Star-Crossed Cooks
I devote a lot of my time to comfort food. There are some foods that aren’t just soothing because of their warmth or creaminess (or butter content). Some foods remind you of home, like Proust’s Madeleine. We all have things that we love as deeply for their nostalgia as for their flavor. For me, stroganoff falls pretty high on that list.
Remember when we were talking about cheese enchiladas? Patrice found herself so desirous of some Tex-Mex, she ended up in Dallas! We never miss an opportunity to do some good cooking together. Fortunately, Patrice had time to develop a recipe for some incredibly fabulous Southwest Eggrolls.
I like to pretend, most of the time, that I have a good reason for cooking the things that I do. There are a lot of stories that go into food and often that’s part of the delight of creating something different. There are other times, however, when something sounds smashingly good and without any real explanation, you set about making it happen. Of course, this centers around the strawberry. I’ve never been especially abashed about my love of strawberries. As summer quickly approaches in Texas (it’s already regularly in the 90s), the berry baking has begun. In the best possible way.
My grandmother is a wonderful lady. She’s very sweet, very kind, and a very good cook. She is also quite Southern, having grown up in Alabama and raised her children between Louisiana and Texas. Last summer, while visiting her, my aunts began getting excited because Grandma was making her creamed corn. I was woefully ignorant on the matter. My aunts informed me that true creamed corn has only a few ingredients: corn, butter, milk, and salt.
The Minneapolis hub of Star-Crossed Cooks is still having computer issues. April continues to hold down the fort on Wednesdays. Cross you fingers for next week! Southwestern Egg Rolls are in the queue.
Sometimes, it’s the little things that make all the difference: a splash of bourbon in the Christmas sweet potatoes; the tiny half-smile, enigma of the Mona Lisa; the apostrophe that stands between you and a tirade from a grammar fascist. And sometimes, these tiny changes completely revolutionize the way you’ve done something for a long, long time.
