Wordless Wednesdays

What's the deal with wordless Wednesdays? If every blogger didn't write anything on Wednesday, what the heck would people do all day? Work? Clean? Please. What fun is that?

I won't be cooking much the next two days. I have a fridge full of leftovers and Nathaniel will be at his dad's. Since Chris isn't at home, I am going to be eating a lot of plum cobbler and pork for the next few meals! But just because I am not cooking, doesn't mean that I am not thinking about it. I've got some recipes ready for when the boys get back this weekend. Today, I am going to go through all my kitchen supplies to make an inventory of everything that I have. I probably have some of the most interesting kitchen supplies out there (when Nathaniel was little, I used to watch Martha Stewart Living pretty religiously. I have a cherry pitter that hasn't seen light since 1999). I figure this way, I can make a list of things that I really need/want for future trips to Williams-Sonoma.

I am also going through the spice rack to get rid of anything that has been hanging out for too long and see what ones I need to get more of soon. I have been in some kitchens where the spices were born before I was. If you are one of these people, GET RID OF THEM AND GET SOME NEW ONES! I can't tell you how badly you can ruin a meal with old spices or how much better a meal would be with some newer ones. I am not one of those people who replaces them every six months, but it's really time to throw away any spices that aren't from this decade (or three decades before!) and if a spice company from 1980 isn't in business anymore than you really know you are in trouble! I make sure that I have the basic spices in my pantry and don't buy the less common stuff unless a recipe calls for it, that way you don't have stuff from 10 years ago hanging out in your spice rack! My other tip is that you really do get what you pay for when it comes to spices. There are super cheap ones in the grocery store and there are more pricey ones. I would suggest that you splurge for something other than the cheapest ones. Trust me, there is a difference. All you have to do is a smell-test. If you can't smell the difference, you have a bad sniffer and you might want to get that checked out! Haha. I am not saying that you have to buy the most expensive ones (even though I am a big splurger and buy most of my spices at Dean & Deluca--trust me, there is a difference. Come over and smell my cinnamon or taste the hot red pepper flakes and you'll be converted.), but please don't buy the 69 cent spices.

Next week, I'll be trying out a chili recipe that I found online that won a Brooklyn chili contest. It has NO beans and looks super spicy, so I am game to try it out. I am also going to make Hot Browns, Louisville's famous dish. The picture below is from our trip there a couple of summers ago. It's pretty much heaven in a dish (along with about 5000 calories, but so worth it)!