Just so you know, Not everything I try is a success. I know that there are friends that think I am making it up.  After all I am a proficient cook with lots of experience and knowledge.

Now, it is true that I am a proficient cook with lots of experience and knowledge.  And yet, trust me, I have very bad cooking experiences!  Last week was a great example. . .  I was on a roll!

First there was the bell pepper sauté. We have a lot of bell peppers and I was looking for a new way to use them  I found this receipt for cut up bell peppers sautéed with a little onion, garlic, ginger and crushed red chili peppers.  Not sure if it was the combination of the ingredients, the proportions or what but it was BAD!!  David and I both ate a couple of mouthfuls and gave up.  I managed a small save, by washing off the peppers and using them later in the week in an Italian red sauce.

Then was the cashew veggie loaf.  I have made hundreds of these in my life time and they are almost always really good.  Not this one!  I left the cashew pieces bigger than usual and changed up the herb combination.  Then just to add injury to insult I threw in half of left over boiled potato.  It smelled great as it baked.  Then I ate some!  The potato really messed with the consistency and my expectations and the taste was off .  David ate some and let me know he did not like the big pieces of cashews – he likes everything more the consistency of hamburger.

My save was not all that successful either.  I figured I would mash the loaf, add onion, dill pickle and mustard and use it as sandwich filling.  Let’s just say it was a total bust even with fresh baked bread and awesome tomatoes from the garden.

Then there was the salad dressing.  I generally make salad dressing from olive oil, lemon juice, a very little garlic, fresh herbs, salt and water. Mix it all in the food processor and voila! Or in this case definitely NOT voila!  I experimented with a different oil idea.  When we have an over-abundance of fresh herbs I sometimes add them to olive oil and let them soak.  The oil tastes great in Italian food. .  Using it to make salad dressing – not so much!  It was bitter and the herbs (basil and dill in this case) were overwhelming.

And finally, the pasta!  I mean how can you mess up pasta?!?  I managed.  I usually soak my rice and corn pasta in cold water for about an hour before cooking it. Cuts the cooking time by more than half and lets you boil about 1/2 the water.  Since, we live at a pretty high altitude brown rice pasta usually takes a big pot of water about 12 minutes to cook.  If I soak it the cooking time is about 5 minutes, and the pasta is less gooey when done.

Well, I  bought something new —  DeBoles Brown Rice and Golden Flax Seed Angel Hair. Only soaked it for a half hour because it is so thin.  Then I threw it into boiling water.

Quick tip  — do not soak anything with flaxseed, golden or otherwise.  Once it hits the hot water it disintegrates!

Not a banner week!!  And no new recipe ideas I would like to post!  So for this week I am planning simple, fool-proof “I can make them in my sleep” menu choices.  Hopefully I will get my mojo back!