Old Ingredients, New Dishes

Ever look into your pantry or fridge and just sigh? You're faced with the same boring ingredients day after day , year after year? Do you feel like you're boxed into making the same dishes?Then revamp your cooking. Use the same old stuff but in a different dish? You'd be surprised at what you can come up with.

Rice and cornmeal can be pretty boring. They do make a great aides for dishes like gumbo and the latter for chicken cacciatore. However they are also wonderful at the bottom of a chili bowl. Their creamy blandness is the perfect foil for any chili's fieriness and chunky texture.Pasta too is great with traditional sauces but you can also use it to make a zesty low mein or even fried into Chinese birds nests to house creations like Szechuan beef or curried chicken. Veggies , usually reserved for salads and sides can make wonderful grilled kabobs . Try onion peppers and grape tomatoes for a fun and new hors d"oeuvre.

Sweets also can turn run of the mill. Those Lorna Doone and Social Tea cookies can be used instead of Nilla wafers for ice box puddings.Even the wafers, especially the new multicolored ones, are a neat for layering in a trifle or individual parfaits. Take a plain chocolate bar. Scrape it along a hasp and then add it to softened plain vanilla ice cream to create stratichella, Italian chocolate chip ice cream. You can also add it to puddings for some extra crunch. That ho hum fruit bowl can be made into a dozen different things to help you come up with fun snacks and desserts.

Boring ingredients don;t have to be boring. Think outside the cookbook for once and try your own hand at creating novel dishes. it;s a fun way to approach the ordinary!

Summer Birthday Parties

There's nothing like a festive birthday meal or party. The problem is having the celebration in the summer can be too much. After all, there's the main mel and nibblings to whip up, Then there;s the cake. Yet no one feels like doing any cooking and baking when it's sweltering outside. What to do ? Keep it light. Go easy on the prepping and the foods for a still memorable party.

You may want to start off with no fuss appetizers. I like bruschetta. It's easy to make and the only hard labor is toasting the bread. From there you can add either just tomatoes or a veggie mix. You can also grill up some kabobs for fun appetizers too. Actually put the meat and veggies on longer skewers n you can serve them as the whole meal Another fun idea are make your own tacos. Just grill some chicken and or steak strips and let guests add their own stuffings.

The birthday cake is the main reason to celebrate.Yet it's just too darned hot to bake. Go for the classic ice cream cake. Baskin Robbins and Friendly's have fully decorated ones that are just as pretty as what a bakery creates. For another spin buy a pound cake , cut into slices and grill the slices until toasted. Serve with vanilla ice cream and fresh fruit for an alternative to the traditional cake.

Summer birthday parties can be full of good food and treats just as birthdays in other seasons can. The trick is to keep the fare light and fun. Sort of like a summer celebration itself!!!