Fruit Parfaits

Last nigh Tyler made a "chopped salad" of honey crisp apples and clementines. She layered it in with Greek yogurt and honey in "fancy" glasses. It was good, but she said she'd leave out the clementines next time. I thought that would be a good idea too.

Linguini with Carrots and Andouille

This week Tyler created a pasta dish with garden-fresh carrots (here's the picture of her harvesting them), andouille sausage, peas, tomatoes, chicken stock, and topped with Parmigiano Reggiano cheese.  She was hard pressed to choose ingredients, as the fridge and pantry were a little bare. It certainly was an original, creative creation.

Celery, Onion, Brown Sugar...Concoction

If you have trouble seeing the video from email or iPad, just go to www.tckculinaryjourney.blogspot.com to watch. This goes for all videos (I understand that automatic post emails do not show the videos. Sorry for the technical difficulties, if you're having them.)

We All Have Our Thing

Last night while getting ready for bed Tyler asked me, "Mom, do you ever just feel like sweating onions just for no reason? You know, just sautéing them to cook them, not to brown them?" I said, "Do you mean do I enjoy sweating onions when I'm starting to make soup or something?" She replied, "No, do you ever feel like cooking onions, just cause it's fun, not to use them for anything? I do."

She and I made butternut squash soup for dinner and she managed the onions, measured and added the other ingredients and did the stirring throughout the cooking. Apparently she realized (or was reminded in the process) she really enjoys cooking onions. I guess I'll know what's going on if I wake up to the smell of onions cooking one of these mornings.

Their Herb Salad

Tyler and her BFF, Lexi, love to make "herb salad" in the back yard. They've spent hours this summer picking, chopping and slicing herbs from the herb garden and tend to add whatever else they find. Today they used sage, lavender, chives, garlic chives, and basil added cherry tomatoes, cucumber and lemon zest. They will usually eat a spoonful or two, usually claiming it's delicious. Cooking is new to Lexi but she's enjoyed coming over to do it and is getting to be good at it too. Here's the finished product. You can see on their faces the herbs are a little strong:)

We had fun today making colored cupcake sandwiches to take to Auntie Kelly's tomorrow. Took us a while to make, but the pretty, tasty finished product was worth it.

Pickled Carrot and Cucumber

Blast from the Past

Here are some pics of Ty's pre-culinary blog creations:
Making Cupcakes (July, 2010)

"Making Phil's Birthday Cake (August, 2010)

Caprese Salad (September 2010)

Preparing Guacamole (February, 2012)

Peeling Asparagus to Grill (March, 2012)

Making an Herb Salad (February 2012)

Toasty Eggs

This morning we enjoyed Tyler's soon to be famous Toasty Eggs creation; Great Harvest lo-carb cinnamon bread, cubed and toasted in olive oil and butter. Then eggs were cooked to over medium, and were broken up into the toasty bread cubes. Really yummy!

In the Beginning...

Tyler and I have been cooking and baking together for as long as I can remember. She's got a fantastic palate, a creative mind, and a general love for cooking. I started teaching her knife skills a few years ago, and she now has better skills than many adults. One of the top items on her Christmas list last year was a chef's knife, and Grandma and Puck obliged with a beauty from Williams-Sonoma. The knife is absolutely fantastic-just the right size for her hand and very, very sharp (I use it all the time and love it myself.) I think everyone thought I was crazy when I handed her sharp knives to use at the age of 3, but we've had very few (all things considered) injuries, and fortunately she's not lost any fingers in the process.

About a year ago, we made Tuesday night Tyler's night to cook dinner. She has made some amazing dinners, has had endless fun, and has learned a ton in the process. The TV shows, Chopped, Food Network Challenge and Cupcake Wars have been tremendously influential in her cooking, so most of the time when we cook together we're pretending we're on TV and/or in a timed challenge. She loves to peruse the grocery store isles for ingredients, all the while looking for inspiration for that special dish. I frequently spend more money on her dinners than I'd like and purchase things I'd rather not purchase, but I've decided that's all part of letting her be as creative and independent as possible. The funniest is her brainstorming in the store, saying things like, "I'm thinking pasta, maybe with seafood, maybe using some Mexican flavors, lots of cinnamon and cayenne."

More recently we've gotten away from the Tyler Tuesday routine because having a set day made it seem like a chore instead of fun. Instead she's started cooking most nights throughout the week, basically just because she has fun doing it. In recent weeks, she (with a little help from me) has made some absolutely fantastic pasta dishes and this morning made a very tasty egg over diced, sautéed bread chunk, dish. Phil and I find ourselves looking at each other in utter surprise when her unconventional combinations of ingredients come together and really work. She's certainly taught me to broaden my culinary horizons!

With all that said, I've decided to start another blog so we can document Tyler's creations so we don't forget any more steps of her culinary journey (in hindsight I should have started this three years ago - I won't beat myself up over it.) I will peruse older pictures to see if I can find some of her past creations and will post them soon.

I love this kid more than anything else in life and can't get over how fortunate I am to have a front row seat to experience her many journeys.  I am one lucky mom!