Day 19 - It's a Biscuit Thing

I started the morning making biscuits and gravy, and finished it with chicken and dumplings. After some cold days, it was what we needed. There wasn't anything left to clean. I really only rinsed the pans.

Back in flight school we started a Friday night roaming dinner, with the non-cookers bringing the wine. We were fresh out of college, and looking to learn of the finer things in life...at least I was...wine and food. After the first week, the party became dinner at my house with others brining wine. I was great with that, and my Martha Stewart Living cookbook. I even think that was a few years before her jail stint. I used to feel guilty about using a cookbook...my mom shunned them. Then I remembered, there was a drawer full in her kitchen. Nana had so many, plus they each had those old index card recipe boxes. I kept it up and became fairly decent. I took a few years off when I was single and flying in the fleet, but starting a family brought me back to the galley (not so different from a kitchen after all). I think the reason I had spent time away is that many things take so long to make, and on a boat that is even more pronounced as you can't leave a pot on the stove and leave the house. Enter the pressure cooker...I have always wanted one. Even the old unsafe ones were really almost worth the risks. The modern ones have no apparent risk if used correctly. Even though I make five meals a day for the family most times, occasionally we snack or lunch out, I was limited in dinner options to 30 minutes of prep/cook time. If the hubby isn't home from work by 1800 he has to bring home dinner. I start prep at 1830 for a 1900 meal. Soups and stews have been few and only on weekends when we are staying in. Though, that does normally mean bad weather, and a soup is the best option anyways. Now, I have made a swarth of pressure cooker recipes from the cookbooks I bought, converted a few of my standbys and made up some new ones. This is how to be a great cook, a family and still have time to do everything else you can think of during the day.

Position at Writing: 31.13.797N 129.19.832W @1232 11.7.13