What's Cookin' Tonight!

by Amy

I love to cook. When I got married, 8 years ago, I had no idea how to cook! But, suddenly, I had a husband that wanted to eat ~ who was tired of eating hamburger helper and pasta-roni all the time. So, with the help of many women around me, I learned how to cook. Now, I love it! One really fun thing about living over here is that I have to make more things than I used to. I have previously mentioned the tortillas and salsa that I made, and just the other day Savannah and I made banana bread and homemade English muffins. (Did you know that English muffins are not baked in the oven, but the dough is cooked in a skillet! Who Knew!?!?) It has been tons of fun for me to learn how to cook new things in this new country. And, I hope that when we get a house-helper, she'll teach me how to cook Asian food. (Yes, I'm still liking the food around here, although, I am very thankful for my own kitchen so I don't have to eat it everyday!)

When cooking new things like English muffins, I was very prepared for failure. After all, I'm not even sure I bought the right kind of flour at the store. Plus, I've never been too successful at making breads. So, when they turned out, I was super excited! Well in the past few days, we made two purchases that (I thought) would make my life much easier. We finally found a mixer and a crock pot. When I lived in America, I used both of these items regularly, often several times a week. So, I have been hunting all around to find these items, and with the help of a local friend, I'm happy to report that my new, wonderful kitchen, now is home to a rare mixer and easy-to-clean-kind of crock pot. So, all that to say, with the recent success's in my kitchen, nothing prepared me for what we had for dinner tonight!

I meet with my language tutor on Wednesday afternoons, so I was sure this would be the right time to try our new crock pot. And, when we went to that big city a couple of weeks ago, I bought 5 precious cans of cream of chicken soup. So, I just knew tonight would be the perfect night for Creamy Italian Chicken. (If you've every been a guest in my home, there's a good chance you've eaten this dish!) This meal is so easy! You just put your raw chicken breasts in the crock pot and cover with 1/4 cup of water and a package of Italian dressing mix (imported from the states, of course!) Then, you let your chicken cook for several hours. 1-2 hours before eating you mix (with a delightful mixer) cream of chicken soup and cream cheese and pour it over the chicken. Served over rice with warm bread....mmmmmm..... It's comfort food at it's best! Well, as I'm finishing up my language session, Brad calls me from the kitchen, "Aim, you better come look at your crock pot. I don't think this is what you are expecting." He was right... At that time we noticed my lid had a small little hole to let steam out. Therefore, my chicken was dry and starting to burn on the bottom of the pot. Oh no! And, there's this really thick black burnt goo on the sides of my pot. I know it will take forever to clean.... Well, after picking up the chicken and having Brad taste a bit, we decide he caught it just in time! I add some more water and finish my tutorial session. Then I add a little more water to the crock pot along with the cream of chicken/cream cheese mixture. As I stir the chicken, it begins to fall apart because it's so tender, as all Creamy Italian Chicken should be. I'm relieved! I put rice in my new rice maker and assume all is going to be great. About 20 min. later, I check the crock pot only to discover that all the caked on burnt stuff on the side is melting into the cheesy mixture, turning it brown. My husband, who actually likes things a little on the burnt side, assures me it will be OK if we just transfer the food to the oven. So, into the oven it goes..... About 45 min. later we open the rice cooker to discover crunchy, even a little burnt rice. I soon find out, it's the perfect complement to the burnt tasting Creamy Italian Chicken..... We did also have green beans and fresh, hot bread that I made in my new bread maker.... It was pretty good, but had a hole in one side.

So, to sum it up, I've had a blast cooking new things in this country, but when it comes to simple favorites, I've got to work on them a bit! Brad thinks I had unrealistic expectations since I was using three new appliances for the first time. (Crock pot, Rice cooker, and Bread maker) Maybe I'll take them one at a time for the next few meals and closely monitor as they cook.