Not a Foodie, a Concocter

I don't even know how to spell foodie, foody...but I've had very respectable people lately tell me they are foodies. Truly, let's not give in to media, shall we? Calling yourself a "foodie" is to the 2000s what yuppie was to the 1990s. A media driven marketing ploy! Wow. Do I sound bitter about media? I think I'd rather not define myself by terms that the media invented. My son plays soccer and I even have been the team mom, but I will never call myself a soccer mom. If I'm a soccer mom, then I'm a swim mom and a gymnastics mom. And what about the months the kids are in drama? Drama Queen - I mean, mom. I only want to be "Mom". Foodies. If you mean you like food, then say, "I like food." Because I like food and I'm starting to like creating in the kitchen. I'm going to coin a phrase for it - I want to be a concocter.

I've written before about how much I like recipes, but lately I've been trying to make things up in the kitchen like Arnie does. I've decided that will be the most effective way for me to figure out the science part of cooking. For example, at what different temperatures are meats ready to eat? What thickens gravy best? What is the best way to start a stew or a soup? I haven't really a plan. Concocting is really pretty spontaneous for me.

If you know me, you know how unusual this is for my type-A (is that a media term?) personality. I like order and plans and neatness. Which is why living with my husband has been a bit of a challenge in our small house, especially since he is updating our bathroom for us. I do treat him with snacks, not criticism, but I think that is a whole different blog subject.

A couple days ago, I was organizing my canning pantry. I pulled several jars from 2008 and stared them down. One was a cranberry-strawberry sauce that I had made at Thanksgiving in 2008. It was delicious. Why hadn't I used it? Home-canners are cautioned by the greater canning authorities not to keep canned items for more than a year past their canning date, but I know lots of people who do. I felt that I either needed to use these jars all in one shot, or toss their contents. So, I decided to make barbecue sauce and barbecue some chicken. I love fruity barbecue sauces. I researched recipes on the Internet and made a base of sauteed onions, tomato paste, balsamic vinegar, and brown sugar. Then I added the 8 ounce jar of cranberry-strawberry sauce and simmered. Over time, I added salt, pepper, and Worcestershire sauce. The sauce was great, but my barbecue chicken was not. It was blackened on the outside and not done on the inside. My dad would have been proud, though. This is how he thought chicken should be done. I grew up not really understanding why people liked barbecued chicken so much. That night, I gave up. I threw sauce on the chicken and put it in the oven to get it to the right temperature.

The kids and Arnie liked that chicken. They peeled the skin off and spread the sauce all over it. Arnie said it was very tender and delicious. Tonight I tried again. My sauce came from a bottle which wasn't as popular at the table, but the chicken was not blackened. My concoction tonight was a pasta salad with vegetables from my garden, pepperoni (always a huge hit with the kids) and mozzarella cheese. I covered it with a cucumber vinaigrette dressing that I had on hand. Dinner was good. I felt good about my concocting, but think I will consider that roasting time in the oven after the chicken has gotten some time on the que. It seemed to create a more popular chicken.