In the Kitchen with Sandie

I'd say that I discovered the joy of cooking around the age of 8 years old. I fondly remember my very first cook book...The Winnie the Pooh Cookbook and better yet I still have it! Besides cooking from scratch in general, I especially like to try new things. I think that I'm truly in my element when cooking... be it for a dinner party, a small gathering of friends for lunch or zucchini bread to share with a girlfriend over coffee.
I've got dinner for tomorrow night marinating...it's a recipe from the food network..from Ina Garten's' show The Barefoot Contessa. I made this a little while ago for the first time and LOVED it! With my mother-in-law arriving this afternoon, I wanted to have some special meals while she's here. The weather tomorrow is going to be on the cooler side, so this marinated beef stew (the recipe is called Parker's Beef Stew) is going to hit the spot! You marinate the beef in red wine, not cooking wine, but the good kind that you would drink with dinner. This meal is to die for! It's hearty and savory at the same time.
Tonight it's grilled Blackened Tuna Steaks with Lemon Steamed Green Beans, Long Grain Rice (the real stuff not that freeze dried boil in a bag stuff) and my version of Italian Pasta Salad. For dessert...New York Cheesecake with Strawberries! I'm getting ready to pull a loaf of zucchini bread out of the oven, it's smells so wonderful! I plan on having some with my tea in a little while :)
What do you do when you are in the mood for a particular thing? Do you try to shrug it off? Of do you go with it an make it? Oh my gosh I am wanting to make (and eat) Apple Crisp...just the thought of it is making me smile. I have my big colander full of bright green Granny Smith Apples and I'm ready to peel them! Maybe I'll make that for dessert and save the Cheesecake for tomorrow. It's days like this when I cure could use my gourmet kitchen that I had when we lived in Texas. Our next house is going to either have a gourmet kitchen or I'll do a remodel on it and put one in! The zucchini bread is out and it looks delicious!
My advice to you all today...find something that your really enjoy and do it! Be it making brownies, washing the car or scrapbooking. The key thing is to just enjoy yourself!