Author: Julz

We made omelets this morning. I made mine first trying to get it as perfect as I could. Then I watched Marty make his. As I was watching him while I was eating, I started thinking about this blog post.

Now I know when some people read this, they are going to say, ”Oh my goodness, I never thought of that!” or “It makes so much sense!”  Other people are going to read this and say, “No shit Sherlock.”

I’m referring to the situation when you have a pan on the stove and things start cooking too quickly or brown too fast and burn. Garlic is a perfect example of this, it only takes a few seconds until it becomes fragrant, and is done. Taking it anything further than light, golden brown makes the garlic become bitter ruining your dish.

I like my scrambled eggs and omelets the French cooking method with absolutely no brown on them. The smell and the thought of a browned omelet or scrambled eggs make me sick. I can’t tell you how many eggs I threw out in a fit of frustration because they cooked too quickly.  

I am not a food snob, but I like what I like.  I never order scrambled eggs or omelets out unless the menu says explicitly French style eggs, which is rare, by the way. 

The French omelet vs an American omelet requires its own blog post. There is so much to talk about, but here is a quick photo for a quick visual to demonstrate what the hell I am talking about. 

“I hate my electric stove,” so many people say. You can’t control the heat and I burn everything.

If any of this sounds familiar to you then I’ve got solution that is so simple but life-changing.

When you have a pot or pan on the stove whether it’s a gas range or electric and you see whatever is in the pan is cooking too quickly, you simply move or slide the pan off the burner. It takes the pan off the heat immediately, then you don’t have to worry about residual heat from your electric range or gas burners. 

So simple it’s stupid right? The next time you’re watching your favorite cooking shows see if you can catch them doing this. I started noticing the chefs on Top chef moving their pans on and off the heat. I also watched my chef friend Martin do this as well. I tried it myself and was like, damn, how come no one tells you to do this? 

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Gordon Ramsay screams at the poor MasterChef competitors, “Take the pan off the heat for bloody hell! Oh my God!”  Then he starts rubbing his eyes right out of his head in complete frustration. The frazzled looking contestant looks at him like, “Duh, how can I be so stupid.” Heard chef!

There isn’t much out there on the internet telling home cooks about this little trick. Why not? That’s why I am telling you. 

I bring up Gordon Ramsey again because in his recipe and video for perfect scrambled eggs, Chef Ramsey uses this on and off the heat technique. We do too!  Look it up on youtube and try making his eggs. They are delicious, so are chef Wiley DuFresne’s!

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A lot of recipes instruct to remove the pan from the heat. Most cooks just turn off the burner.  They told you to remove it for a reason! So it doesn’t continue to cook from residual heat. 

I can think of dozens of examples of when you should slide your pan off the burner even if it doesn’t tell you to in a recipe. 

For example, when you are adding a liquid or tomato sauce to a saute pan with let’s say olive oil, onions, and garlic and it starts boiling and splattering immediately.  Move the pan from the heat, lower the burner and replace the pan. 

If a pan starts getting too hot when you are making chicken cutlets, you don’t want the breadcrumb that are left in the pan to burn. Take it off the heat for a few seconds, and check your temperature. If there are some very dark breadcrumbs left in the pan, wipe them out and add more oil for your next batch. If you don’t your cutlets will taste bitter. 

You lift the lid of a pot or saute pan and didn’t realize things are just starting to overcook. Get it off the heat for a few seconds.  This happens with rice very often.  Scored rice is not crispy rice, it’s burned.

Making custard is tricky, but not when you move the pot on and off the heat.   Most recipes will tell you to remove your pot from heat when you are tempering your eggs before adding them to the hot milk and sugar.  If you don’t you will end up with scrambled eggs. In the same recipe, they don’t tell you to move the pan on and off the heat while the custard is thickening, this is why so many custards end up being scorched. So annoying to go to all that trouble and have the custard scorch at the end. 

So take it off for bloody hell! Who knew that just a small kitchen secret can save thousands of ruined meals, and why the hell is no one else talking about it?

Ever wonder how restaurants get all the food from different orders out at the same time? It’s even more impressive if everything that is supposed to be piping hot actually is and cold items are nice and cold.

The same can be true at home. Pulling off that feat at a dinner party with 8 guests is remarkable. Or is it?

The host or hostess that can pull off a 4 or 5-course dinner party without a hitch has practiced a lot. They have learned to be a conductor in their kitchen and the dishes they are preparing are the orchestra.

“Conductors act as guides to the orchestras they conduct. They choose the works to be performed and study their scores, to which they make certain adjustments such as tempo, articulation, phrasing, repetitions of sections.” Wikipedia

The definition of a conductor above can be translated as a perfect example of a kitchen conductor.

Conductors act as guides to the orchestra they conduct…You are the cook and the dishes you are preparing for your dinner party is the orchestra.

They choose the works to be performed…What is the menu? Which dishes will you be serving at your dinner party?

Study their scores…the scores are the recipes you have chosen for your menu.

To which they make certain adjustments such as tempo, articulation, phrasing…making a cooking plan including how long will everything take to prepare, prepping, choosing your cooking methods, deciding what order you need to cook your menu items.

After you invite guests to dinner is when you need to decide on your menu. Things to take into consideration when planning a menu. How much time will you have on the day of the dinner? Do any guests have food allergies? Will you be cooking and eating outside or inside? What type of meal would you like to prepare. Do you want to use seasonal ingredients? What dishes can be finished and kept warm while the rest of the dishes are being prepared? Again, this goes for those weeknight dinners as well.

When choosing what type of meal you would like to make stick to something you know. If you are brand new at this food timing thing you definitely should listen to this advice. For example, you know you make a great pot roast or roasted chicken. Then serve it! If you want to experiment with a salad or side dish fine. Trying out an entire menu of items you have never prepared before is only asking for disaster. Nothing is worse than a flustered cook and a meal that is served where some of the things are soggy and cold. Not taking into account the cooking times can delay your meal, you don’t really want to begin serving your meal at 10 pm.

Let’s say you will be making your tried and true roasted whole chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy, a salad you haven’t made before, a familiar veggie, and a dessert you have made 100 times.

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You already know how long the chicken will take from the time it comes out of the refrigerator until it is done and resting under foil staying warm then carved. Your mashed potatoes you can be made ahead a day or two before and then just reheated. You can also have your potatoes cut up in a pot of cold salted water the day before and ready to be boiled and mashed the night of the dinner.

To keep things warm if you are not using your oven, cover with foil or a lid and put in a 180-200 degree oven. If you are using your oven and you have a warming drawer you can put your covered finished dishes in there. What is a warming drawer? You know that drawer on some stoves below the oven? It’s not meant to store all your pots and baking sheet pans. It is meant to keep your food warm. Now you know, you are welcome! Lol

You can decide how proficient you are at making your gravy. If making sauces and gravies on the fly isn’t your thing, you can make a chicken veloute beforehand and just reheat adding a bit of your cooking juices from the chicken that is resting.

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The new salad you want to try believe it or not can be prepped a day before. You can wash your greens, dry them well, and put them in a ziplock bag in the fridge. You can also make your salad dressing. This is good to do beforehand just in case you don’t like the recipe. You have a chance to change it if necessary. After you are happy with your dressing, put it in a mason jar next to the greens in the fridge. You can cut the rest of your salad components the day of the dinner so they don’t get mushy or turn brown. Assembly will be quick and you won’t feel rushed with one of the first dishes being served.

Any vegetable you want to serve you should think about the cooking method. How long will it take to prepare? How much can be prepped ahead? If it needs to be roasted will your oven be tied up with the main dish or can you throw it in after the main comes out and is resting? If it’s sautéed will you have enough burners if everything is being made on the stovetop?

The dessert you chose should be something easy to pull off. You don’t want your guests or family to have to wait an hour or two while you are in the kitchen making a custard or baking. Have your dessert done, ready to be assembled at serving time. This again takes the pressure off so you can clear the table of dinner dishes and get set for dessert. If you know you are serving coffee, have everything ready in your coffee maker so you just have to press start.

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The actual conducting of the orchestra happens during the performance or in your case your meal. It is keeping your eye on the clock. Setting 10 timers if you need to so you don’t forget about something. Keeping an eye on everything and remembering, like the musical conductor you are performing in front of others. A cook performing with ease makes for a great evening.

A lot of things like setting the table, picking out wine or drinks, and having them chilled should be done before you begin cooking. Again, this will take the pressure off so you can focus on your meal and not worry about those types of things upon the guests’ arrival. Appointing someone to be in charge of the drinks is a perfect way to involve your guests while you are cooking.

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I don’t care how good a cook or chef you are, to pull off a great meal or menu you have to plan ahead to get your food timing right. Biting off more than you can chew is stressful. Spending the evening worrying about how everything will come out takes the enjoyment out of the evening not only for the cook but for the guests as well.

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Cooking and getting all your food ready to be served at the same time takes practice. A lot of practice. This doesn’t mean you have to host a ton of dinner parties to practice, you can practice with your weeknight dinners. The more you do it the better you get. The better you get the more confident you will feel. The more confident you become, the better time you will have with your guests.

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Hopefully, you will be able to use some of these tips and tricks to be able to conduct your orchestra and pull off a truly remarkable performance.

We all know that one shopper that we encounter at the grocery store. If You don’t know which one I’m talking about, unfortunately, you may be that one shopper.  I doubt it though. 

Since I’ve been home playing it safe with my autoimmune issues during this pandemic, I basically go out one day a week, and I look forward to it. My big excursion is belly dancing with Kathleen, then hitting the grocery store and maybe CVS.

Grocery shopping is serious business.  I either have a list that I am following strictly, or I am trying to plan the week’s lunch and dinner meals in my head with what I find.  Then along comes that one shopper.

I decided to go to the grocery store before belly dance, it could be snowing when I got out at noon. I absolutely hate driving in the snow. I had a very specific list to follow since I was just filling in the blanks for this week’s meals. I wanted to be in and out so I wasn’t running late to dance.  Luck as I would have it encountered not one of those shoppers, but two and a half. 

Patience is not one of my strong points. I know this. Everyone knows this. However, I am much more patient in my 50’s than I was in my 20’s or 30’s. 

The shopper that I am talking about isn’t the ones who walk into the store with their grocery carts and just stop. This annoys me, but I move past them quickly. 

It is not the ones that block up the aisles with their grocery carts parked next to each other to have a lengthy discussion. 

The one I am talking about is the one you can’t lose. No matter how hard you try to shake them, they are right there, up my ass or slowing me down. They are always dilly-dallying in front of the exact item I need on my list. I try skipping an aisle, and boom, there they are again! This goes on for the whole shopping trip. I honestly don’t know how they do it. 

How can one person be so damn annoying and have no clue that they are?

Today my second annoying person made the choice to not take a grocery cart.  She had a reusable bag with her and probably was only going to pick up a few things. Fair enough I do that often. 

What I don’t do is fill the sucker to the top.  The woman’s bag was so heavy she needed to put it down every 20 feet, in the middle of the aisle!  This made running away from the first person tricky since I had to bob and weave through the store around that damn heavy bag! 

Honestly, I was about to have a total meltdown at one point!  Don’t these people know there was a pandemic going on?  Shop quickly!  Get your shit and get out! 

Ok, so I pay for my stuff and take my groceries bagless thrown in my cart out to my vehicle. I find I don’t get frustrated bagging my groceries in my own bags, at my vehicle away from everyone.  This is true in any weather, long before the pandemic. 

Whenever I park anywhere, I park out in left field, away from everyone.  I hate driving in the first place, so juggling around looking for a parking place is the last thing I want to do.  The exercise is good for me too. 

I come out of the store and there is a car parked so close to my driver’s side door that I needed a fucking can opener to get in!  Why? I will tell you why.  These are the people who have the whole beach or movie theater and sit right in front of you, blocking your view.  You know what I am talking about.  Am I right or what?

Not the shopping experience I was hoping for.  As a matter of fact, I had a different blog post in my head before I left the house, but this one started writing itself before I even got to dance practice. 

It’s January 31, and I felt it start to set in last week. Here in Vermont we got what seems like constant snow every day with very little sunshine.  For the last couple of days the temperature has been between -11 & 18 at best. 

I know I live in the Northeast and have to live with it, but I live here for the other three seasons, especially summer. Besides bitching about snow and sub-zero temperatures, let’s throw in this pandemic just to make matters worse. 

As I am writing this at least the sun is out for change.  The few times it showed itself in the last week I could tell it’s getting warmer as it hits my face and is higher in the sky. This is a beautiful reminder of what’s to come. 

Crazy blue cabin isn’t something I saw in the woods, but three words that sum up January for me.  Stir crazy. Winter blues. Cabin fever. I like how CNN describes cabin fever in an article I found.

“Cabin fever is not like a psychological disorder, so I wouldn’t say there’s any sort of official definition of it,” said Vaile Wright, a psychologist and director of clinical research and quality at the American Psychological Association.

“It may not be a real condition, but the feelings it’s associated with are.”

“It involves a range of negative emotions and distress related to restricted movement: irritability, boredom, some hopelessness and even, behaviorally, restlessness and difficulty concentrating. Those would be the constellation of symptoms one might expect if they were feeling that way.” CNN

I think the above describes winter blues and stir crazy as well.  Right?

So what am I going to do besides bitch about it?  I am writing!  Yay!  This is so therapeutic for me. My mind has been thinking of topics to write about.  Things that people may give a shit about reading.  Great advice from Jon my writing mentor & coach. ☺️

This winter, I am working out, something I haven’t done for seven years.  I am in our home gym six days a week. The hardest part of working out for me is walking from our house to our barn, where the gym is.   I have to put on boots, go out and turn on the heat. Now I have to wait for twenty minutes for it to be warm enough so I don’t injure myself.  Once I get going and warm up I love every second out there.

So how does the towel fit into this story?  Yesterday on Instagram, I saw a video clip of someone performing the Japanese towel routine.  I refuse to get sucked in by watching those TikTok videos. I have enough social media and entertainment already, I don’t need to see what more stir-crazy people are doing. Lol

I started to do some research on this Japanese towel routine now called an exercise. Over 10 years ago, a Japanese physician named Toshiki Fukutsudzi developed a unique method to help realign the pelvis and help with back issues. It just so happens to get the body in shape. The method claims to help eliminate belly fat, improve posture and strengthen back pain, only by using a towel. Ok.

When I had a shit-fit temper tantrum back in October, not being able to belly dance is when I got back into the gym. My goal was to get back into shape. Not lose weight, just get my strength back. I noticed I was starting to lose some of my defined muscles that I worked so hard on for years.  I wasn’t getting any younger and knew the longer I waited the harder it would be.

I felt better instantly.  I had more energy.  I started drinking more water because my body craved it. I realized I was walking around in a constant state of dehydration. I was tired, got a headache almost every day, and severe leg cramps during the night. I was only drinking coffee, wine, or cocktails with a few sips of water here and there.  I know it was bad!

What came next was my desire to make better food choices. I wanted to eat more protein and cut out unnecessary carbs during the day.  I was not following a keto diet or even a low carb diet since this wasn’t about losing weight.  I really started noticing a difference in my body after two months. Was this really possible? 

Seven years ago I found out I had insanely high blood pressure. It was a shock and came out of nowhere. Being adopted at that point I didn’t know any of my family histories or if high blood pressure ran in my family. It took my cardiologist months to find the right medication to work. It took a toll on my body trying prescription after prescription, nine to be exact making me sick with each of them. I have later found out that my biological father Tom died of a heart attack the day after his 50th birthday. High blood pressure and heart disease run on that side of my family tree.

At the same time, I went through and finished up menopause. Great timing. I knew I was done, blood work showed I basically had zero estrogens left.  Even though I didn’t want any more children, I grieved.  It was great in one respect, but sad in another one because I was getting older.

Then guess what happened at exactly the same time? My adopted mother had a major stroke.  I found her in her apartment after not being able to reach her for a day. This was definitely not good for my blood pressure that we hadn’t figured out yet.

Long story short, I had to find a care facility since she was paralyzed on the left side. I had to take care of all her financials and make all the decisions since I was her power of attorney. I had to get rid of all of her belongings and close up her apartment. I went to the nursing home 7 days a week out of guilt, obligation & manipulation.  It was awful and sad. It still is.

I said that I was going to be honest and authentic with you, and this is hard to admit. I hated the way I let these situations get the best of me. I played the victim using those situations to blame how unhappy I was with my new ugly body. I was ashamed of how I looked and actually felt sick every time I looked in the mirror. Photos made me sick as well.  I never felt this way before.

Here I was a belly dancer now mortified to perform and felt like a hypocrite teaching body image and empowerment to my students. I have always been a confident person, so feeling this way about my body was mentally crippling.  I guess I began to wear black all the time trying to cover myself up. I never wanted to try to exercise or diet because I was afraid what if they didn’t work? What if this was the way I was going to look for the rest of my life?

The last night I danced with my students back in early October, during a set that we were dancing instead of me teaching, I said out loud when looking in the mirror, “Wow, I don’t look that disgusting from way back here; maybe I didn’t make the audience sick.”  My student and friend Maria scolded me, “Julz stop that right now!” I am smiling as I remember how angry I made Maria who bravely wrote about body image on her blog when she started belly dancing with us almost four years ago. Her blog is Fullmoonfiberart.com, I still don’t know who to install a link into my blog.

That brings me back to yesterday and the Japanese towel exercise. Although I am seeing major improvement in my midsection, besides Marty, no one else has noticed. I know it’s winter, but no one. Nada. If only someone threw me one tiny little bone. That’s ok, that’s not why I this started this in the first place. Right Julz? I keep telling myself that I feel better & stronger, and my muscles came back faster than I imagined they would.

For an experiment, I decided to be a guinea pig and see if this towel thing works. From what I read half the people say it does, and the other half say it doesn’t. 

I did the exercise once in the morning and once at night. I was able to hold the uncomfortable position for the recommended 5 minutes. My hands were the only thing that was uncomfortable due to arthritis pain. Overall it was easy. I keep thinking this can not work, but we will see. I am going to give it two weeks maybe a month if I think it is working. I will let you know my progress.

I took a “before” photo this morning.  I am too embarrassed to post it even though my mid-section looks so much better.  I promise I will post it if an after photo shows a change. If it doesn’t work I will continue to do what has been working for my body.

So we all need to get a few minutes of sunshine when the sun is out. A bit of fresh air, drink plenty of water, and know that winter and this damn pandemic won’t last forever. We should just live life like Klausie boy….chillin’ out!

I got a message yesterday morning from one of my former cooking class students. She said she had some hot chili flakes that she wasn’t going to be using and thought of me.  She left them on our front porch. 

Whenever I begin a 6-week class, I like to tell everyone what they can expect.  Each week I try to cover a different theme, cooking style, preparation, or some hacks and kitchen tricks.

The biggest thing I wanted them to get out of the class was to learn to enjoy cooking. To not be stressed out when cooking. I showed them my tricks to make cooking more enjoyable. To not be afraid to try new things. That it was ok to tweak a recipe for your own taste or diet. 

We would prepare and make 4 or 5 dishes each week and everyone sat down to a family-style dinner at the end of class. 

We started off with week one which was braising.  When I got to week 5, ethnic foods I saw the look of fear on the face of MJ one of the students in the class. I continued to tell them about a couple of the dishes, one Indian and one Thai.

I knew MJ before our class, but I didn’t know her well at all. I asked her what was up, she said she didn’t like spicy food. I assured her it didn’t have to be spicy. 

One of the biggest things I like to drill into people’s heads is to season the food as you go and to taste it!  It’s easier to correct the seasoning while making it than to wait until it’s done cooking. 

We had a great time week after week. I really try to teach people different items to cook. Even before class begins I ask everyone what dishes they would like to try making or ones they found intimidating.

Everyone liked all the food we made, and were excited to try to make these recipes for their families. 

When we began week 5, MJ had a very skeptical look on her face even though I  haven’t steered her wrong yet. 

As we went through each recipe I showed everyone that you didn’t have to add as much spice as the recipe calls for.  In most cases, you don’t have to add any at all. 

Now if you are talking about Nashville Hot Chicken….this is not something to make if you don’t like spicy food. You can’t leave the hot out of Nashville hot or Asian Spicy crab because they are supposed to be ass burningly hot!

We were making Indian Butter Chicken & Thai Red Curry Chicken. We also made Coconut Rice as a side dish. 

A lot of people in the class hadn’t tried either of these dishes before, so it was exciting to watch their reactions while they tried them. MJ had that skeptical look on her face again. LOL

Then I asked them what they thought. It wasn’t what many of them were expected. They were better than they thought they would be and thought their families would enjoy them too. 

At the end of the meal, MJ announced that’s she has been nervous for 5 weeks thinking about eating Indian and Thai food. And….she liked them!!  This made the whole class more worthwhile than I was hoping for. 😃

At the end of the 6 weeks, I asked everyone what their favorite dishes were. MJ said her favorite was the Butter Chicken and Coconut Rice! She was as surprised as I was.  She told everyone that she went to the store and bought all the ingredients to make it that week for her wife. She was going to leave the spicy stuff out of her recipe. I was so excited for her. 

Since then I’ve run into MJ and her wife Stephanie at the farmers market right here in our town. When they would stop and get our spätzle MJ would tell me things she has tried making and planned to make. She said she liked cooking now. Hurray!

MJ will comment on some of my Facebook dishes I share and will tell me she made another one of our class dishes.  The best comment ever came from Stephanie who thanked me for turning her wife into a really good cook, who now likes to cook. Success! Mission accomplished! 

Yesterday after I wrote about my food memories I thought about me and that Spicy AF Shrimp Curry…and MJ who still doesn’t like spicy food.  You can have really flavorful ethnic food and it doesn’t have to be spicy! 🌶 

Here are my recipes from class for the dishes mentioned in this blog post. I hope you try making and enjoy them. 

Indian Butter Chicken

6 Tbsp butter

2 lbs boneless/skinless chicken thighs or chicken breasts cut into pieces

1 onion diced

3 cloves garlic minced

1 Tbsp garam masala

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp cumin

½ tsp cayenne pepper (more or less depending on your spice level)

1 14 oz can tomato sauce

1 14 oz can coconut milk stirred

¼ cup heavy cream

Salt & pepper

Lime & cilantro for garnish

Steamed basmati or jasmine rice

Season chicken with salt and pepper. Using 2 Tbsp butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat, brown the pieces of chicken so each side is browned. They do not have to be fully cooked they will finish cooking in the sauce. Work in batches so you don’t overcrowd the pan. Remove from pan and set aside.

Melt another 2 Tbsp butter in the pan over medium heat. Add the onion, and cook until it begins to soften about 3 minutes. Add the garlic, garam masala, ginger, chili powder, cumin, and cayenne. Stir to combine and cook for about 45 seconds stirring constantly not letting it burn before adding the tomato sauce. Add the tomato sauce and stir to combine.

Bring the mixture to a simmer and let cook for 5 minutes. Combine the coconut milk & heavy cream in a measuring cup and add to the tomato sauce all at once. Stir to combine. Bring the sauce back up to a simmer and add the browned chicken. Simmer covered on low heat for 15-20 minutes stirring occasionally. Do not let the sauce boil use low heat.

Stir in remaining 2 Tbsp butter and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with rice and garnished with chopped cilantro and a lime wedge.

Coconut Rice 

1 Tbsp butter

1 onion finely chopped

1 tsp finely chopped fresh ginger

½ tsp curry powder

1 cup jasmine rice

1 14 oz can coconut milk

¼ cup water 

Kosher salt and pepper to taste

½ cup sweetened shredded coconut

In a large saucepan over medium heat melt the butter. Add the onion, ginger, and curry powder. Sauté for 5 minutes or until the onion is soft and translucent. Stir in the rice and cook for 2 minutes. 

Shake the can of coconut milk. Add the coconut milk and water to the rice and stir to combine. Increase heat to high and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer on low for 20 minutes. 

To toast the coconut…While the rice is cooking put the shredded coconut in a dry skillet. Cook on low heat stirring frequently until the coconut is golden brown. You really need to watch the coconut since it can burn very quickly. As soon as it’s toasted, remove it from the pan and set it aside. 

When the rice is done fluff with a fork and season with salt and pepper. Serve in a bowl topped with the toasted coconut. 

Thai Red Curry Chicken

1 Tbsp vegetables canola oil

1 Tbsp Thai red curry paste ( more or less depending on your spice level)

1 13.5 Oz can coconut milk stirred

2 cloves garlic minced

1 tsp fresh ginger finely minced

1 onion cut into crescents 

1 red & 1 green or yellow sweet bell pepper cut into strips

2 carrots sliced thin on a diagonal 

**1 ½ cup of your choice broccoli florets, cauliflower, snap peas, sliced zucchini 

1 lb boneless & skinless chicken breasts sliced into bite size pieces

1 cup chicken broth 

1 Tbsp fish sauce

1-2 Tbsp brown sugar

1 Tbsp soy or tamari sauce

1 Tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice

¼ cup fresh chopped cilantro

In a large skillet over medium heat add the oil and red curry paste stirring for 1 minute. Add ¼ cup coconut milk and mix to combine with the red curry paste.

 Add the onion, bell peppers & carrot to the pan. Stir fry the vegetables in the red curry paste mixture for 2-3 minutes. Add the ginger and garlic. Cook for another minute stirring constantly not letting it burn.  Add the rest of the vegetables, the rest of the coconut milk & the chicken broth. Stir to combine and bring to a simmer.

Add the sliced chicken and stir.  Simmer on low covered for 15-20 minutes stirring occasionally until the chicken is cooked and the vegetables are tender. Uncover and add the fish sauce, brown sugar, soy sauce & lime juice. Stir to combine and simmer uncovered for 5 minutes. Stir in the cilantro. 

Serve with jasmine rice and garnish with additional cilantro and a thinly sliced lime wedge if desired. 

** You can add whatever extra vegetables you like or have on hand

You can replace the chicken with any protein including drained tofu.

Today when we were in our production kitchen making spatzle we were listening to a music playlist. This 30-hour playlist has a mix of old and new music. A song came on from the 1950s, and I was transported to the back seat of my dad’s smoke-filled car when I was a kid.

We all know that music can bring back memories. As a matter of fact, music is used for that very reason in Alzheimer’s patients. 

“Research suggests that listening to or singing songs can provide emotional and behavioral benefits for people with Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia. Musical memories are often preserved in Alzheimer’s disease because key brain areas linked to musical memory are relatively undamaged by the disease.”
From Jonathan Graff-Radford M.D.

For me, music has always been a huge part of my everyday life.  A song can not only bring me back time, but to an exact place and time.

For instance, when I hear the song “Crocodile Rock” by Elton John I know exactly where I was the first time I ever heard it.  I was 7 years old sitting on the front stoop of my Aunt Claire’s house in Elizabeth, NJ. 

I also remember a song called “High Energy” by Evelyn Thomas in 1984. It was the summer I graduated from high school, I was laying on the beach in Seaside, NJ.

I heard this loud song pumping from a gigantic boom box with a bunch of “guidos” walking down the beach.  The one guy had it up on his shoulder, followed by a whole pack of Italian guys. 

I sat up and actually said, “what the fuck is that?” Even though we went out dancing in clubs a lot, this song was different and I liked it. I still like it!

Anytime I hear Bon Jovi I think of two things, selling him and his band who weren’t famous yet high-top sneakers at the sporting goods store I worked in.  The second thing I was sitting at the bar at the Sawmill on Seaside boardwalk with Marty and were told that they have been shooting a video for his song new song “In and out of love” right below us. They were shooting the album cover photos the day were there. The bartender tipped us off and we snuck down for a peek. 

Hearing isn’t the only sense that brings back memories, but smell does too. Way out there memories. Here is a strange one, I was walking by a cologne counter one day and I could smell the fragrance “Brut.”  The next thing I knew I remembered my toy, Light Bright. Weird right? I loved my Light Bright that I got as a present from Santa when I was 7 or 8 years old.  My little colored pegs were stored in a small shiny black box, the box from my dad’s Brut cologne. The cologne was more than likely a Christmas gift he received that year too.

Another one of my smell memories is probably the same for almost everyone I know from Jersey. Whenever I smell Italian sausage and peppers I think of the Jersey shore again. Hey, I spent a lot of time “down the shore.”  The Midway Steak House is in Seaside Heights right smack dab in the middle of the boardwalk. Another smell memory from Seaside is Coppertone Suntan lotion. 

Taste is of course is another one of our senses to evoke memories.  I love the taste of curry now, but not when I was a kid. My family was out to eat on a Sunday afternoon since that’s what my parents like to do. We would go for a ride and stop somewhere to have dinner.

We were at a restaurant called Ye Cottage Inn, again down the Jersey Shore. I was under 9 years old listening to the older than dirt waitress rattle off the specials. When it was my turn to order I ordered the Shrimp Curry. My father said “You are not getting that! You won’t like it.” I told him I wanted to try it. He warned me that if I ordered it, I HAD to eat the whole thing. I told the waitress, “I will have the shrimp curry please.”

When my meal came the plate was huge!  There were maybe 8 large shrimp and a mountain of rice. I smelled it as my father said, “I told you.” 

To prove him wrong I was going to eat every last morsel on that damn plate. I took a bite of the shrimp and it was spicy. My young palate wasn’t used to spicy food at all.  Oh no!

I was crying to myself, inside not in front of my parents. I wouldn’t give them the satisfaction. Slowly I made my way through that torturous plate of shrimp. I had to psych myself up every time I took a bite. Thank sweet Mother of God for that mountain of white rice. 

When I finished the last piece of shrimp I had finished all the rice as well. Now I didn’t have a big vocabulary of swear words in my arsenal yet, but if I did I would have said fuck you to my father. 

This was not only a painful meal for me to swallow, but it was the first time I felt like my dad turned on me. It was that smirk on my mother’s face the whole time that made me realize it. 

Now onto good tasting memories! I have a good palate and can reproduce almost any food just by tasting and smelling it. It comes in handy when we have a sauce or something unfamiliar that we like or something we can never get again, like on a vacation. I can usually duplicate whatever it is on the first try.  

There are two food memories that I have and have been trying for 25 years to duplicate. I am no closer today than I was when I started trying. The first one is called St. Cecelia’s pizza. Our town had a fair in July every year.  It was a big deal!  It was called The Iselin Fair. Everyone looked forward to it all year. Everyone’s bruises from the ride “The Bullet” finally faded away. People flocked to the long line for St. Cecelia’s pizza. I went to St. Cecelia’s school and this was one of their fundraising food stands at the fair.  There were also ribs, clams, and subs. I’m sure they were all good but I needed to save room for that pizza.

The “pizza” was fried dough topped with homemade marinara sauce and grated parmesan cheese.  Simple to replicate right? Impossible!!!! Only God and St. Cecelia herself knows what was in that dough and sauce. 

The second taste memory is from an Italian restaurant & bar called Spiritos. Spiritos was in Elizabeth, NJ where I grew up. It was in the Italian section of Elizabeth called Peterstown. For the record it still makes me laugh that everyone from there said  It-ly, not Italy. 

Spirtios had the best cheese ravioli ever.  I don’t mean good; I mean amazing. Ask anyone who has been there. They also had delicious veal parmesan and pizza. I wasn’t interested in any of those. It was always the ravioli for me.

The ravioli were large, you got five or six ravioli with just the right amount of sauce. The cheese filling was the most creamy, smooth, sexy filling that is indescribable. 

I have tried so many filling combinations trying to duplicate them.  Before I needed to go gluten-free I tried making them often. I would get so pissed off every time I failed, which was every time.  One time I was so frustrated that I threw them one by one out into the yard, this was before we had dogs. Swear words are still floating around the universe from that day.

Sadly Spiritos recently closed for good as well as the Ye Cottage Inn. The Iselin Fair is gone, in fact the last time I was back I was surprised to see a bunch of tall ugly homes crammed onto that small piece of land where the fair was held. 

Marty and I did go back to Seaside a couple of years ago and walked the boardwalk.  So much has changed after Hurricane Sandy.  It was great to see how things were rebuilt, and how some things looked the same. 

We went to the Sawmill for lunch.  It totally sucked not being able to eat their pizza since we are gluten-free.  We drooled as the huge pizza pies went by.  I can’t remember what I ate so it was must have been unremarkable. 

As we got closer to the Midway I began to imagine the deliciousness drifting through the ocean breeze.  They were closed which was a God sent. Smelling Sausage & Peppers, Cheesesteak Sandwiches, Italian Hotdogs would have been torture. I was actually relieved it was closed since it was November. Cheating on our gluten-free diet isn’t an option for us. Just cross-contamination on a spatula will make me sick for 4-5 days. Getting slipped a gluten mickey is a week of sickness, severe pain and cramping, and untold amounts of trips to the bathroom.

The power of a song, a certain food, and a smell is like going for a ride in a time machine. I totally didn’t realize this morning when I heard that old 50’s song it would give me so much to think about today.  

Finally, I wanted to report that I made shrimp curry for the first time a couple of months ago.  It was really delicious! I followed a recipe to get it right since I only remember it being terrible. I guess my under 10 palate wasn’t ready for it back then. I may even make it tomorrow night for dinner.

We moved from NJ to the Manchester, VT area as newlyweds in 1989. For the 6 months, we had no friends. We worked with people, but our co-workers weren’t people could go out with for food and drinks.

Basically, all the “friends” we had were bartenders. Yes, we made friends by tipping them 20%. We always sat at the bar and ate our dinner. Sometimes we talked with other bar patrons, but they were all from Jersey, we wanted VT friends. It made us feel welcome that the bartenders remembered what we drank, what our names were, or what kind of food we always ordered. Nachos…basically the only thing we could afford. Sounds like Cheers. 😜

We met one bartender named Heidi. I loved when Heidi worked because she was a pastry chef on the side and we would talk about her desserts and pastries. She mentioned one night something about that she could tell the difference between yellow and white butter. Huh????

I couldn’t imagine how you could tell the difference except one was white and the other was yellow. I didn’t ask because she was a new ” friend ” and I didn’t want to appear like a dummy.

It took me about 20 years to finally understand what she meant! I had a big ah-ha moment! There was a difference in taste! The yellow one was so much better. A French or Irish butter was even better than American ones.

When I was a kid growing up in the 1970’s I watched a lot of tv. I knew every commercial by heart. As I watched some of them I didn’t know if my mother bought butter or margarine, but I loved the margarine commercials. Hell, it had to be better stuff since there weren’t any butter commercials. Little did I know.

The two most popular commercials were for Parkay and Chiffon. I liked the Parkay one because the tub of margarine talked to anyone who lifted the lid. I remember wishing ours did that and I tried a million times to get it to talk.

Chiffon was the famous commercial “It’s not nice to fool Mother Nature”, another fun one to watch and wait for the thunder and lightning to start. I didn’t want my mother to buy that one though so that advertising had an adverse effect on my young mind.

The other thing I remember about margarine was going to both my grandmother’s houses. On any given day there would be about 10 little margarine tubs in the refrigerator. It took forever to actually figure out what one had the margarine in it. I would open the lids and take peaks until I found the right one. Sometimes I would close my eyes and try to figure out what was in those containers. Beets were a hard one to get and clean too I would imagine. For big leftovers, Cool Whip containers were saved for that purpose.

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So what the heck is the difference between butter and margarine?

Margarine is an artificial butter. It can be made from vegetable oil or animal fat. It may contain skimmed milk, salt, and emulsifiers. – Wikipedia

Margarine was invented by a French chemist in the late 1860’s as a challenge from Napoleon III. Farmers were outraged that the price of margarine was so low, at some point The Margarine Tax Act was passed for a short time making the cost the same.

So what’s the difference between yellow and white butter?

Butter is made from cow’s milk. It is made by churning milk or cream to separate the fat from the buttermilk. White butter comes from cows that are fed corn, while yellow comes from cows that are grass-fed. It seemed to me at first that the corn fed should be yellow, but that’s not the case. The grass and flowers that cows eat contain beta-carotene which stays in the fat making the butter yellow. The flavor difference is that the yellow butter is high in omega 3. Some companies have tried tricking their customers by adding beta-carotene & Omega 3 to their butter. That’s artificial folks, but not as artificial as margarine.

In some recipes, you see calling for clarified butter. It is that delicious little cup of drawn butter you get with your lobsters. Wear the bib, butter does not come out of clothing. LOL

Clarified butter is made by melting butter and allowing the components to separate by density. The water evaporates, some solids float to the surface and are skimmed off, and the remainder of the milk solids sink to the bottom and are left behind. The butter is poured into a separatory funnel or gravy fat separator. – Wikipedia

While I am at it I may as well mention Ghee since I love cooking and eating Indian food. Ghee is difficult to make. I myself would buy ghee and never even attempt to try to make it. I know, never say never.

So today has been a butter-filled day for me. It reminded me of Heidi the bartender that originally sparked my interest in butter. I wonder what happened to her and if she is still baking.

I love that both my boys Noah and Sam like to cook. When Noah still lived at home and Sam was away at college, Noah, Marty, and I would have cooking challenges. Our favorite was who can get a perfect medium-rare cook on their steak, whose steak was seasoned properly and was all the fat on the sides of the steak rendered out?  We were using the sear and finish in the oven cooking method. It was fun and delicious. We would all taste each other’s and rate them.  All three of our steaks were different in subtle ways.

Sam has his own apartment at college this year and has become quite the cook. He uses recipes I taught him and experiments with recipes on his own. He mentioned he was using a whisk to try to make compound butter because he didn’t have a food processor.  He wanted to make whipped compound butters. 

Just before Sam left to go back to nursing school, I got him an inexpensive mini food processor, he was very excited. Of course, I loved seeing his reaction. 

He surprised us by coming home the other night. He wanted to spend a couple of days in VT.  Once school starts on Tuesday they will be going for 16 weeks straight and he probably won’t be coming home.

He came with a little cooler, he brought things for us to sample. He brought a container of “sauce” that he made on Sunday.  Sunday sauce was tomato sauce with sausage or meatballs that cooked all day to develop flavor. 

Marty and I tasted his sauce and let me tell you what….it was pretty damn close to mine.  I was proud as a peacock.  Next, he had us try some compound butters he made with his mini food processor.

He made a garlic herb one for garlic bread on Sunday but ate that one already.  Lol, He brought two different ones for us to try, brown sugar and cinnamon and peanut butter and butter. “These are delicious on my waffles!” He told us. They were delicious. A chip off the old block!

A 20 year old is making compound butters? He tried a bunch of them when I was experimenting with them for my cooking class.  When I introduced compound butters to everyone at class I was hoping they all didn’t think I was nuts pushing butter on them.

Compound butters can be sweet or savory. I prepped ahead a slew of ingredients so each person could make their own to take home. It was fun to see what kinds each of them chose to make. Some definitely had a sweet tooth, some went with safe ones and others were a bit more daring. 

We didn’t use food processors in class. We used very soft butter that was easy to mix just with a fork. The butter is rolled into a log when it is still soft using plastic wrap, waxed paper or parchment paper. It can be kept in the refrigerator to use whenever you want to or you can freeze it and defrost it when you need it. You just slice off a little bit and get a huge bang of flavor.

So what do you use it for?  This is the fun part and helps you decide what kind you want to make.  A garlic herb or cowboy butter is delish melted on steaks.  A pesto butter is fantastic on pasta or a baked potato. A lemon herb butter is delicious melted on chicken or fish.  A honey butter or brown sugar and cinnamon, pumpkin pie, or gingerbread butter is delicious on pancakes, waffles, quick breads, popovers, cornbread, bagels, etc. The possibilities are endless!

Anyone can make compound butters, even children since they are so quick and super easy!  You just need some softened butter, a few ingredients and a little creativity. 

I am so excited to share some of my compound butter recipes with you.  It’s almost embarrassing how easy they are. If you want to impress people at your next dinner party or bbq, just whip out a log of compound butter and cut up slices for everyone to use.  I promise you will get rave reviews! 

Last thing… compound butters make wonderful hostess gifts. Just be creative how you want to package it. My favorite way is to make it look like candy like I did in the photo below. You may even want to include the recipe on a small card attached to the butter, or you may just want to keep the recipe to yourself. LOL

Compound Butter Recipes

I use salted butter in all of my compound butter recipes. You don’t need expensive butter, a store brand will do for these recipes. I urge you to use salted butter even in the sweet butter recipes. Salt brings out the flavor of anything you make including sweet items.

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If you have issues with sodium, then by all means use sweet butter for your compound butter recipes, you can add just a pinch or leave it out altogether.

For all of the butter combinations: Put the softened salted butter into a medium bowl, add the ingredients of your choice, mix well with a fork, shape into a log on a sheet of waxed paper, parchment paper, or plastic wrap. Roll up or wrap tightly. Refrigerate until firm or freeze. Slice and put butter on whatever you desire.

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Savory

Lemon Herb Butter

1 stick of butter – 1/2 cup
2 Tbsp lemon zest
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 Tbsp finely chopped fresh rosemary
1 Tbsp finely chopped thyme

Garlic Herb Butter

1 stick of butter – 1/2 cup
2 cloves of garlic minced
3 Tbsp fresh parsley chopped
1 1/2 Tbsp each fresh chopped herbs of your choice: basil, oregano, rosemary, chives
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Chili Lime Butter

1 stick of butter -1/2 cup
2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper or to you taste
Zest of 1 lime
1 tsp lime juice
1-2 Tbsp fresh chopped cilantro optional

Cowboy Butter

1 stick of butter – 1/2 cup
1 Tbsp lemon zest
1 Tbsp lemon juice
2 cloves garlic minced
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 Tbsp dijon mustard
1 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Bleu Cheese Butter

1 stick butter – 1/2 cup
4 ounces bleu cheese at room temp
*Optional add chopped fresh herbs such as parsley, thyme, rosemary, tarragon, chives, or garlic

Curry Masala Butter

1 stick butter – 1/2 cup
1 Tbsp yellow curry powder
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp marjoram optional

Thai Basil and Lime Butter

1 stick butter – 1/2 cup
1/2 lime zested
1/2 tsp 5 spice powder
pinch red pepper flakes optional

Thai Red Curry Butter

1 stick butter -1/2 cup
2 tsp red curry paste
1 tsp peeled and grated fresh ginger
1/2 lime zest
1 tsp lime juice
3 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro

Sweet

Orange Honey Butter

1 stick butter – 1/2 cup
1 Tbsp honey
2 tsp finely grated orange zest

***Optional add 2 Tbsp of dried chopped cranberries

Brown Sugar & Cinnamon Butter

1 stick butter – 1/2 cup
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon

Gingerbread Butter

1 stick butter – 1/2 cup
1 Tbsp molasses
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp sugar or to taste
1/8 tsp cloves
1/8 tsp nutmeg

Maple Butter

1 stick butter – 1/2 cup
1/4 cup real maple syrup preferably darker grade

Pumpkin Spice Butter

1 stick butter – 1/2
1/8 cup pumpkin puree
1 Tbsp honey
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice or more if desired

Before I even actually started this blog I already knew a few things that I wanted and things I didn’t.  I didn’t know how to do any of them, or even where to begin.

I look at a lot of food blogs daily and their recipes.  Enough of them to notice things that I like and things that I absolutely hate. 

I like when someone tells a story then provides a recipe they have experimented with, tweaked and felt it was ready to share with the world. The blog post is easy to read with nice photos to break up the writing. Their recipe is provided at the bottom. The recipe is correct. The recipe is their own. 

What don’t I like? Well, let’s start with ads!  I hate having ads pop up while I am trying to read. I hate when the blogger’s own videos start popping up. It interrupts my reading and I have to stop to and X out of the ads and videos so I can continue reading. The third one that pops up and I am out of there. I don’t give a damn who’s blog it is or how good their recipe may have been. So annoying! 

Here’s the thing that I think is unethical, copy and pasting a recipe from someone else and calling it your own. These are professional bloggers!  That my friends is stealing and a bunch of bullshit.  If you are going to steal the recipe at least change the wording for Pete’s sake. So not only are you a scumbag, but a lazy scumbag. 

How do I know they are stealing? Like I said I read a lot of recipes. I will always go to a reputable source like Bon Appetite, Williams Sonoma, Tasty, New York Times recipes or King Arthur Flour, etc. to see what their recipes are like.  My short rib recipe I’ve been using for years I found at the Food & Wine magazine’s website. 

Then I start looking at the big food bloggers, all of their recipes are similar but still are written in the bloggers own cooking style, using their favorite ingredients and culinary language. The smaller food bloggers or the wanna-be’s you know the lazy scumbags, just blatantly copy and paste. This makes me so angry I shout at my phone when I see it. 🤬

The first thing we did when we set up my blog is to pay for my domain name, along with a hosting site and no ads for a year. A year? Gulp!  This was a big commitment. I was afraid to spend this much money for a whole year and I didn’t even know if my blog would be good or if anyone would read it.  As I wrote more posts I decided I wanted to use Grammarly, another 1 year expensive, but totally worth every penny.

All of my recipes that I will ever post will be my own recipes. If I ever share a recipe that isn’t mine, I will just give the link and let the owner of the recipe get credit. I feel very passionate about this.  Ha, it gets my “Jersey” up. I grew up in NJ, “You can take the girl out of Jersey, but not the Jersey out of the girl.” 

My recipes are a true labor of love. I really want people to be able to try what took me sometimes years to perfect. Even just typing it up correctly takes a great deal of time. I’m not talking about the actual typing, but the proper and correct ingredients, measurements, and instructions. 

Support can be beautiful, yes that was a bra commercial from my childhood but also brings me to the next part. My ad-free blog and my recipes are all free to everyone. You can share my recipes or blog posts. The more people who read it the merrier!  You can subscribe and receive it by email or you can read it on my Julzie Style Facebook page. I really appreciate how many people have subscribed or liked my Julzie page. It’s so exciting! 

We have added a support my blog option on my page. I am not doing this blog to make money, I am doing it because I have a lot to say, teach and share. I don’t expect people to support my blog, it is my blog and I assume the financial responsibility.  It is not my style to ask for things, I am a giver, not a taker. The support pays me for my time spent creating food, research, writing recipes, and my stories. 

People tell me all the time I would buy a cookbook if you had one.  I’d sign up for cooking lessons, I would pay you to cook for me.  If you are enjoying my blog, learning something new, or using my recipes, if you want to or able to make a small donation there is a safe PayPal place where you can.  You will see a support my blog section on the sidebar.  I understand that everyone can’t, especially during this pandemic.  Most importantly please don’t feel like it’s necessary just to read my blog.

I hated the thought of asking people to support my blog, but then I remembered when we danced at free gigs we always put out a tip basket.  We really appreciated it when people who watched or videotaped our performance put a buck or two into the tip basket.  Musicians put out a guitar case or tip jar.   Support can be beautiful especially when you know your subscribers are enjoying what you are doing.