Chloe Cullen's Blog, page 14
November 30, 2023
Self-Taught Lesson #4: Taking stock and cooking soups
Stock is not something I have normally used, even with the convenience of cardboard boxes of stock at the grocery store.
Also not much of a soup girl. I have traveled to two (maybe three) apartments with the same cans of tomato and chicken noodle that never come to mind when I think “man, I’m hungry, and I have NOTHING to eat!”
But there’s something undeniable about a great soup or hefty stew when it’s plated in front of you.
So how does someone get from point A (pantry aisle of the supermarket)...
November 27, 2023
November 26, 2023
Self Taught Homework #3: I survived Thanksgiving 2023
A week before you arrive back at your parents’ house, you volunteer to handle the Thanksgiving menu.
For as long as you can remember, you have gone to your aunt and uncle’s house for Thanksgiving. When you were younger, everyone went to your grandma’s house on the Wednesday before, Thanksgiving Eve, to mash rutabagas and peel apples. A dozen people came in and out of the house, the kitchen, offering varying degrees of help. You get older, and Thanksgiving Eve becomes a drinking holiday of high s...
Homework #3: I survived Thanksgiving 2023
A week before you arrive back at your parents’ house, you volunteer to handle the Thanksgiving menu.
For as long as you can remember, you have gone to your aunt and uncle’s house for Thanksgiving. When you were younger, everyone went to your grandma’s house on the Wednesday before, Thanksgiving Eve, to mash rutabagas and peel apples. A dozen people came in and out of the house, the kitchen, offering varying degrees of help. You get older, and Thanksgiving Eve becomes a drinking holiday of high s...
November 24, 2023
THANK YOU
Last night at Thanksgiving, as we went around to hear everyone’s gratitude for this year, I told everyone I was grateful for:
my family’s health
Luke
Luke’s willingness to take on some bills while I’m unemployed
…the unemployment that gives the bandwidth to chase “my dreams”
This cracked me up, if no one else.
Then I woke up this morning to a Substack notification that this newsletter has officially hit its first $1,000 in annual revenue thanks to incoming paid subscriptions.
In July, when I was l...
November 21, 2023
Self-Taught Lesson #3: Tastes just like chicken (in a good way)
Because I like a challenge, I signed up to cook a turkey for my immediate family’s Thanksgiving. Good to know what you’re doing right? So today is my quick dive of research into what the HECK I’m supposed to do this week.
I’m happy to say that we already have the turkey thawing and plan to dry-brine it today (read: salt the heck out of the turkey skin).
So I’m not totally blind here, but there may be a cold bath in order to thaw our turkey out later today.
While I play the waiting game with the ...
November 20, 2023
November 19, 2023
Self-Taught Homework #2: A poor chef blames their tools
You feel obligated to defend yourself for a second to keep the audience on your side for future posts:
Okay, I actually don’t think I’m that bad of a cook. I’m pretty detail-oriented in my life, and I pay bills on time, and I want to be thorough, and my food has been coming out well-seasoned and balanced. So what if I don’t know how to do a lot of things? So what if I bite off more than I can chew—and no, not in the “pun intended” way? So what if I boiled my hand, seared Luke with hot oil, and b...
November 16, 2023
Self-Taught Lesson #2: Knife Skills & General Technique
Have you all watched Selena + Chef? In the pandemic, Selena Gomez invites the best American culinary masters into her kitchen via zoom (wild), which sets the stage for the rare experience of watching a celebrity cooking in their home being redirected on the things they’re doing wrong. These chefs audibly gasp and herd Selena toward not cutting her own fingers off.
Even with the best in the world in her ear, giving her step-by-step guidance, she still has the wonderful ability to mess it up. It’s...
