A broke woman's blog.

Tuesday we had our knife skills test. I was nervous as I don't know what. Before we went to the lab we sat in class for lecture. I love the class but I hate lectures. I feel like a kid in class. I can't be still! But anyway, Chef D. split us up into three groups. He gave us one hour to complete our 10 cuts. Everybody was trying to get their things together in my group. In class, I had decided what order I was going to do my cuts in. Carrots I don't like to cut them ugh. They were first on my list.

For some reason my back started to hurt like I was having spasms. I got really nervous and I started to mess up. I forgot some things that I needed to cut. All I kept saying to myself was to be calm. That didn't work at all. I guess I felt out of place because my lab partner was not in my group. J and I always work side by side. We've been partners since the beginning of the semester.

We all tried to finish our test in the hour. I finished mine with about 10 minutes to spare and I tried to weed out the messed up cuts and fix them. I did good I guess. I made a 92 so yes that was good. I just need to focus more. After we finished, Chef D showed us how to cut up a chicken. He told everybody to get a chicken and go to work. Boy was I happy because J and I worked by each other. We have so much fun together.

My poor chicken......they made fun of it because it's legs were crossed. I told them that's what ladies do while they are sitting down! I had to put her down and cut her. I loved that chicken! After we cut them up we got the breast and cooked. Everybody cooked what they wanted. There was some good looking food up in there we did. The presentations were marvelous of the ones I saw. I cooked for J and I.

So here is what I did. I fried chicken breast and potatoes. Yes I will share with you.

Potatoes small dice 1/4 inch cubed
Onions (small dice)
Parsley
Seasoning

1. Put onions and potatoes in hot oil. Season them and put in parsley.
2. Cook them to your liking.
3. Once done plate them!

Chicken breast
Onions (Julienne)
Chopped parsley
Flour
Seasoning


1. Wash chicken and season it up the way you want it.
2. Sprinkle flour over the chicken lightly.
3. Once oil is heated in pan, put chicken in and let it fry.
4. It should take no more than 5 minutes to fry a thin piece of chicken breast.
5. While your chicken is frying, put some onions in there and let them sautee.
6. Once chicken is done, plate it, place the sauteed onions on top going the same direction and sprinkle some parsley on top. Just enough to give it some color.

Source: Bree

Hellur, this is my other homemade pizza I promised. This is made with a fool proof crust that you CAN'T mess up. If you do then hang up your apron! I always wanted to make my crust homemade and I found a site that had a recipe for homemade crust for dummies like me........well not dummies but those of us who um, try but don't succeed well in homemade dough or crust. Well here it is like a promised.


Crust

2 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder
2/3 c. water


Toppings

1 onion
1 bell pepper
Hamburger meat (browned)
Cajun turkey
Mesquite turkey
Canadian bacon
Shredded cheese
2 tablespoons of butter
Garlic salt or powder
Tomato sauce


1. Mix flour, salt, baking powder and water.
2. Knead on floured counter just until workable and spreadable, about 2 minutes.
3. Roll out your dough, put it in a pan and spread it out evenly. I used a 15x9 cookie sheet.
4. Melt butter and put garlic salt or powder in it to taste. Spread over your crust. If more is needed add it.
5. Cut up onions and bell peppers finely.
6. Cover crust with tomato sauce then layer it with meat, onions, and cheese.
7. Pop it in the oven on 425 for 20 minutes.
8. Let cool for about 10 minutes.
9. Now you can eat!


Source: Cooks.com (crust) and Bree

Okay, here is one of my family’s favorite deserts! We had a potluck at my job about 10 years ago (gosh that makes me sound old). One of my co-workers made this desert and I have never forgotten about it. The first time I made it my mouth watered. It seems like the more I make it the better it gets. I made this for Christmas and it was just delicious. Well here goes the recipe.

Crust
2 cups of flour
2 sticks of butter or 1 cup
1 cup of nuts (optional)

Filling
Powdered sugar
1 8oz. of whip cream
1 8oz. of cream cheese
Strawberry filling or glaze
Strawberries

13x9 pan

1. In a large bowl pour flour and butter and mix it together. It should be kind of crumbly or like dough.
2. Press in a 13x9 pan evenly on bottom. Press nuts in there if you want them.
3. Bake in oven on 350 for 30 minutes.
4. In a large bowl mix whip cream and cream cheese thoroughly.
5. Add some powdered sugar about ½ cup and mix with mixer.
6. Stir in strawberry filling or glaze to get it some color but not a lot.
7. Taste the mixture to see if it’s sweet enough. You don’t want it too sweet.
8. When crust is done let it cool off for about 10 minutes.
9. Pour mixture on top of crust and spread it out.
10. Cut strawberries vertically but not through the top so you can make them like a fan.
11. You can put the strawberries on there anyway you like.
12. Put in fridge and let it chill for two hours. Or if you really want to eat it put it in the freezer for 45 minutes to an hour or until chilled.
13. Now you can eat it!

Source: W.N.