That looks like a totally cool kitchen!

Seriously? Your hosts and friends don't know who you are??
I'm sure you blew them away with your creations.

BTW: You have an open invitation to cook at my house but don't expect too much more than the kids kitchen.

You are also welcome to come cook at my house. You will find basic spices, but may not be as fresh as you would like, good cookware, and mostly sharp knives. We WILL need to grocery shop, tho!

...sous chefs who knew all about cooking...

It'd be interesting to know if they felt the same about you. :-) I generally find it best not to cook with people, especially good cooks, because everyone has a way that they want things done. I've even noticed that on FN specials when there are multiple "celebrity chefs" doing a show together. Of course they try to pass it off as playful banter, but you can see frustration through it. Most helpful seems to be stay out of the way, help clean up if you can do so without. getting in the way. That's what I appreciate when I'm the one cooking.

Anyway, dcarch, I never knew how handsome you are, in fact if I do say so myself we look kind of similar! Here's me getting ready to cook tonight's dinner.

KD, thank goodness for the toy kitchen, I was able to tell a couple of nosy kids to go play themselves.

Kathy, I donâÂÂt think you want me in your kitchen. Speed is more important to me then neatness when I cook. After a 30 minute in the kitchen, you will need to spend 6 hours to clean up.

Tami, yeah, shopping turn out to be a problem for me in LA, not knowing the area. I did find the big farmers market on Wednesday. There was a fellow selling black and white truffles, $20 an OZ. Not a bad price. I didnâÂÂt buy any because they didnâÂÂt have any truffle aroma. I was looking around to see if I could run into Lars. He lives not that far away.

FOAS, Yeah, we look like twin brothers. LOL!

dcarch

Wow, you do look like twins! LOL

I do like the toy kitchen, and especially the fact that many "real" items, like storage containers and egg cartons are also available to the "cook".

Hey, you could come cook at my house. I have sharp knives, a lot of ingredients, and I'll bet I make an even bigger mess than you do when I cook. If I don't have what you want to cook, well, maybe I could just go catch something, or forage something, or thaw something, LOL.

The MOnkey Princess tells me she wants to learn to roll sushi, you could help with that. I'm trying to figure out what the heck to put into a sushi roll that she'd actually like, but I'm not sure that's possible. Maybe sweet rice and some kind of fruit? A dessert sushi?

Annie

Who else noticed what was missing from the little red kitchen? (Hint: initials s.v.)

LMAO, FOAS!

My kitchen is small and poorly laid out, so most friends' kitchens are better. I usually pick one of their knives and sharpen it. The rough exposed edge on the bottom of a bowl makes a passable sharpening stone. Spices and sauces, well, you never know what you can make from the crusty remnants of several almost empty bottles of randomness.

Annie, you and I will make a great partnership in the kitchen. I like your style.

John, Last time I was in someone else's kitchen, I invented many new recipes. I used many wrong seasonings. LOL!

KD, "Who else noticed what was missing from the little red kitchen? (Hint: initials s.v.)"

No so fast. I did bring my sous vide set up with me. It was a major help.

I probably got a few of my friends convinced to go sous vide.

The chicken dish for instance, I first show them from the USDA chart that it is perfectly safe to go very low temperature, if you can be sure of the accuracy of your cooking system.

So I had the chicken, cooked completely from frozen solid, into total 100% perfectly done with a little pink, tender and juicy, together with the pork ribs. Then I lowered the temperature and put the prime ribs into the same cooker,

All three meats were done perfectly at the same time, and hot. Then I fired up the oven to 500F for the ribs and the chicken to crisp up the skin. The Prime ribs got a quick sear on a cast iron pan.

I was able to socialize with everyone, because once everything was in the sous vide cooker, there was nothing to do. There was no worry of overcooking or under cooking.

dcarch

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I think dcarch was in my Mom's kitchen. Woe be to ye who is so forward as to sharpen her knives. She will verbally blister you for messing with their perfect dullness. DSS and I have learned to bring our own knives if we are cooking at Mom's.

I never knew dcarch and FOAS looked so much alike! Twins separated at birth?

Is it bad that I bring my knives to my mom/sister's when I have to cook? Shame on me. Y'all probably just make do or sharpen their knives for them.

Aw FOAS, I was trying so hard to be in my world, and now I am sucked back into my son's. Minecraft. Ugh. But a phunny foto!

I have long suspected the two of you were brothers. Now, it is proved!
Should 's known you'd bring the sous vide with. You have totally converted my DH now. It's in daily use!

When you are cooking for others and cooking for many, it is so important to have a way to never undercook or overcook. Also to be able to perfectly time your meals.

dcarch

Ok, I will ask. If you were coming to my kitchen to cook, name three things you would want me to have.

Uhhhh, if you mention sharp knives....I don't have a sharpener and I'm not sure mine are supposed to be sharpened or can all knives be sharpened. I hesitate to tell you where they came from.

A few good supermarkets near by (15 minutes drive), a large wood cutting board,a pressure cooker, one non-stick frying pan. Wait, that's four things. :-)

I will sharpen all your knives, I will bring my sous vide system.

I should be able to keep your stomach happen with the above.

dcarch

LOL I'm nowhere near your league, but I can sympathize. My pet peeve is being handed a knife that is "sharp." I did take my knives last summer.

I often end up the designated carver at special dinners with friends. Fortunately, another guest is fantastic at sharpening knives. :)

I'm only missing the pressure cooker! My friends rave about them but I really don't want to add something else to the kitchen. I literally have no where to put it. Let me know when you are coming and I will borrow a pressure cooker : )

My MIL has knives of a brand called "Stay Sharp" which are stored in a kind of holster which theoretically has a built in knife sharpener so that every time you pull it out of the holster it gets sharpened. It doesn't. I, too, take my own knives when I cook at her place :-).
Annie, I make a kind of crossover sushi which has a filling of long thin strips of roast beef tossed in barbecue sauce, with long slivers of spring onion. Monkey princess might like something like that. Also Katsu chicken (not unlike fried chicken), with or without mayonnaise, and a strip of cucumber or avocado, is popular in the authentic sushi places here.

Thanks, Colleen, that's a pretty good idea. She likes chicken and beef, detests BBQ sauce and mayonnaise or any other type of sauce including catsup and mustard. She does like cream cheese and sour cream, but not cucumber or avocado.

Maybe rice, cream cheese, chicken and red pepper strips...

Annie