Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Cooking 101.

Long ago in a galaxy far, far away I loved to cook.  I love cook books, I read'em like novels but I seldom make anything out of them beyond my tried and true recipes.  Since the advent of fussy children turning up their noses at mealtimes, I kind of lost my mojo.

He's still cute.
Enter Jamie Oliver. (I wish he would enter my house.)  I love watching him on the food network.  I especially love the British shows: the ones on school lunches- That had a far reaching effect.  Once Jamie started on the rampage all the junk food was removed from the schools here.  I also like the Food Revolution.  He tried to get a whole English town to cook.  He is so earnest, as one of my commenters said.

Daughter #1 gave us the above cookbook a couple of years ago.  All I managed to make out of it was Spaghetti Bolognese and I must say it hit the spot.  My husband dug this cookbook out a couple of weeks ago and we have been endeavouring to liven up our veggies Jamie style.

We tried broccoli with Asian dressing and it was good.





I made a leek and potato soup that was lovely.




We were doing so well and then Mr LC decided to try Jamie's Light and Fluffy rice.  EPIC FAIL!!!!  I think the cooking times were off in the recipe because it sure tasted raw to us.




Undaunted, we decided to go for the Buttered Spinach.

Delicious!  We had a do over because it was so good.  I cooked the broccoli and spinach for the same meal and Mr LC said ' Perfect.  Now all we need is a slab of steak to go with this.'  FAIL Mr LC! FAIL!

p.s. Do you think that Julie and Julia idea would work in this case???  Probably not.  I'd have to change my name to Olive.

All photos are from Jamie Oliver.com.

14 comments:

the gardener's cottage said...

i do like the name olive. or olivia is cute too. oh and i wish jamie would walk through my door too.

i remember when i was deep into my catering years and our meals were quite spectacular b/c of leftovers from jobs etc., one of my sons sat down at the table and asked, "what's this crap?" true story.

Unknown said...

Hi Olive,

I have leeks growing in my garden for the first time. Ever. Is leek and potato soup difficult to make?

Enjoy your cookbooks. By the way, you wouldn't happen to have a copy of Passionate Foods by Ishmael Merchant, by chance? It's been out of circulation at the library for years, much to my dismay.

Happy Cooking,
Your number 1 Fan.

Anonymous said...

GO FOR IT! Olive is totally cute and maybe if he hears you're doing it...he would come to your house for a special blog post appearance. Dream big girl! :)

Makeminemidcentury said...

I might look into that Food Revolution book. It looks good.

The dinners you're cooking sound delicious. I wonder what happened to the rice?

Linda @ Itsy Bits And Pieces said...

Looks like a good cookbook...I'll follow more of Olive's adventures in cooking lol!

annie said...

I'm with Mr LC on the steak. How good would those greens be with a big hunk bear meat. He can be hunter and you, Olivia, the gatherer.

Blighty said...

I am so with you on losing the cooking mojo due to fussy children..what you cooked from Jamie looks scrummy but I do think sometimes his recipes are bit off on the old cooking times; here I think we are suffering from Jamie over exposure..i saw Julie and Julia a while ago and thought it was a lovely film, old Meryl was good. xx

Anke said...

I adore Jamie Oliver and love how he is trying to get people back in the kitchen and away from junk food. I also know what you mean about losing your cooking mojo due to picky eaters. It used to be so much fun trying out different recipes, now it can be somewhat daunting.

Deb said...

Annie, I think bear meat would taste like garbage. Literally!
MMMC, Mr LC cooked the rice, that's all I'm saying.
Janet, Blighty, KIDS!
Sarah, You're so sweet.

Thanks everyone!

the domestic fringe said...

As long as you're not Olive Oil, I think it would work!

My husband actually likes beat meat. He's trying to convince me that I'll LOVE it. Epic Fail!!! ;-)
~FringeGirl

Anonymous said...

I think the Julia idea sounds fun, and you would have something to say (re your last post, nothing to say) until the recipes run out, he he.I love the name Olive too.xx I am commenting as annon as I cant seem to comment in google. xx Katherine theoldboathouse

Leslie said...

You've been a busy girl! I love to cook and would love to take a cooking class.. I have thought about hiring a chef to come here and teach my husband ~ he would love that!! Maybe for Father's day.
Happy Cooking.

Becky said...

I agree ... change your name to Olive and start a new blog. He'll love it! You have done an amazing job of going all veggie and no meat. I can't believe your Mr LC is going for it too. My Butler says, "If something hasn't died I haven't eaten." Thus, his meat on the side.

Anna Bartlett said...

I love watching anyone cook food for me to eat. I can see you should have a cooking show as your alter ego, Olive. Like "My Drunk Kitchen" but with more things broken. My dinner cooking mojo is heading out the window as we speak. Who are these hoardes who say they are hungry when obviously they jest? And what do the fabulous Mr O's kids eat????