Yummies - Volume 1

I love cooking for people, especially when it turns out right.

There's something about providing friends and loved ones with a home cook meal that just makes my heart warm. I learned everything I know about cooking from my mother. And one or two things from my dad (like putting tin foil over an omelet to make it cook more evenly). My mom is an incredible cook, and she could probably do it for a living but it would take the fun out of it. She is very inventive with flavor and incredibly good at improvising if you don't have all the ingredients. I'd like to say I take after her in that way.

I thought about culinary school at one point while I was living in SF, so I sent away for some information. I then decided I didn't want to go to school for cooking because it would ruin it for me. I still get phone calls from the culinary school every month offering me a tour of the campus.

So instead I cook fancy meals for my boyfriend, friends, and roommates. Last night I grilled swordfish, which I cooked perfectly if I do say so myself. It takes about 6 minutes on each side, with the heat on high. If your using a grill pan, make sure it's really hot before you put them on. It was marinated for two hours in soy sauce, olive oil, lemon juice, Dijon, and garlic (recipe came from mom). I bought 4 HUGE steaks - enough to serve 8 people - and it was only $20 from the farmers market fish stand! I also made some orzo with tomato and basil, and some roasted asparagus with leeks. Everyone loved it! Which of course made me really happy.

My friends and I try to do pot luck parties every few weeks, and we've had some great success stories. Even if you don't think you know how to cook, it's really easy to be a sous chef, and every good chef needs an assistant. For example, I really don't like chopping onions so I usually give that job to someone else. Last night my boyfriend (who claims he doesn't know how to cook) helped me trim the asparagus, which I think is really fun because they snap perfectly on their own. He didn't agree but he did it anyway.

I also encourage you to make your own salad dressing. My mom makes all her own salad dressing in a little mini-cuisine art. One year I put all the recipes together and laminated them in a book and called it "All Dressed Up." She loved it (who wouldn't?). Anyway, if you don't have a mini cuisine art, you can just put some olive oil, balsamic vinegar, Dijon, and lemon juice in a cup and stir it with a fork very quickly. Makes for a tasty vinaigrette!

For more recipes, check back next month!