Monday, March 5, 2012

Drawing Inspiration

Sherry over at Fern Valley Appaloosas, recently received an award and passed it along to me.

Where do you get ideas of things to cook? What kind of stuff do you like?  I started this blog as a way to sort of post the recipes I have made and we enjoyed, sort of as a way to compile it but also as a way to find new things to try.

I love me some Italian food and used to watch the shows on Saturday morning on the PBS channel. Now that we no longer have cable, let alone the local channels- that option is gone. No food network, nothing to draw on other than websites online, what Mom used to make or stuff I threw together one night out of desparation.  Let's face it- we have ALL been there at some point!

In making the Sea Shells recipe I bought a bottle of Voga Italia wine for the sauce. I will not lie, I am not a particular fan of wine. I live in the world of two kinds of wine- red or white?  I bought the Voga Italia wine for the bottle, because it was different, sleek and I like the way it looks. I can be pretty shallow that way. I bought the Pinot Grigio, but I would like to try the Sparkling, Merlot and the Rosa... and I like the bottles for them too.

Something on the VI website caught my eye though. Tutti Matti, I looked it up and found it to be a restaurant in Toronto serving Tuscan style food. They listed the lunch & dinner menu's online and as I looked at them, I thought- why can't I find a recipe for this, now that I know what this dish is called? Although the spelling of the dish can throw you off at times, once you have that- just go online in search of a recipe for that dish... 

That is how I came across the recipe for sour cream enchiladas. A local restaurant had them and I loved them.  The last time we went there- not so much. They just were not that good. Ever had that happen?  So I got to thinking (dangerous, I know!) why not make my own at home?   Between this new idea and not wanting to serve the girls a bunch of stuff coming out of cardboard boxes, I started to cook.  The food, the flavors, the idea of knowing WHAT is in each dish... I have also been putting more into the garden out front. If I can grow it, then use that in a dish- even better.  So where do you get your ideas for what you serve your family for dinner?

1 comment:

Sherry Sikstrom said...

I used to like the food network, but it is more about competition now than regular food it seems. I like some stuff from my childhood, some I get online or in magazines. The other place I got inspiration from is a series of books I read, about a detective and mysteries, but Man-O-Man did that guy eat well, the descriptions had my mouth watering so I tried a few ! YUMMM