Friday Five

Someone's in the kitchen...


# Given a choice, and imagining that money and time were no object, would you rather cook dinner, eat out or order in?

Eat out, generally.

# What is the most elaborate meal you've ever prepared yourself or purchased at a restaurant?

I make Thanksgiving dinner every year, with all the fixin's, usually for at least 3 or 4 extra people. It's actually pretty easy, now that I've got the drill down.

# What food do you find yourself making and/or eating way too much?

I eat way too much processed, sugary food. I make an awful lot of pasta dishes. But I've gotten away from making casseroles every day, so I guess that's an improvement (though I actually like casseroles!).

# What was your most disastrous cooking/eating out experience?

There was a period when no matter what way we prepared it, whenever we served chicken to company, it was undercooked. Grilled, baked, whatever: it drooled blood on our plates.

On a trip from Wisconsin to Colorado 15 years ago with my sister and her family, we all got sick from the water at the restaurant where we had dinner in Iowa. It was a long drive that night across the rest of Iowa and Nebraska with all of us moaning about our stomachs....

# Would you rather cook for someone else or have them cook for you?

Depends on who the Someone Else is. If it's Linda, or Amy, I'll sit back and eat! Otherwise, I don't mind doing the cooking if I have time to prep.

I know: this goes against my whole "I hate cooking!" mantra, but when it comes to entertaining it's a whole different thing.