Thanks to the encouragements of blogging pals, AnnieNC (Churches in Venice) and Maria (My Place in the Sun), I recently decided to join the Slow Travel Sunday Small Bites (SSB) cooking group which begins this Sunday. The idea is this . . . each member picks an ingredient and all the group members makes an appetizer dish using that ingredient and then shares it with the others in the group by posting their recipes and photos on the Slow Talk Gold Forum.
Anyone who knows me will know that this is a great challenge for me. Cooking is not something that I am very good at. My mom was a great cook and so is my sister, but somehow that talent was lost on me. So why participate? Well, first of all, I really like the challenge of doing things that are completely out of my comfort zone. Second, after the Sunday Salad Samplers experience I discovered that I actually enjoyed cooking more than I thought I would. And finally, I really like the group cooking experience. I think it is cool seeing the photos and reading about what others have done.
Since joining the group I have been on the hunt for ideas . . . and so far I have recipes for 8 of the 19 ingredients on the list. Only 11 more to go.
For more on the wonderful and talented members that make up the Slow Travel Sunday Small Bites cooking group and the ingredients they have chosen, visit the Slow Travel Website: HERE
Much thanks to AnnieNC for coming up with the idea of picking an ingredient of the week and then choosing a recipe using that ingredient; Debrah for the idea of making appetizer dishes; Deborah for the idea of the group's name, Small Bites; Maria and her husband for creating the SSB's fabulous Logo; T-Mac, Traveling McMahans for providing the photo that was used for the logo, Kim for setting up the list and schedule for the Sunday Small Bites group on the SlowTalk website and to all the other members who contributed in this pretty cool cooking group idea.
This will be a lot of fun!
That's great that you already have 8 recipes! I have started gathering mine but don't think I have that many yet. It's fun to look for them though.
ReplyDeleteI love to cook but I'm not a pro by any stretch. I do better when I've got a recipe because when I try to improv, sometimes I really mess up.
I'm looking forward to our next challenge and am so glad you decided to join in.
Hi Annie I'm looking forward to this group cooking too. I think you are a fantastic cook from what I've seen you do. Towards the end of the salad cooking I am beginning to understand the different flavors of the herbs and spices more and I think it will get better during the small Bites group cooking. I' m looking forward to it!
ReplyDeleteHave a great Tuesday!
I love learning about herbs and spices. I do have a challenge with salt...sometimes I put too much and other times not enough.
ReplyDeleteI have made my shrimp recipe and it came out great. I think I'll try to make a few more over this long holiday weekend.
I hope you get some nice cooler weather for your Labor Day weekend. I keep seeing things on the news about the wildfires out your way. I hope that they stay away from you and your home!
Hi Annie, salt is a tough spice to manage for me too. I'm impressed that you're done with your shrimp dish already. I should try to get my dishes done earlier in the week too. Good idea to work on some this weekend! Maybe I'll do the same. I plan to make my recipes in groups too which share the same ingrdients. This way I can use all the ingredients before they wilt or spoil.
ReplyDeleteThankfully the fires are not close to me. Thank you so much for your kind thoughts. I feel so bad for the people who lost their lives and or homes. My coworker lives only 5 minutes away and tells me that the air quality is very bad
and ashes covers her car. I am worried for her but she said so far her area is not in any immediate danger.
I hope they can have control soon, although I heard reports that they may not have one hundred percent containment until the 16th. Fire season is always difficult in southern california. I' m hoping for cooler weather too.
Thanks again Annie. Have a great day today.
I'm really excited to follow these Sunday Small bites adventures. I'm sure everyone will come up with brilliant and very different recipes. What a great theme.
ReplyDeleteOh what fun, I don't seem to have the attention span to commit to these weekly food things, but I love following along and drooling over everyone's results!
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of my attention span, we did a family history and much discussion with Sara's psychiatrist, after which he said point blank that she gets her ADD from me. (Things like my horrible lack of focus in university suddenly make sense!)
Hi Barb, I agree with you 100%. I think this group will come up with some really amazing appetizer dishes.
ReplyDeleteHi Anne, I'm glad that you like following along. I enjoyed following along too. It seems like you got through college just fine even with your lack of focus and I'm sure Sara is adjusting and doing very well in her university studies...I've learned that there is a lot of strength in all of us no matter what challenges we face. I bet she inherited your strength and heart as well.
Thanks again Barb and Anne for your comments. Let the cooking begin . . .
Oh yeah, I've definitely made the ADD work for me. More as I got older though, university wasn't a time I'd want to relive! I've read that highly intelligent people cope with ADD much better...clearly that's why I've managed so well! lol I'm very hopeful that Sara will have a better year this year.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your kind words, Kathy :)
Kathy, I'm so impressed that you have already 8 recipes lined up! I have only one, which is the one for tomorrow. I made it last night and it was a really good Indian recipe.
ReplyDeleteI think this series will be so much fun because of the variety of recipes.
BTW, yesterday while browsing a book I have on appetizers, I saw a recipe for fried garbanzos. I'm going to give this one a try soon. I love garbanzos but would never have thought of frying them. I think it's a Greek recipe.
Hi Maria, don't be too impressed. I had 8 recipes but didn't have one for this week! :) Go figure. I finally found something interesting and ran to the store to get the shrimp and cilantro and voila.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. I think this will be a fun cookout too, because of what I'm sure will be a very diverse and delicious collection of great recipes.
That's cool that you found a great Garbanzos recipe. I think I found an interesting recipe but I'm not quite set on it quite yet. I'll be interested to see how your garbanzo recipe turns out. I'm sure it will be very tasty.
Thanks Maria for your comments. I'm really looking forward to the cooking group series too... Hope you're having a great weekend!
I don't even know what photo I supplied, funny!
ReplyDeleteHi Dana, :) LOL! that is funny. You gave Maria a really wonderful photo for the SSB cooking group! BTW, glad to hear you are going to the Czech Republic. You'll love it there I think!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments and have a great trip!