Kitchen empowerment

It is quite empowering to be able to make the things I normally buy from the store. J and I have recently gotten into making a lot of the food we normally purchase. Doing so helps me: 1) de-mystify a lot of the stuff we use on a regular basis, 2) see what I am putting into me, and 3) given me more control over my life (I know, to a fair degree, what I am putting in to my body).

Baking had always seemed magical to me- but I found out how easy it is to bake. You just follow a recipe. Chinese people do not make baked goods much. We "bake" things like salt-baked chicken, roasted duck, and the such. With bready type products, which is more typically a northern Chinese thing, we steam cook it. It makes for super moist breads with a lovely shiny skin- very very pretty. So we have gotten into making mini muffins (those were the only muffin trays we had in the house), pizzas (we just got a pizza stone for Christmas and are L-O-V-I-N-G it), breads (with the bread maker), and cakes.

Another thing we have been making (every week, in fact) is our own fat-free yogurt. We started off with a recipe from the internet but by know I know it by heart. I got the idea to do my own yogurt from my dear friend who keeps a blog on food, decorations, and other stylish things. (TIP: I use a cooler, a hot water bottle, and some towels to keep the containers of yogurt mixture at a steady temperature for about 7 hours, plus or minus an hour or two). It is pretty easy to follow a recipe.

Last night, J made matzah ball soup. We already had a turkey based broth made (compliments of Turkey day leftovers). He found a good recipe that used canola oil instead of schmaltz. YUMMY! When I complimented J on the delicious matzah ball soup (I actually gave him a big ol' hug and said, "You're awesome!") he simply said, "Well, it's pretty easy to follow a recipe."

So the theme for kitchen empowerment is really quite simple- just follow the recipe. You too can do it, especially with the help of the internet. Or if you can't get access to the internet, you can go to a library or bookstore with some index cards. I'd love to hear your empowerment stories too. It doesn't have to be from the kitchen.