easy and mouth-watering recipes, families can enjoy a night out in their very own kitchens."

It's no secret I love to cook, so when the opportunity presented itself to be part of The Great American Taste Test, I jumped on it. The rules were as follows:

• Choose a recipe from the book
• Make the dish
• Purchase the "real" restaurant dish in order to conduct the taste test
• Taste test can be done with anyone - friends, family or strangers
• Blog about the experience on September 14, 2009

I chose Panera Bread's Broccoli-Cheese Soup. I've been looking for a recipe for a while, and this one is actually fairly simple. It took me about an hour from start to eating.

My husband, and my ex-husband (who happened to be dropping our son off) couldn't tell by sight which soup was mine and which was Panera's. They both liked mine better, and my sons (ages 12 and 7) loved it! They asked if I would make it again.

This was a really fun experiment!

My soup is on the left.

Honor the memory, but continue to live.

It's raining today. I turned on the television, but then promptly shut it off. I haven't forgotten and I never will.

Instead of being glued to the news, as I was seven years ago, I will take advantage of a day without children underfoot. I have lots of ideas for blog posts, a fantastic mystery to finish reading, a book review to write and a double batch of chocolate chip cookies to make. That should keep me busy until the kids arrive home around 3 pm.

In my way, I will honor the life, and lives, gifted to me. I will hug my boys a little longer when they come in the door. I will curl up next to my husband when I crawl into bed tonight. I will text my daughter the words "I love you." I will be present in the moment, because it is the only one that truly exists.

For a lazy summer day, it's sure been busy.

So far today...

- typed up and emailed answers to interview questions
- run to the grocery store with the youngest boy
- fed the kids lunch - waffles, yummmmm
- grabbed something to eat for myself
- baked lemon bars, mostly because it's cool today
- started reading a book for review
- glanced through the new issue of The Writer magazine
- washed dishes
- done laundry

I still have more to get done, but I'm thinking it's been a productive day so far.

All work and no play...

All right, folks, the crunch is on. Four days until Christmas and I have lots to do - still.

Today, I have to bake, paint (don't ask), clean and organize. I also have to start an article I was just assigned with a deadline of Jaunuary 5. I have three books for review that I need to read. And somewhere in my day, I need to eek out some time to take a nice, long, hot shower - if only because I tend to do my best thinking with hot water streaming over my head.

Christmas Eve day I'll be posting a review of Christine Kringle by Lynn Brittney and then an interview with her the day after Christmas.

That is all.

Rare Weekend Post

This is how we cooked dinner tonight - burgers and brats and grilled onions.

Temperature: 5 degrees Fahrenheit
Snow depth: 1 foot














Keep in mind that 10 days ago, my roses in the front garden were still blooming.

It smelled like summer for about 30 minutes in my house tonight. Tomorrow is more seasonal fare with venison stew for supper.

Whew!

That was quite the barrage of reviews and interviews, wasn't it? I've read a lot lately, as you can see. And there's more reading to be done. I have a stack of magazines about two feet tall to catch up on, and at least three books on my bedside table to polish off.

There will be no book review next week, but there will be at least one each week, after that, through the month of December.

This weekend is looking to be a little bit busy. We are expecting our first major snowstorm tomorrow, here in Minnesota. So, we'll be shoveling, and baking, signing Christmas cards and trying to stay warm. Hot Chocolate and red nosed kids, here we come!

Maybe if it looks like Christmas outside, it'll feel a little more like Christmas inside?

Book Review - Voice of the Angels Cookbook-Talk To Your Food!-Intuitive Cooking by Dyan Garris

Voice of the Angels Cookbook-Talk To Your Food!-Intuitive Cooking
Dyan Garris
Journeymakers, Inc.
ISBN # 978-0977614028






This past summer, my son asked for scrambled eggs for lunch. Simple, easy and quick - I'm all over that when cooking for a five year old. He helped scramble the eggs, and he sat on my hip while I fried them. When he was done eating, I heard him say "DELICIOUS!" - then he looked at me and asked, "Did you put two teaspoons of fresh ground love in my eggs?"

That's what cooking is all about and Dyan Garris has perfectly illustrated it in Voice of the Angels Cookbook. This book is visually beautiful, with over 100 easy to follow recipes, and the pages are peppered with commentary about love, relationships and food.

Oh! and be sure to read the story about Johnny and Susie at the end of the book!
(August 22, 2007, pp 157, $19.95)

Working from home...

Multi-tasking is something I'm usually good at. Apparently, usually isn't today.

I put together some homemade Spaghetti sauce and left it to simmer on the stove. I then proceeded to sit down at the computer - at the other end of the house - and begin working on a query letter. I became so engrossed that I forgot about the sauce, until I started to smell something faintly reminiscent of burning tomato sauce.

Yep, I burned the sauce. Luckily, I knew better than to stir it. I grabbed another pan, carefully poured the sauce into it, and put the pan with the burned on gook in the bottom into my sink and filled it with hot-hot-hot water.

Sauce is now simmering on LOW, and I didn't ruin my copper bottom pan.

Note to self, pay more attention to the tasks you're multi-ing.

Cooking and Writing

Over there on the left, under the heading "Writer Resources" is a link to Crockpot Recipes. My Crockpot is my saving grace some days. I thought I'd share the link to the page with my recipes, because I'm sure some of you, like me, are busy work at home moms, and sometimes, a new recipe that doesn't require much time is just what the doctor ordered.

The page is kind of blah right now, but I'll be sprucing it up and adding more recipes over the next few weeks. Feel free to add or subtract ingredients to your taste. Recipes are not directions, only guidelines.

Freelance writer office tools.

About a year ago, my all-in-one printer died. This may not seem like a big deal, but it frustrated me to no end. I replaced it as soon as I could. It prompted me to think of the things I need to make my office - and my life - run smoothly as a work-at-home mom writer.

Leaving out the obvious things (like paper, pens and pencils) there are a few items that make life so much easier for me.

For the work-at-home mom convenience items:

• Crock pot - I can start dinner at 8 a.m. and not have to think about it all day. Of course, I become terribly hungry when the aroma of Guinness Pot Roast begins wafting through the house.


• Electric Roaster - Same effect as the Crock pot, but cooks larger items like turkey or ham.


• 12 Cup Coffee Maker - I bet you can guess why.


• DVD Player - When the work just has to be done by deadline, a new movie the littlest one hasn't seen before allows for at least an hour and a half of quiet. (I am NOT advocating TV as a babysitter.)

For the work-at-home writer:

• All-in-One Printer - Fax/Scanner/Copier/Printer


• Electric Pencil Sharpener


• Three Hole Paper Punch


• Tape Dispenser


• Cordless Phone


• Headset - Preferably one for the phone and one for the computer


• Unlimited Long Distance Calling


• Voicemail


• Broadband Internet Connection


• Microsoft Office Software


• Day planner/Scheduler
  

The one thing I don't ever want to go without again is The Pharos Traveler 525e. Yes, it's spendy. Yes, it's probably trendy, too. I don't care, because it comes with Windows Media Player, Microsoft Pocket Excel, Microsoft Pocket Outlook, Microsoft Pocket Word, Microsoft Pocket Internet Explorer - all the programs a writer could ever need. And I can connect to the Internet anywhere there is an unsecured wireless connection. It's also a great way for me to keep notes in one place. My scraps of paper have a way of disappearing. I call it my "office in my purse".