Wednesday, January 21, 2009

On making do

Things I've learned so far this week:

- Baking at an altitude of 7,000+ feet isn't terribly difficult, provided that one takes a few precautions.

- When shopping for vegetables in Big Sky, MT in the winter, frozen is definitely your best bet.

- Cakes that are supposed to be baked in bundt pans don't necessarily translate well to 9x13" pans.

- When cooking for a group of very active people, most of them guys, a pot of chili that's meant to feed 20 only feeds 10.

- There are people in this world who don't consider measuring cups part of basic kitchen equipment inventory. We are renting their house.

- Dull knives are far more dangerous than sharp knives. (Don't worry, no accidents.)

6 comments:

bekah said...

Hey Annie!
This is Bekah from U of C. I've been keeping up with your blog, and I thought your comment about the lack of measuring cups was funny. Last year, we rented a house in Park City, and they had a "fully stocked" kitchen also, except no cheese grater or cutting board! However, they did have multiple cigar cutters. Happy cooking!

Bee said...

It sounds like a definite challenge! (What is the worst thing? No fresh veg? Or larger than average appetites?) Did you end up having to order out for pizza?

We are having chili tonight, btw.

Anne said...

Bekah! How are you? Glad you piped up. :) I don't understand these "fully stocked" houses without basic implements. The house we rent at Joshua Tree is the same way.

Bee - I think the lack of fresh veg had me more frustrated than the larger than average appetites. I had a few nights of other people cooking to see how much people ate, so I knew that I needed to make a lot of food. A pot of "20 servings" chili, a small whole chicken, and two batches of "9 servings" cornbread. There are maybe two small bowls of chili left, two pieces of cornbread, and no chicken. I think everyone got plenty to eat. Almost no one touched the spiced apple cake (with creme anglaise on the side) until today, and now it's mostly gone.

As for the veg: despite the astoundingly dismal selection and quality of the fresh veg--I've never seen a squash with quite so much mold on it--they had frozen in-pod edamame. So I got two bags, cooked them, and served them as the meal's vegetable.

Bee said...

Anne - I don't know if it's our proximity to Heathrow (and Europe) or what . . . but we have the most amazing produce here all of the time. It can put eating seasonally to the test at times . . .

Supersaps said...

Squash with mold?!

Brave Sir Robin said...

I have never been in a vacation rental that had adequate kitchen gear.

I usually end up buying something and leaving it there for the next person.

I hope you didn't spend all of your time in the kitchen!!