Sin

I committed a mortal sin tonight.

I couldn't be more disappointed in myself.

I don't even know if I can say it I....I....I.....I ruined RAINY LAKE WALLEYE!

I have a very limited supply of Rainy Lake Walleye, which is much better than any other type of walleye, and tonight I ruined (actually a better description might be burned to a crisp)two beautiful, flavorful, and delicious fillets.

It is a sad, sad night!


Yes this is a picture of my pan ouside on the front step.

Thank You PW

Dear Pioneer Woman,

Thank you for saving me in all my cooking adventures. Thank you for making cooking not quite as painful as it used to be. Thank you for having meals that I can feed to Mitch and his dad after they spend 12 solid hours working on my house. Thank you for making them happy, because they make me happy with new lights and new walls and new plumbing, and and new closet, and new floors, and....

Thank you for making it easy to entertain friends. Thank you for making your recipes so easy to follow and delicious that Mitch gets text messageS (yes plural) asking if I will be cooking for the superbowl party.

Thank you for Ranch Style Chicken

Thank you for Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Thingies

Thank you for Onion Strings

Thank you for Marlboro Man Sandwiches.

Thank you for Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Love,
Rachel

P.S. Mitch thanks you as well.

First Cheescake

I have officially made it into the adult world. I didn't just show up for a family holiday and expect all the work to be done without me ever lifting a finger, this year I was given a job and my job was desserts. One of the greatest things about being in charge of desserts is you get to make the desserts that are your favorites, oh that and being able to lick the bowls while you are making them too. So I decided that this Thanksgiving was going to be all about the cheesecake. I made two cheesecakes the first one was this little beauty, The Cranberry Cheesecake.


It was great and really it wasn't as difficult as I assumed Cheesecakes were.

The second cheesecake was a Pioneer Woman recipe. In my family it is a tradition that every year we use the same table cloth and after we are done eating dinner we pass around a sharpie marker and everyone needs to write on the table cloth what they are Thankful for that year. I think Mitch's thankful message speaks to the quality of this recipe he wrote "I am thankful for the Pioneer Woman."

Rachel Cooks?

I am typically not a huge fan of cooking, it takes a lot of thinking to plan out what you are going to make, lots of time to get all the ingredients you need at the grocery store, the recipes are all really hard to follow, it makes a big mess in your kitchen, and then it is all gone in 10 minutes. All that being said I am surprising myself even when I say this, I had a lot of fun cooking dinner tonight.

I have become a huge fan of "The Pioneer Woman." She is a mom, photographer, blogger, and most importantly for Mitch's stomach tonight a chef. On her blog not only does she have hilarious stories about how she went from being a New York girl to a cowboy loving ranch girl, but she has recipes wih step by step directions layer out with a picture every step of the way. Each pictures reassures my doubting self that I am headed down the right path and the witty captions keep me giggling.

I made the Pan Fried Pork Chops and the jury's (aka Mitch's) reaction...."You could make this every night and I would die a happy man"."

SUCCESS!