what's better than actually cooking? watching other people do it, of course

So I hope you all have the amazing opportunity of having the food network channel. Jeff and I LOVE watching cooking shows. He has already made some amazing recipes after watching some of his favorite shows: minestrone soup, grilled cheese sandwiches with bacon and apple, and just last night made delicious breaded chicken and caesar salad. Mmm we will definitely be putting those recipes on the blog.

But for now, I just want to comment on a few of my favorite shows from this wonderful, delicious channel. First and foremost this man is my hero:


He makes cooking so interesting, and his food, although complicated, always looks pretty good. I confess that I haven't tried anything that he has made yet, but one of these days I will get around to making his pop-overs.

Mmm, don't they just look perfect to spread a little butter and jam on--and have with some hot chocolate for breakfast? Or maybe serve with a hot bowl of soup for these cold, SPRING days in Provo? I'll let you know how it goes.

Secondly, this show is just plain amazing. LOVE IT!!

And, luckily enough for me, they have full episodes of Ace of Cakes available on foodnetwork.com--so I can watch it whenever I want! Yahoo!

I also really like Ellie Krieger, who is a nutritionist on the foodnetwork. We have actually had a lot of success with any of her recipes that we have tried, and they are usually quite good for you too! And, probably best of all, they are usually really easy to make. I'm definitely a fan.


Sometimes she can be kind of annoying when she talks, or how she is always smiling, but I think her food definitely makes up for it.

Okay, well it isn't all fun food and dandy...I am afraid we must look at the dark side of foodnetwork as well. One of the scariest people to grace TV =


Duh duh duh....Paula Deen. She is likely to kill you in one of three ways:
1. she will drive you insane with her ridiculous accent
2. if you make any of her recipes you will die from all of the butter that instantly clogs your arteries
3. she will eat you

But is she the worst? Oh no, no it gets much more dreadful, dreary, and downright horrendous. Meet the Barefoot Contessa.


Honestly, I cannot stand to watch more than one full minute of this show. Firstly, she is so pretentiously snobby. "Oh, today we will be making blahblahblah so that we can share it with my designer friends who are coming from the gallery today. We will then dine on this lovely meal in my terrace garden, where the fresh herbs will compliment the taste of my red wine very nicely... (meant to be said with a snobbishly disgusting tone)" Secondly, her food really doesn't even look that good.

ANYWAY, just thought that I would share my thoughts about cooking shows, on the cooking blog. What do you guys think? Do you have any favorite shows? Are you a religious watcher like us? Seen any good recipes lately?

Strawberry Crepes

(I would like to apologize in advance for the quality of the pictures. They are terrible, but the food was good--promise!)


Well, let's start off the blog with something delicious and very easy to make. Crepes are one of my most favorite dessert dishes because they are the perfect vehicle to any craving I might have--strawberries, chocolate, peaches, berries, ice cream, pudding...basically anything you can think of! Anything goes.

But your crepe fever doesn't have to stop there! Crepes can be used to make delicious dinners with left over chicken, ham or turkey. One delicious crepe I had in Paris was like a grilled ham and cheese, only, on a crepe. Tasty.

Here is my grandma's recipe, which makes about 35 crepes in all. I usually half the recipe, since we definitely don't need 35 crepes all to ourselves!

4 eggs
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups flour
2 1/4 cups milk
1/4 cup melted butter

For dessert crepes add:
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons sugar

Combine all ingredients in a blender jar; blend for about 1 minute. Scrape down sides with a rubber spatula and blend for another 15 seconds or until smooth. Refrigerate batter for at least 1 hour (this allows flour to expand).

(When I made the crepes this time I used whole wheat flour for half of the recipe. It was pretty good, but I think I would recommend sticking with all purpose flour for the entire recipe.)

Cook on crepe griddle or traditional pan. Here is an example of a crepe pan. This one was a present, but I am sure that you can find them at any store that sells kitchen supplies, and they should be pretty cheap. Otherwise, I am sure that you can just use a flat bottomed skillet--it would probably work just as well. (PS--Ignore the dirty stove. It is stained from when Jeff cooked carne asada...I need to get some bleach scrub, but until then...)

Tips for cooking:
*It isn't necessary to grease pans that have a non-stick coating. Other pans should be brushed with oil or butter.

*Heat pan over medium-high heat. With one hand pour in 2 to 3 tablespoons of batter (I just usually use a 1/4 measuring cup and fill it up half way). At the same time, lift pan about heating unit with your other hand. Immediately tilt pan in all directions, swirling the batter so it covers the bottom of the pan in a very thin layer. Work quickly before batter cooks too much to swirl.

*Return to heating unit and cook over medium-high heat. Cook crepe until bottom is slightly golden brown, then carefully turn with spatula. Brown the other side for a few seconds, and then remove from the pan. Repeat!

So, lets talk fillings. You can use anything you want--fresh or frozen. Since it is the beginning of strawberry season and since Costco has some amazingly tasty strawberries, I went with the fresh. I just slice them up, sprinkle them with a little sugar, then refrigerate until the crepes are ready.

Then I add a little vanilla ice cream--vanilla bean is our favorite, but I suppose that you could use another kind--and top with a few strawberries. Roll it up, then top with your choice of whipped cream, additional strawberries and chocolate! Delish!

Our journey into the world of food

We would like to welcome ourselves to the world of food-blogging. Yum yum yum!!

Hope you enjoy this blog as much as we will!