I Want To Cook

So Wifey recently struck a deal, and when Degens find deals we go big or go home. In this case she scored a 25-pound bag of carrots. For $4.

Needless to say, just about every dish I’ve made in the past week has included the orange roots. If I were eating any more of these things I’d grow a bushy white tale and be saying, “What’s up, Doc?” But in addition to stocking up some vegetarian friends, the surplus has also given me opportunity to experiment with the versatile veggies.

One of my more tasty uses for carrots is using them for something sweet, and it’s not cake. It’s actually in a quick-bread batter that can be used for bread or muffins.

Finely grated carrots give this bread a dash of color and a subtle crunch. I add in some crushed pineapple for extra pizazz. While I admit this recipe is more of a treat – as muffins and dessert breads usually are – I give mine a degree more of healthful properties by mixing in whole-wheat flour and using canola oil instead of butter.

Best of all, it’s a snap to make and uses the standard muffin/quick-bread method of simply mixing wet ingredients into dry, popping your chosen bakeware into an oven and, voila, half an hour later you’ve got a tasty treat that makes a fine dessert pairing with coffee or a breakfast indulgence. Hey it’s got carrots so it must be good for you, right?

You won’t need 25 pounds for this recipe. In fact just one carrot should do the trick. Guess I’m lucky that these loaves and freeze well.

Let’s bake.

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Here are two of the sweetest words you’ll read all week: whipped cream.
Who doesn’t love the thick, rich, saccharine clouds of deliciousness topped on desserts, fruit, or just about anything else?

Too bad most of us equate whipped cream with stuff that comes bursting from the nozzle of a can or, even worse, sitting in a tub.

Real whipped cream is a treat that can be made at home in about five minutes with the proper equipment, and, via that proper equipment, is as easy as pouring ingredients and then flicking a switch.

As you might have already guessed, that “equipment” I’m referring to is a mixer. Doesn’t matter much what kind. From a cheap hand mixer to that anchor of a KitchenAid Artisan that is a proverbial favorite on wedding registries, the idea is to have a machine that can mix fast enough to incorporate enough air into cream to transform it from a milky like substance to the sweet fluffs we know as whipped cream.

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I was making Jell-O the other day, but ended up with a serving of humble pie: Imagine my surprise when I opened the fridge hours later and realized the thing never set. Instead of having a delicious, jiggly dessert, I was confronted with a useless bowl of liquid that never formed into a mold.

What the heck was going on, I wondered. I mean, it’s Jell-O, not rocket science. Second doubts set in quick.

“Why had I ever gone to culinary school if I couldn’t pull off making something as simple as one of America’s favorite, no-brainer desserts?”

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