Welcome!

It's no accident you stumbled upon this blog. Truly, this blog is an accident... in the making, that is... er... well... sort of. I somehow cooked up the idea with the help of a short odd dream I had of Julia Child. In the dream, Julia was encouraging me to begin a cooking blog. Once I awakened, I completely forgot about the dream.

Later that day as I puttered around my make-shift kitchen—more on that later—cooking the family breakfast, my daughter randomly suggested that I should start a cooking blog. As a matter of fact, that was not the first time she brought the idea to my attention. I always had an answer for her: "I'm too shy! I'm too scared! I have no... kitchen!" 

My daughter mentioning a food blog again reminded me of the dream. That day something clicked and I thought it was as good a time as any to take the food blog plunge. 

A little back story about me... in 2003 my family and I built a top floor addition onto my parents ranch-style home. The only drawback: the town would not allow us to install a kitchen, not even a wet bar! Some 10 years later, the town changed their laws and we would've pulled the trigger as soon as we were notified, but alas, there was only one small detail missing... the money! 

I tried on numerous occasions to win us an all expense paid kitchen. I enthusiastically entered every dream kitchen contest known to mankind, both online and on television... but to no avail. One can hope, can't one? Well, I say that in retrospect because I once heard that hope deferred can make the heart grow sick. 

Oh, well. Back to the drawing board, or should I say the drawing blog... Here I sit, typing my very first blog entry. I'm not as ambitious as Julie Powell. I'm not trying to cook my way through one of Julia Child's cookbooks. I'm just trying to cook some good and nutritious food for my family of five without a kitchen. It is my greatest hope that this blog will become a place for people in a similar situation to find the inspiration they need to still enjoy cooking. You'll be able to see what you can accomplish with limited space and without standard kitchen appliances, i.e. stove, oven, and sink (yes, even without a kitchen sink - but that's another story altogether!). 

So grab a cup of the warm beverage of your choice—today, mine is vanilla rooibos with a little honey—and enjoy a taste of things to come.

Olive Oil Cornbread

1 egg

1/2 cup extra light olive oil

1/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed

1/4 cup granulated organic cane sugar

2 cups corn meal

1 cup AP flour

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 3/4 cups half and half

1/4 cup white vinegar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (I use an older model of this). Line a 9" x 13" quarter sheet pan with parchment paper overlapping the sides. Spray generously with non-stick spray. 

Wet Ingredients:

In a small bowl, mix together white vinegar and half and half. Let sit to thicken for 15 minutes. You are basically making homemade buttermilk.

In a separate bowl, add the egg, olive oil, and both sugars. Whisk until incorporated. Set aside. 

Dry Ingredients:

Whisk together the corn meal, flour, kosher salt, and baking soda in a large bowl. 

Combine the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Fold gently until lightly incorporated. Do not over mix. The batter will be on the thin side, somewhere between pancake and waffle batter. Pour into the prepared pan. Using an offset spatula, spread to the edges of the entire pan. 

Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into center of pan comes out clean. Let cool for 5 minutes. Using the parchment paper, lift the cornbread out of the pan and slide onto a cooling rack. 

Dig in and enjoy!