How many of you ladies like to cook?

How many of you do cook nourishing meals?

I was asked recently if I preferred cooking in colder/winter or warmer/summer months. My own preference is in the fall and winter. Thats when my tastes for steamy flavorful soups and stews rises. I also enjoy one pot comfort meals that warm the soul as well as the belly!

I enjoy cooking "creative" meals. Hubby likes cooking the "meat-and-potato" meals...and makes the most amazing soups (and he always makes enough to take over to our neighbours). Since we both enjoy everything each other cooks, it works well.

We try to incorporate as much healthy nutrition as possible into every meal. We use a lot of veggies, the more colourful the better.

My favourite time to cook is fall and winter too. My favourites are also the one-pot stews and chili - both are chock full of veggies and herbs. But my all-time favourite creation is my meatloaf. The recipe is based on my Dad's FAMOUS BBQ hamburger recipe (people used to come from miles around when they knew my Dad was making his BBQ hamburgers at the cottage!). We've spent years perfecting it (Dad never wrote it down and never told any of us the secret ingredient) and we think we're as close as we're ever going to get.

If I'm not cooking dinner, I feel disoriented. Even when I went to see my family, I cooked dinner for everyone all but one night. I love various ethnic dishes, and when I'm feeling really energetic will make some of my favorite vegetarian Indian meals -- one of my faves uses cauliflower ground up fine with garlic and onion, and sauteed, and with spices.

I discovered a really easy yummy roast chicken recipe last year and cook that almost every week. I turn it every 15 minutes for about an hour and a half. I like making kung pow chicken. and I have a good recipe for a Moroccan chicken with cous-cous.

Basically, I love food.

When my kids were growing up I baked a lot -- even used to make cream puffs. Now my kids like to cook. Last summer they had a guacamole making contest and an omelet making contest. One son makes browneis, another makes chocolate chip cookies. We have a traditional family birthday cake recipe form my grandmother that my daughter now knows how to make (yellow cake with bittersweet chocolate filling and chocolate frosting).

In summer, I make an easy chicken fajita dish,and an easy tuna-spinach-tomato spaghetti sauce.

My favorite, easy, quick thing to do these days with vegetables is to broil them -- most often I do this with beets, or sweet potatoes or asparagus -- I do it in the toaster over -- slice the potatoes really thin, sprinkle olive oil and salt, and broil for a few minutes. You can also put them on salad when cold. Same with the beets. If I have the beet greens, I cook them separately.

I also love broccoli rabe (rapini), and kale and spinach, sauteed in olive oil with garlic, and then steamed.

Nope, no cook at this house. Just me and I feel like a doggone cook and waitress most days/nights. I've never been interested in cooking and only do it because I have to. Even so, I do cook healthy meals, overall.

I prefer cooking in the summer, because then I can BBQ just about everything!

DJ, all I can say is "mmmmmmmmmm". Everything you mentioned in your post makes my mouth water. I'm especially intrigued by the cauliflower dish...and I've never thought about broiling beets. Beets are one of my faves...but we always boil them, then lightly saute them in butter (gasp) and basil. How long does it take to broil beets?

EH, it's actually rather quick. You slice them really thin into rounds, and spread them out on a tray -- for me it works better in a toaster oven. Drizzle with olive oil and a little salt. Turn them over once to make sure both sides get done evenly. I'd say maybe 15 minutes? 20?

I also chop up the greens (wash well!) and saute garlic in olive oil, add the greens, a little salt, put on the lid. I use a heavy enameled pot. Sometimes I'll mix the beets and the greens together. I've actually taken that to pot luck dinners and people gobble it up. I was amazed by that one.

I've never thought of adding basil to beets, but will try that.

The cauliflower with onion dish is an Indian one called Gobhi Ka Keema. It doesn't look or taste like cauliflower at all when you're done. Oh, it also has ginger, cayenne, cumin, cinnamon, garam masala, tomatoes, and in the end you add tomatoes and yogurt. I bet you could Google that. I have a little Indian cookbook by Smita Chandra -- it's out of print but you could probably find it. Almost everything in it is excellent and relatively simple.

That's how I like to cook greens (broccoli raab, kale, spinach).

I like to cook in all the seasons. I look forward to grilling in the warm weather and having soups and crusty bread in cold weather. Most days, I cook 3 meals a day. I am an old fashion cook by most peoples standards. Nearly all of the things I make are from scratch. I haven't bake a cake from a box in over 30 years.

I too love to cook but what I enjoy the most is trying out recipes I get from friends. DJ, you have my mouth slobbering all over the keyboard. I don't like beets but I'm inclined to try that anyway because it sounds so delish.

I think the season isn't a factor for me. I just love creating. If I had a ranch, which I don't, I would love to hire Chatty, Cookie, and DJ to be the head chefs...boy, wouldn't that be something?!!!

I have always thought it would be fun to take a cooking course, too. Anyone ever done that?

Oh...oh..oh..one more thing. Want to entertain me? Give me a cookbook to read. I got one of Paula Deen's for Christmas and I do love reading it, even if she is fading in my list of "favs."

JJ -- my sister calls it "gastro-p. o. r. n " (especially the magazines with the food photos).

How many times have you bought a magazine purely because of the picture of food on the cover?!! Here's an interesting question...what foods are the most likely to entice you to buy the magazine?