Cooking Ingredient Must-Haves

My oldest friend, Keri, got married in November of 2012. Read about their engagement here. Being a new bride, Keri has started to cook at home more for herself and her husband, Bradley. When we were in Ruidoso, Keri asked what sorts of things I buy at the grocery store. After talking to her, Andy suggested that I write a blog entry describing cooking ingredient must-haves for your kitchen- a "basic staples list" if you will.

So here it is, a list of basics that I believe no cook should be without. I fill my fridge and cupboard with low fat, fat free, healthy choices for my quick, easy, and healthy recipes. Of course, brand/nutritional content is your choice.

I suggest buying the non-perishable items in bulk at a place like Costco. They're less expensive- you can stock up, and you don't have to worry about those spoiling.

In your freezer: Meat, etc.

• Boneless, skinless, chicken breasts
• least expensive & best quality I've found is Costco. You can get a bag for $18 of about 14 breasts that are individually wrapped
• They stay frozen in the freezer, so just buy a bag and pop it in. Pull out however many you need when you're ready for them.
• Porkchops, lean cut
• Again- Costco. Buy them in bulk, and wrap them individually in plastic wrap. Put the wrapped chop in a freezer baggie & freeze until you need them.
• Hash browns

In your cabinet: Spices & Herbs You can get these fresh or ground. Substitute 1 tbsp fresh for 1 tsp dried. 1/4tsp ground for 1 tsp whole seeds.

• Basil
• Black pepper (you need more than what's in your pepper mill)
• Brown sugar
• Cayenne pepper
• Cinnamon- it can be substituted for nutmeg or allspice
• Chives
• Cumin
• Garlic salt
• Garlic powder
• Lemon pepper
• Oregano
• Paprika
• Powdered sugar
• Rosemary- if you want fresh, let me know- I have humongous bushes of this
• Sage
• Salt (you need more than what's in your salt shaker)
• Sugar or sugar-substitute
• Vanilla extract

In your refrigerator: Dairy & Perishables

• Milk
• Sour cream (buy in the 8 oz containers though unless the recipe specifically calls for it because it expires)
• Cheddar cheese
• Cream cheese
• Lemon/lime juice
• Minced garlic (in a jar)
• Butter (I use Smart Balance Light with Flax Seed Oil)
• Eggs
• Lettuce
• Salad dressing of your choice
• Reduced fat sausage *Freeze if not using by use-by date
• Reduced fat ground beef *Freeze if not using by use-by date

In your pantry/cupboard

• Chicken broth *Refrigerate after opening. Also, you can pour it into an ice tray and freeze leftovers. Pop out a cube or two when needed.
• Beef broth
• Cream of chicken condensed soup
• Cream of mushroom condensed soup
• Barbecue sauce *Refrigerate after opening.
• Bread crumbs- seasoned or non, your pick
• Croutons
• Pasta
• Black beans
• Corn
• Tomato sauce
• Tomato paste
• Marinara sauce
• Diced, canned tomatoes
• Canned, stewed tomatoes
• Onion, fresh
• Worcestershire sauce *Refrigerate after opening.
• Soy sauce *Refrigerate after opening.
• Mustard *Refrigerate after opening.
• Mayonnaise or mayo-substitute *Refrigerate after opening.
• Ketchup *Refrigerate after opening.
• Tabasco sauce *Refrigerate after opening.
• Salsa or hot sauce *Refrigerate after opening.
• Olive oil
• Vegetable oil
• Non-stick cooking spray- we buy the "Pam: Olive Oil" spray for cooking and "Pam: Grilling" spray for the grill
• Aluminum foil
• Plastic/seran wrap
• Ziplock baggies (snack, sandwich, and freezer size)
• Crockpot liners
• Parchment paper

These ingredients are all found in my recipes. What I usually like to do is stock up on the above items when I can. Sometimes it seems frustrating to buy an $8 spice when you only need 1/4 tsp at a time, but you'll be able to use the rest for quite a while before it goes bad.

Star Cookies

No matter where we spent the holidays of my childhood, one thing was for sure- there would be star cookies.  I didn't know until I was older that there was a difference in the cookies at the different grandparents' homes, thoguh.  First, there were my Granny Strickland's star cookies (a recipe I always thought was from my Great Great Aunt Hazel, "Auntie").  These cookies were different from my Granny Poirot's sugar cookies.  To complicate things even more, what I've grown up thinking are Granny Strickland/Auntie's sugar cookies, are actually a recipe from my Granny Strickland's friend, Carol Stalder. 

Me, Gillian, and Granny Poirot baking cookies in her kitchen- Wichita Falls, TX

Per my mom, Carol was a wonderful cook whose husband was stationed in Germany at the same time as my Grandad Strickland.  Granny Strickland called these "Star Cookies" because Carol always made them in the shape of stars.  This recipe called for lemon extract in the icing glaze, so they had a bit of a tang to them.  My Granny Poirot's Sugar Cookies did not have lemon in them.  Since my dad never liked the tangy zest, my mom started leaving the lemon extract out of the recipe.

Star Cookies and Christmas tree shaped Star Cookies at my 3rd Annual Holiday Cocktail Party

No Thanksgiving or Christmas was complete without Star Cookies.  I remember my Granny Strickland staying up until midnight with my mom and aunts making Star Cookies on Christmas Eve and waking up at 5am on Christmas Morning to start the pies and turkey.  Star Cookies were the cookies I left for Santa on my "Cookies for Santa" plate that I made in second grade art class.  Weeks before Christmas, my dad would walk into the kitchen with a glimmer in his eye- just hoping some Star Cookies would be there waiting.  When there were no cookies to be found, my dad would pout and say, with a dejected face, "Oh... have you not made any cookies yet?"  Of course, my caring mom would immediately head to Albertson's and get everything to make the cookies for my poor, pitiful, "all I want is a measly cookie" dad.  (Kidding, Dad!)

Santa always eats Star Cookies at the Strickland house- this is the plate I made in 2nd grade

There are stipulations on the cookies though- they have to be juuuust right.  The perfect Star Cookie is thin, crispy, with just the right amount of homemade icing glaze.  (Icing the cookies has always been my favorite part- nothing like the warm, sugary goodness!)  The cookies have evolved from the traditional star shape to also include Christmas trees, stockings, and candy canes.  There are cactus cookies, coyote cookies, Texas state cookies, and (of course) longhorn cookies.  When The University of Texas Longhorns take on the Texas A&M Aggies every Thanksgiving, my mom always makes a big platter of longhorn cookies to cheer on our favorite burnt orange clad boys.

Longhorn shaped Star Cookies

Last year, while eating a leftover Star Cookie, I was creeping looking on Facebook, I saw my family friend, Kacie Skipworth (now Kacie Turner), had posted pictures of stockings that she had had made for her and her now-husband.  The stockings were so unique and so different than any I had ever seen- I knew right then that I wanted to have some made.  Kacie told me that her family friend, Carol, had made them for her and suggested that I Facebook message Carol and have her make me some, too.  So here I was, in January, already working on stockings for the next December.  Sweet Carol said that she would love to make me some stockings, and, as is typical in Wichita Falls, she also happened to know my my family.  Small world, right? Well- it gets smaller.

Ashlea, Kacie, and Me at Richard & Rhonda Poirot's house, Thanksgiving 2008

I went to Andy's sister, Carly's, house over Christmas when we were celebrating with our Wichita Falls families.  There, hanging on her fireplace was her son, Greyson, 's first Christmas stocking, and it was a Carol stocking! "Oh my gosh!" I told Carly, "I just asked Carol to make me some of those!"  As it turns out, Carol lives next door to Carly and Andy's parents, Melody and Bill.  Small, SMALL world.  Below are a few pictures of the stockings that Carol has begun for me, Andy, and my dog, Abbie.  For more products by Carol, click here to visit her Facebook page.

Abbie, Andy, and my stockings that Carol made- thank you!

Thank you so much, Carol, for adding to my Christmas traditions of homemade goodies! Maybe you can enjoy a star cookie while making some of your precious products this holiday season :)

Star Cookies
From a recipe combination of Carolyn Poirot, Great Aunt Dollie, Carol Stalder, Granny Poirot, and Granny Strickland!
Servings: 4-5 dozen (48-60 cookies); Weight Watchers PointsPlus Value:  2/cookie, un-iced (3 pts when iced)

• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp milk
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt

1. Cream butter; gradually add sugar and beat until light and fluffy
2. Beat in egg, milk and vanilla
3. Sift in flour, baking powder and salt
4. Gradually add to creamed mixture
5. Chill for ease in handling
6. Roll out cookie dough on lightly floured surface to 1/8 inch thick
7. Cut with floured cookie cutters into desired shapes
8. Bake on cookie sheets in preheated 350 degree oven 8 to 10 minutes until lightly browned
9. Remove to wire racks to cool

Icing
Great Aunt Dollie
Servings: 60 (for cookies); Weight Watchers PointsPlus Value: 1/serving (on each cookie)

• 1/2 c butter
• 2 c powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Melt butter over medium heat on stovetop
2.  Gradually add sugar and vanilla
3. Gradually add milk
4. Use a small spatula or knife to ice cookies

I want to try to healthify this recipe over the holidays.  While sugar cookies are meant to be buttery and rich, 3 points per cookie is awfully high value for such a small portion.  I'll let readers know how my experimenting goes, if I try it out!


Keep on cookin'!
-Katherine

Mexican Lime Chicken

If there's one type of food I could eat for the rest of my life, it is Mexican food.  Guacamole, queso, fajitas, enchiladas, flautas, nachos, burritos, tacos- I love it all.  Sides? Give me beans- black, pinto, barracho- corn, rice- nom nom nom, love love love.  According to my mom, the first Mexican food I ever ate was at a family owned restaurant in Universal City, the town where my Granny and Grandad Strickland lived.  The restaurant, Leon's, was owned by a man who I called "Leon" and his wife, Nira.  I didn't even know Leon's real first name until he passed away a few months ago, and the obituary informed me that his name was actually Bacilio Leon.  My mom told me that I sat there in my high chair and ate my Cheerios, all the while dipping them in guacamole.  Even though I don't remember this, it clearly should have been an indicator of my future Mexican food addiction.



Leon's Mexican Restaurant, Universal City, Texas



The first Mexican food restaurant I can remember going to is El Rancho Grande in Fort Worth.  I remember being greeted by the twin sister owners, chowing down on chips and hot sauce, and asking my dad for pennies to throw into the blue tile fountain.  I started going back to El Rancho a few years ago, and good thing I did, because that's where I ended up meeting Andy- small world.

El Rancho Grande, Fort Worth, Texas

One night when I was about seven, my dad asked me if I wanted to try a new Mexican food restaurant.  I was skeptical, and wasn't sure how I was going to feel about this non-El Rancho place.  We turned onto Hemphill and pulled into the parking lot of Fiesta Mexican Restaurant.  We walked in, and I was instantly in awe by the tortilla machine off to the left.  The sweet lady making tortillas waved to me, and kept flipping those round patties of corn.  We were greeted by Anita Barriga, and her amazingly friendly, caring family.  The staff- hostesses, cashiers, waiters, and waitresses- was mostly made up of the Barriga family, and they were as kind as could be.

Fiesta Mexican Restaurant, Fort Worth, Texas

I remember that first night that I had chicken flautas for the first time, and I ate the crispy ends before the middle part because they were crunchier.  I ordered a "swirl," a virgin strawberry margarita, and I kept ordering them for the next 13 years.  The first time I went after turning 21, I thought the staff was going to have a heart attack when I ordered a real margarita.  They gave the children paper placemats with a Spanish number word find on them.  When I took friends there with our family, I would challenge them to see who could find the fifteen numbers first- my unsuspecting friends having no idea that I had the word find memorized.  When the line was out the door for people waiting for tables, I would help act as a hostess while I waited on my food.  "How many in your party?  And a name please?  Smoking, non, or first available?"  Then I tried to estimate how long the wait would be- I was probably wrong, but it was worth a shot.

We went to Fiesta almost once a week until I graduated high school and moved to Austin.  When it came down to planning a graduation party, I could think of no place more appropriate than Fiesta.  I had grown up there- watched it nearly double, then triple in size.  I shared smiles as I met new babies born into the Barriga family, and I shared tears when members of the family passed away.  I'm now listed as an organ donor because of Michael Barriga, a family member who died while waiting on a vital organ to save his life.  (Look into organ donation- give the gift of life!) 

When I moved to Austin, I thought I was in Mexican food heaven.  Matt's Famous El Rancho, Santa Rita Cantina, Maudie's, Trudy's, El Arroyo, Iron Cactus, Guero's, The Rio Grande- holy moly, it was never-ending.  Breakfast, lunch, dinner, or happy hour- there was a patio and a margarita waiting on almost every corner.  Tonight, I made Mexican Lime Chicken- not quite the amazingness that is El Rancho, Fiesta, or Austin Mexican food- but delicious, nonetheless.  I made Black Beans & Corn as a side, and that recipe is posted here.  And, yes, of course, I had a margarita while I cooked!

Mexican Lime Chicken

Servings: 2, Weight Watchers PointsPlus Value: 8

• 1/2 c lime juice
• 2 cloves garlic (or 1 tsp pre-minced garlic)
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tbsp chile powder
• 2 tbsp fat free plain yogurt
• 2 chicken breasts

1. In small bowl, mix the lime juice, garlic, cumin, chile powder, and yogurt together
2. Place chicken breasts in a small pan
3. Pour mixture over chicken- cover chicken completely
4. Marinate for 2+ hours, flipping approximately every 30 mins
5. Drain chicken, discard remaining marinade
6. Grill on both sides until done (appr. 7 min on each side, depending on thickness)

The Hilbers Blews

Growing up, there were three places I felt at home.  One, of course, was my quaint two story red brick house built in 1929- not only filled with antiques, but an antique in itself.  My favorite part of this house is a two-way tie between the 250 square foot front porch complete with wooden swing and the country-style kitchen.  If this house was a food, it would be homemade macaroni and cheese.
My second home was yet another red brick house, this one complete with a "mudroom" "boys' room" and closet stuffed full of blankets (the home of the perfect hiding place in thousands of hide-and-go-seek games).  If this house was a a food, it would undoubtedly be a juicy pot roast, complete with mashed potatoes and homemade gravy.
And last, but certainly not least, there was my third home.  In the front yard, this house had the most fantastic climbing tree ever found, and in the backyard, one could find banana trees and hummingbirds.  This house was watermelon, fried chicken, and chocolate cake.  Maybe sugar cookies, too.

These three houses were my safe places.  They were home to my parents and my grandparents.  They were home to Christmas mornings, Thanksgiving dinners, grandchildren, and anyone who rang the doorbell.  Both of my grandmothers, Gertrude Albertina Hilbers Poirot (Granny Poirot) and Marjorie Louise Blew Strickland (Granny Strickland) were amazing cooks.  Actually, amazing doesn't even do these women justice.  They were like Martha Stewart and Paula Deen combined with Emeril Lagasse and Wolfgang Puck.  Yes, they were THAT good.  Maybe they were never on Iron Chef, but they could make pies that made your heart melt.  My mom, Carolyn, is no exception to this family lineage of cooks.  What she didn't already know from Granny Poirot (which was just about everything there was to know about cooking), she promptly learned from Granny Strickland.

As a product of these two environments, cooking comes naturally to me.  In fact, when people say they don't know how to cook, I just blankly stare at them.   I find cooking quite therapeutic.  Although I am, by trade, a fan of therapy, I also believe playing for hours in the kitchen with the women you love (or sometimes just by yourself) can result in a happier, healthier, and more fulfilled self... so, "Comfort Food for the Hilbers Blews" was born.  This blog is for nobody except myself, really.  I want to be able to keep track of both the recipes and the memories with which they come, so here it is.  Someday, I want to be able to pass down this knowledge like these women have passed it on to me.  Every recipe has a first try- a first spoonful or first bite.  This blog is a compilation of those first helpings.  Try them out for yourself if you like- I promise they will make your heart smile.