So, you might ask, why haven’t you made recipe 100 yet you lazy bum? Well, I have a pretty good excuse – I’ve been sick as a dog! Yep, I’ve had some kind of stomach flu from hell that I’m finally recovering from, but for the past couple of days I’ve lived off plain crackers and ginger ale with generous sides of Pepto Bismol. I’ve wanted to make something special for my 100th recipe, and I figure that since it’s also my birthday week I should do some kind of cake, but until I’m fully recovered I don’t think cake is a great idea. I’m hoping tomorrow I will be able to work some kitchen magic again because I miss both cooking and eating real food.
Still, as I get close to being halfway through this project, I thought it might be nice to reflect on the Me n’ Martha Project. It’s funny, when I got this book it didn’t occur to me that I would actually attempt to make everything in it, you all can thank Jeff for that! He looked through the book and said “If we were rich you could do a “Julie and Julia” with this book and cook everything in it!” Although he didn’t say that as a dare, I decided to take it as one. I knew it would be an interesting challenge to get through Martha’s entire book even though I’m pretty far from rich and I’d have to do some substitutions. Venison, for example, is not easy to get and costs over $80 to have delivered from the fabulous Broken Arrow Ranch. Sadly, I can’t afford to do that so I substituted pork and it tasted great. Part of the challenge is trying balance the high-brow with the low-brow in Martha’s eclectic cookbook and find a way to make it fit my budget. And that’s really been the hardest part of doing this, because as car repairs busted my already precarious financial situation, my postings became less frequent. But I’m a very determined person and if I set my mind to something I’m gonna make it work no matter what! Let’s take a look at what I have made since I started this project on May 22nd:
I’ve cooked 24 Dinners, 29 Desserts, and under the category I call Appetizers, Lunch and Brunch I’ve made 43 recipes! Not too shabby, if I must toot my own horn (toot! toot!).
What were my favorites? There have been so many great dishes that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed that it’s hard to pick favorites, but I’ll try. I’d say the Chicken Enchiladas Verdes was one of the best dinners I’ve ever made, not just from this book, but in my entire life! The desserts are even harder to chose from but I’d call it a tie between the Whoopie Pies and the Key Lime Pie. As for the rather broad category of Appetizers, Lunch and Brunch I think that the Asparagus With Prosciuitto and Lemon Sabayon was the most unique delicacy.
Any not-so-favorites? Eh, I can’t say I was happy with my Johnnycake efforts since it turned to mush! I also wasn’t happy with how my Lasagna turned out, and that one will certainly haunt me until I try it over again and get it right because lasagna is an important part of my Italian heritage.
All in all this has been a developmental and fun challenge that I’ve given myself. My hat is off to Martha for giving me the tools to take my kitchen creativity to a new level. Onward to 100 and beyond!
(Here’s one of my favorite photos so far of the yummy Whoopie Pie! Betty Boop and Bimbo are celebrating the Me n’ Martha Project halfway point LOL!)
