Congratulations to this week's contest winners!
WinnieAb won the contest for Your Best Turkey Leftovers with Turkey Pho.
Amreen won the contest for Your Best Rice Dish with Shrimp Biryani.
We asked them both to answer a few questions about eating and cooking...
Describe an early food experience that has influenced the way you think about food and/or cooking.
I can't really pick one. My parents owned a very well known restaurant when I was growing up, so food has always played a very integral part in my life.
What's a food you really don't like?
I really don't like lamb - the taste is just too strong for me.
What holiday dish(es) do you most look forward to every year?
Latkes (potato pancakes for Hanukkah). Love them.
Describe your most spectacular kitchen disaster.
I tried gluten-free gnocchi pretty recently and it was by far the worst thing I've ever made.
What was the last meal you made just for yourself?
Fried eggs topped with Merrill's ragu.
Apron or no apron?
99% of the time it's no apron. For a long day in the kitchen (like Thanksgiving), I try to wear one for the sake of my clothes, though.
What's your favorite food-related scene in a movie?
I love the Japanese noodle movie Tampopo. It's been a long time since I've seen it so I can't single out a scene right now...I'm making it a point to see it again soon, though.
What is the kitchen activity that is most cathartic for you? Least cathartic?
I detest cleaning the refrigerator, so that's the least cathartic. At the same time, I'm so happy when it's done that it's also the most cathartic. Hope that makes sense.
You prefer to cook: a. alone, b. with others, c. it depends on my mood.
It depends. I enjoy having the kitchen all to myself, but I also love cooking with my husband and kids. We do family iron chef competitions every once in a while and I love that.
When it comes to tidying up, you usually: a. clean as you cook, b. do all the dishes once you've finished cooking, c. leave the kitchen a shambles for your spouse/roommate/kids to clean.
No hesitation here. CAYGO (clean as you go) all the way.
Describe an early food experience that has influenced the way you think about food and/or cooking.
Growing up in an immigrant Muslim family I never ate any pig products. But of course as a child you always want what you can't have and the salami sandwiches and hot dogs all the other kids were eating at school looked so good! I'm not sure if this is true or not but my aunt told us she worked at a hot dog factory and gave us all the gory details of what was in a hot dog. Pig lips, intestines and tails oh my! That sure cured my desire for all things pig related! Thankfully I had a mom who loved to get creative in the kitchen. Since a child I have always opted for food that hasn't been processed and is home made or freshly made ... thanks mom!!
What's a food you really don't like?
Canned green beans .... eeeewwww!
What holiday dish(es) do you most look forward to every year?
Garlic mashed potatoes with spicy cranberry sauce!
Describe your most spectacular kitchen disaster.
On New Years Eve last year I threw an impromptu house party ... It was ultra last minute (like I called folks at 9 pm and they were over within an hour). We had drinks a plenty but everyone was starving ... searching through my fridge I discovered I could make some quesadillas with sauteed onions, bell peppers and chili with some chipotle sour cream and a few other fixings. Everything was great ... until the first person bit into the quesadilla and started coughing uncontrollably ... they were too dang hottt!! My friends are not spice-o-phobes and some of us even carry around a bottle of tapatio everywhere we go ... but these quesadillas were so spicy that everyone was in tears ... it was definitely an entertaining way to start the new year!
What was the last meal you made just for yourself?
I made bananas sauteed in butter and cardamom for breakfast this morning .... yummm!
Apron or no apron?
I'm a mess ... no apron!
What's your favorite food-related scene in a movie?
When Chunk gives Sloth a Baby Ruth in Goonies! "Jeez mister ... you're even hungrier than I am!!"
What is the kitchen activity that is most cathartic for you? Least cathartic?
It's always the hardest things in life that are the most rewarding! I hate doing dishes and always relied on my sister or ex boyfriend to be the cleaner-upper but lately I have developed a fondness for cleaning ... after a fabulous meal I'll tidy up the kitchen and feel like a weight is lifted! Oddly enough the thing I find least cathartic is that tedious appetizer assembling or tamale wrapping ... after about 100 I'm really over it!
You prefer to cook: a. alone, b. with others, c. it depends on my mood
C
When it comes to tidying up, you usually: a. clean as you cook, b. do all the dishes once you've finished cooking, c. leave the kitchen a shambles for your spouse/roommate/kids to clean.
Ha in the past i left it to the next day ... but I'm getting to be a big girl now so I'm starting to clean as i cook.
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6 Comments
Love the Goonies food scene! I completely forgot about that one. It is a great scene!
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