my favorite websites/cookbooks

so the best recipe website i have ever seen (which my lovely sister introduced me to) is allrecipes!!. You just put in a search word, like, beef. or broccoli. or beef and broccoli. and tons of stuff comes up!! you can also delve a little further by reading the user reviews. the ladies on this site are SERIOUS and know what is good and what isn't. they also have good suggestions and i have modified many a recipe because of them.
i really like Basic Recipes as well:It's easy to navigate, and has TONS of selections.
kwals introduced me to epicurious.com, which gets two kudos from me because it has menus, divided up by seasons, holidays, etc. They give you a full menu for different occassions and it's all classy as hell. dress to impress. so on and so forth.

SITE OF THE MONTH
**COOKING BY NUMBERS**is terrific because you can select what you have in your fridge, and it gives you some ideas! its so much easier than having to go out and buy a bunch of stuff for a new recipe. This site rocks.

I don't own many cookbooks but I really love this one:
this has great photo illustrations!! i love that because it helps me figure out if i'm doing it right. also, the recipes are pretty snazzy but pretty easy. i made duck from a recipe in this book and vic looooved it. it has all kinds of great recipes.

next time, i will discuss paula deen. and don't even get me started on chef ramsey. HELL'S KITCHEN FOREVER!!

SOUP SOUP

one of my favorite meals EVER is a huge bowl of yummy tortilla soup. i modified a recipe i found online, which is a copycat recipe of max n erma's tortilla soup. so basically, i'm a liar and a thief. i only wish i was awesome enough to come up with a copycat recipe. HERE IT IS!!

In a large stockpot combine and whisk together until smooth:
2 cans each of the following Campbell soups: cream of mushroom, cream of chicken soup, cream of celery soup, and cheddar cheese soup (I strongly advise using 1 can of cream of mushroom, and 3 cans of cream of chicken. You could also look through cans of campbells and find different substitutes. for example, use healthy request. or even entirely change the flavors, by using a cream of celery or the chili verde soup.)
2 cans (15 oz each) chicken broth

Add:
1 (15 oz.) can diced tomatoes
1 cup Pace brand medium salsa
1 (4.5 oz) can Ortega green chiles
1 medium onion, chopped
1/4 cup fresh, chopped cilantro
4 cloves fresh garlic, minced
1 tsp. red chile powder, more or less to your taste
salt and pepper to your taste

Bring to a full boil, reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour.

Add:
4 cooked chicken breasts, cut into small chunks
Simmer another hour.

While soup is simmering, make your soup toppings:
Cut 1 pkg. flour tortillas into small thin strips and deep fry in hot oil until lightly browned.
Shred 1/2 lb. longhorn style colby cheese

To serve:
Ladle soup into bowls, top with shredded cheese and fried tortilla strips.

This shit is so delicious, you won't even believe it. If you live alone, freeze it and break it out on a cold miserable day. It makes a LOT. i would advise not going wild on the colby cheese at first. i usually put too much on top and then start to feel a little queasy toward the end of my meal- its very rich.

TOOLS OF THE TRADE?
I reccommend buying a food processor to anyone who really wants to get into cooking. They are soo handy and I use mine ALL THE TIME. Mine was some cheap ass thing that someone gave me- but I am eternally grateful for it! You can use it for all kinds of stuff. This is a really nice one that I want to get: KitchenAid KFP670 Ultra Power 11 Cups Food Processor. BUT its $130. You don't need one that expensive. I also recommend getting a decent set of knives- a friend gave me my set, which cost her a whopping $7 on sale at Sears. Spatulas are important too, and a cutting board. Another important tool is watching the Food Network. Just watching people chop, puree, cook, and bake for like 6 hours straight will teach you a thing or two. Fuck Rachel Ray though.

a fall dinner

some of you may know that in the past year, i have become obsessed with cooking. i love it. more than a lot of things. nothing's better than making a good meal for your friends or sweetheart and watching them enjoy it. so i thought i should start documenting the meals i make. . .who knows how long this trip will last.
first, let's clarify- i certainly don't make most things from scratch, cause i'm just not that talented/motivated. im just here to offer up some of my favorite recipes, menu suggestions, drink ideas, etc. i really had no idea how to cook anything at all until something just clicked. i will suggest good recipe websites, my favorite cooks, and much more!

A YUMMY FALL DINNER!
the last thing i made for my friends was paula deen's mexican chicken. this was the pre-haunted house meal. it's really simple, hearty, and comforting. i made some slight changes to the recipe because a lot of reviews complained of it being bland. i like paula deen because all her food is fatty and delicious. let's be honest. if you can eat in moderation, nothing is that bad for you. and if you can't eat in moderation, who gives a shit? certainly not me. it's cold and i'm hungry. here ya go bitch!

MEXICAN CHICKEN- my modifications are in parenthesis

Vegetable oil cooking spray
1 (10 3/4-ounce) can cream of chicken soup
1 (10 3/4-ounce) can cheddar cheese soup
1 (10 3/4-ounce) can cream of mushroom soup
1 (10-ounce) can tomatoes but i recommend rotet tomatoes or a spicy salsa- i love newman's own brand
1 whole chicken, cooked, boned, and chopped or 4 cups leftover cooked chicken (i suggest 3 lbs of chicken breasts. rub them with chicken seasoning or make your own, of olive oil and whatever spice you like, to give it some extra flavor. toss some salt and pepper on them too. then either boil them or throw them in a pan till they are "just cooked" with no pink in the middle. shred it up with your fingers.)
1 (11 1/2-ounce) package flour tortillas
2 cups shredded Cheddar (hmm. i used WAY more than that for way delicious results. i mixed in 2 cups of shredded mexican cheese, sargento brand, into the filling. i topped the tortillas with 2 cups of sharp cheddar. yeah i love cheese.)
**my additions: 1/4 cup of chopped cilantro. cilantro can make a good dish fucking awesome.
1/2 a small onion, chopped. just toss all that shit in there.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 13 by-9-inch pan with the cooking spray.

In a large bowl, stir together the 3 kinds of soup, tomatoes or salsa, cilantro, onion, and cheese. Stir in the chicken.
Layer the tortillas and the chicken mixture in the pan, beginning and ending with tortillas. Sprinkle the cheese over the casserole and bake for 30 minutes.

This dish was a HUGE success with my friends and my very picky boyfriend.

for dessert, i made pumpkin pie. i just followed the basic recipe on the side of the libby's pumpkin pie puree can. to be all hardcore and true to the pumpkin, you could make your own puree. you take a pumpkin, hollow it out, cut it into pieces and bake it for about 20 minutes, till the filling is softened. puree it.

i also made real whipped cream, which my sister first introduced me to. 1/4 cup of sugar per 1 cup of heavy cream. you need a mixer for this. mix away until it becomes that sweet fluffy decadent whipped cream we all love. or should love.

for a side dish, we had garlicky mashed potatoes with gravy courtesy of sarah.

beverages: coke + iron city in aluminum bottles.