On a Wing and a Prayer

Hello again, friends, and welcome to another installment of the Blog!

Well, it's getting warmer (at least it's supposed to be getting warmer), and in my humble opinion it's time to start thinking about dusting off the grill and remembering those good old summer pool-party recipes.  Ah yes, nothing beats a hot summer afternoon, a dip in the pool, a cold, frosty adult beverage, and a happily smoking grill cranking out all the summer classics for friends and family.  And what does it mean when summer starts coming?  Well, that football season is just around the corner, of course...but alas, it's April.  No matter, we can still make it feel like football season with one of my favorite gridiron classics: chicken wings!!

Here's the thing about wings, folks: it could be ten below zero or 105 in the shade, and you will always find a variety of wings under the cabana in my back yard.  It's the perfect finger food, the perfect vehicle for a plethora of exciting and interesting sauces, and - like BBQ - demands the respect deserving of a closely-guarded culinary secret.  For every backyard epicurean you talk to, you'll find as many "secret recipes" for this summertime classic.

Now, I'm aware that not everyone has access to a fryer (which, arguably, makes some absolutely delicious wings), and thankfully you don't have to.  In fact, I much prefer the way of preparing wings that I'm going to describe here.  So, in case you got up from reading this post and careened headlong into a tantrum worthy of the most agitated 5-year-old, fear not...I've got a solution.  So sit back down, take a deep breath, and read on.

Thankfully, most grocery stores carry bags of frozen chicken wings for your convenience, and I personally see no earthly reason why you wouldn't go that route...unless you have some burning need to chop up chicken carcasses.  If you're that kind of cat, then more power to ya!  Quite honestly, when I've got a house (or backyard) full of company, and it's too nice outside to waste time chopping up chicken, thawing out a bag of wings and making it happen will pay dividends down the road (and prevent you from letting everyone else have all the fun).

Ok, let's get started with that bag of frozen wings.  For all of my local friends out there, just pop on by the Fresh & Easy store and grab a 4# bag of those glorious morsels and stick them right into a bath of warm - not hot - water as soon as you get home.  They will take awhile to thaw, but keep the water at that nice bathwater temperature, and recycle it when the wings chill it to the point where it's slowing down the thaw process.  Once they're thawed and ready to rock, it's time to start thinking about your basic marinade.

The basic marinade is just intended to get your wings into the right frame of mind to become little chunks of awesome.  You can go as simple or as complicated as you please, but remember this: don't add so many things so as to pigeon-hole them into one flavor profile.  For example, if you love Italian flavors, and douse your virgin wings in olive oil, basil, marjoram, and oregano, it very well may clash with any sort of BBQ or hot sauce that you would love to dress them with.  So, less is more up front.

Also, I mentioned not requiring a fryer for your wings, and that brings me to my next point with the marinade.  This preparation is for the grill, so you've got to choose an oil that's not going to smoke too much or immediately burst into flame when you get it onto that ripping hot grill.  Olive oil has a low smoke point, and isn't an ideal choice, even though it may be your go-to oil.  I would recommend canola or peanut oil, which both have higher smoke points than olive oil.  Of course, if you would like to see for yourself...go right ahead.

So, your basic marinade is...well, basic.  It's a neutral canvas for preparing your wings to be the sauce-vehicles that they'll end up being.  So, dump your wings into a large bowl, and add:

Oil of your choice - about a cup
Kosher salt - about 2 Tbs.
Freshly ground black pepper - about 2 tsp.
Sweet paprika - about 1 tsp.
Cayenne pepper (if you like to feel the heat) - about 1/2 tsp.

Mix thoroughly until the seasonings are evenly distributed, either with your hands or with a spoon.

Now don't forget about basic food safety when handling raw chicken.  Make sure to wash your hands thoroughly with a good antibacterial soap before and after handling it, even if you use latex gloves.  You can't be too careful, and you don't want to ruin your experience with a nasty foodborne illness.  And don't forget to sanitize your workspace when you're finished.  You don't want to risk cross-contamination where raw chicken is concerned.  Half the speed, twice the caution, folks!

While the wings are sitting in their happy-bath, start up your grill and prepare it for about 375-400 degrees.  You want to get a good sear on the wings to seal in the moisture and not turn them immediately into chicken jerky.  Once the grill is nice and hot, place your wings evenly on the grill and cover.  Let them sear and cook for about 5-7 minutes, or until they start getting browned on the bottom with some nice grill marks.  Then, turn and let them cook on the other side in the same manner.  Keep monitoring and turning your wings - ensuring that if the smaller ones are getting too dark, you move them to the cooler portion of the grill - until the juices run clear, or until you've gotten rid of all the pink color.  They should be a nice golden brown color (thanks partly to the rendered chicken fat frying on their outsides).

Toss your wings in a separate bowl or bowls (please, please, please DO NOT use the same bowl as you used for the raw chicken!!!) with your favorite sauce(s), and serve with sliced celery and blue cheese dressing.  Mmmmmmmm!!

Now, sauces and garnishes will be featured at another time, but if you would like any ideas for homemade sauces, or some ideas for my favorite store-bought sauces to use, hit me up at fearnotyourkitchen@gmail.com

That's it for this installment, friends!  Have a blast pretending that it's football season, and if you have questions or comments, I would love to read them.  Until next time...cheers!!

Finding Your Inner 5-Year-Old

Hello again, my friends!  Thanks, as always, for taking the time to look me up; today's article will be sure to strike an old nerve (in a good way).

My wife and I just celebrated the arrival of our first son, which was a beautiful and emotional experience for us both.  So, in an attempt to honor this most special of moments with my blog, I decided to choose a topic appropriate for the occasion; something that most everyone I grew up with can relate to, and something that still brings back fond childhood memories one bite at a time.  Today we're going to explore a couple of childhood staples I grew up with, followed by some ways to cater to the more "adult" palate.  Who says you can't spoil your inner child anyway?

When I think back to summers back on our family farm in Montana, I distinctly remember getting kicked out of the house after breakfast and only being allowed back inside under the most specific of circumstances: lunchtime, dinnertime, or natural disaster.  And when the dinner bell rang, my mom always had something hot and delicious waiting for us.  In that spirit, I want to devote today's post both to the childhood favorites I remember, and to my new son, who will be enjoying them in just a few short years.  Today we'll be talking about Grilled Cheese Sandwiches and Macaroni and Cheese. Oh, and one more thing...you're welcome!

In my opinion, cheese is a kid's best friend.  Put cheese on or in anything, and you're sure to have some sort of favorite on your hands.  I don't really remember the first time I ever had macaroni and cheese, or even a grilled cheese sandwich (always served with tomato soup in my house), but I know that I loved them then, and I love them even more now.  Only today, they tend to overstay their welcome on my waistline.  In my opinion these two simple dishes are the perfect cross of fun food for your kids and totally unnecessary comfort food for the adults :)  And as an adult, you probably have had a lot more exposure to different flavors and different foods during your life, so you can throw a little flair into the mix and get creative.

So, let's start with the grilled cheese sandwich.  When my mom made them, they were no more than white bread with American cheese slices (or Velveeta) toasted on both sides in a frying pan with butter.  Simple, quick, and always hit the spot.  And like I mentioned, we always served grilled cheese sandwiches with tomato soup for dipping.  I still do that to this day, and I'm just as happy with tomato soup out of the can as I am with a freshly made roasted tomato and basil soup (there's your first way of getting creative).

Now, depending on your preferences (and, of course, what your kids like if you're cooking for them too), you have a couple ways to doll up the classic grilled cheese.  Your options for change could include, but are not limited to: the bread, the cheese, spreads, and extra toppings.

First, you can change up your bread.  I've seen grilled cheese made with everything from pumpernickel to standard white bread, and here's the trick to finding the best one for you: try a few and see what you like.  For me, I prefer a really tangy sourdough bread.  The flavor of sourdough meshes really nicely with the types of cheeses I like to put on my sandwiches, and provides a contrast to the sweetness of the tomato soup when I start dipping the sandwich.  Also, I find that sourdough holds its shape and texture nicely when you start to smash it together and dip it in liquid.

Next, and most obviously, you can experiment with cheeses, and if you're an adult who's making some good old-fashioned comfort food for you and/or a guest or three, this is where the fun part is.  I love cheese of all shapes, sizes, and flavors, and when I make grilled cheese at home, this is the perfect opportunity to head to the local market and load up on all sorts of artisan cheeses.  And for those few that don't make the final cut for my sandwich, they have the honor of becoming part of an appetizer plate and being served with a delicious bottle of wine.  It's really a win-win for everyone involved.  My personal palate gravitates toward cheeses with robust, salty flavors.  Cheddar of all kinds, Parmesan, asiago, and gruyere are all regular attendees at my sandwich parties.  Occasionally, however, I'll choose something more mild and pair it up with a spread that imparts the robust flavors lacking in the cheese.  If you've read my blog before, you'll know that my cooking is all about balancing flavors, and not letting a whole bunch of assertive ingredients have a battle royale on your taste buds.  A good example of this would be to choose something like buffalo mozzarella and spread the inside of the sandwich with a nice, fresh pesto.  You get the gooey, delicious (and slightly salty for good, fresh mozz) flavor of the cheese, and the saltiness and punch of the Parmesan and garlic in the pesto.

Now if toppings are something that make or break your sandwich, you could apply the same sort of flavor-balancing logic as with the pesto example above.  If you weren't inclined to make a pesto, or don't want to put a messy spread on your sammy, you could consider some sort of cured meat (calabrese, soppresata, prosciutto, etc.) to add depth to the sandwich, and provide a salty or spicy counterpoint to a mild cheese.  You could even add a handful of thinly-sliced pepperoncini or other pickled pepper to the mix.  Of course, if you're not long on flavor-balancing, feel free to load it up.  Go nuts with an habanero pepper jack cheese, a spicy brown mustard, and some sliced chiles.  That would be sure to rip your face off, but as long as you're smiling, who cares :)  As long as you keep the basic spirit of the grilled cheese, it's an empty canvas for you to experiment.

So there are a few ideas for your next foray into the land of grilled cheese.  Now, let's switch gears just a little bit and talk about the other of my two childhood favorited: macaroni and cheese.

As with the grilled cheese discussion, getting sexy with your mac really boils down to the pasta you decide to use, and how you make the cheese sauce.  Add-ons and/or toppings can also be a part of the mix, but I'm not going to devote a great deal of time to them.  Try a few out (bacon, chiles, garlic, etc.) and see what you think.  Of course, you can always just get it out of the box, but what kind of fun is that, really?  When it comes to the pasta, choosing a good vehicle for maximum cheese transportation and bite-sized convenience is key.  You could always go with standard macaroni, but other acceptable options could be: cavatelli, cavatappi, fusilli, penne, ziti, or even farfalle.  Each of these types of pasta have compact, bite-sized shapes and some sort of texture on their surface to transport the maximum amount of cheese to your pie-hole with the minimum amount of effort.

Cheese and the resulting cheese sauce construction is next.  My advice is to search for a basic recipe on how to make the sauce (there are literally tons out there), and then start to remove/replace items until you find one that's a winner.  The basic sauce usually looks like butter, cheese, some sort of milk product, and a thickener.  I personally am not a fan of using a thickener (like flour), opting instead for using the type and amount of cheese to thicken the sauce.  In order to make the sauce velvety and smooth, I always use some sort of dairy.  Typically, I opt for whole milk or cream.  On occasion, if I'm constructing something really flavorful and assertive, I'll even use a little buttermilk.  Consider adding yogurt, sour cream, or creme fraiche for an extra tangy punch.  For the cheese, like with the grilled cheese sandwich, I personally like big, salty flavors, but also you have to think about how it melts together.  Some cheeses tend to be grainy when they melt, and require an inordinate amount of milk or cream to tame them down, and sometimes you just don't get there.  If you're just not sure, you could always just use something you're familiar with (a basic block of cheddar or monterey jack) and get that down before branching out.  This is a great opportunity to get familiar with lots of different kinds of cheese, and have a lot of fun doing it.  If you're in the mood for something way off the reservation, try a mix of Stilton and gorgonzola (if you've never heard of them, then this might be a great chance to try them!).  That's about as funky as you'd want to get with mac and cheese.  Pair it up with a big red wine, sprinkle on a generous handful of crispy bacon, and garnish with a few turns of black pepper.  Magnifico!

There are literally too many permutations of flavors and ingredients to list here, but hopefully this is a conversation-starter for your next foray into these childhood classics.  Whether you're cooking at home for your little ones, or taking a trip down memory lane with some comfort food, don't be afraid to experiment and come up with new and exciting combinations of flavor.  Your biggest guideline is your own palate.  As always, if you have some great new combinations to share, or even if you just want to make a comment on this post, I'd love to hear it.  And feel free to email me at fearnotyourkitchen@gmail.com.

Until next time, my friends, I wish you happy cooking.  Take care!

Meatloaf: Friend or Foe?

Good day to you, my friends!  Today's installment is intended to demystify one of those old American family dishes that may or may not have struck fear into your heart when you were young.  I speak, of course, of meatloaf.  Now, if the mere mention of that word didn't cause you to run screaming, you might be able to use a couple of these nuggets and reinvent this most quintessential of American family staples.

Ok, so if we break it down to its most basic elements, what is meatloaf?  If you've cleverly answered "well, it's meat baked into a sort of loaf-ish shape," then you may have missed your calling as a stand-up comic.  Read on, I beg you!  Ok, but seriously, meatloaf is quite simply meat baked together with some sort of binder, and flavored traditionally with a tomato-based product like tomato sauce or ketchup.  It is a very versatile dish in that it is truly a blank canvas for whatever flavor combination you can dream up.

The traditional meatloaf that you may fondly (or not so much) remember from your childhood was a mixture of ground beef, eggs and another binding agent like oatmeal, crackers, or bread crumbs, and tomato sauce or ketchup.  Add a few sliced onions and maybe another layer of ketchup on top, and voila! you have meatloaf.  That's the most basic of preparations that I can think of, and forms the foundation for your favorite blend of flavors and spices.

You may read the previous paragraph and say to yourself: "well, it's no wonder I hated the stuff when I was a kid; there's nothing to it!"  Well, in many ways you're absolutely right.  Meat, tomato sauce, binder, and sliced onions is a combination that would send any adolescent screaming for the hills.  Thankfully, due to new innovations in cooking (well, not that new...), we can doctor up this basic recipe to cater to even the most delicate of palates.

In building your masterpiece, it's important to remember a few basics; things that will form the foundation of the meatloaf and give you the body and texture on which you can build your flavor profile.  First is the meat you decide to use.  If you want to build a basic meatloaf foundation, then simple ground beef is the ticket.  85% lean ground beef (like you'd use for good burgers) will give you plenty of flavor from the meat and the fat while not being too greasy when it cooks.  Additionally, the fat content will keep the meat moist, where a leaner mix of ground beef needs a little help to stay moist.  Now here's your first opportunity to get creative. If you prefer a more Italian flair, then you can mix a bit of Italian-style sausage into your meat mixture.  If you prefer Southwestern flavors, then you could add chorizo.  If you don't feel like adding multiple kinds of meat to your meatloaf base (or can't find them), then read on.

Whether or not you decide to mix up your meat mix, you can impart different flavor profiles to the meatloaf with the addition of spice combinations that will meet your meat needs.  We'll get to that in a minute.  First, we need to cover a couple more basics.  You need to add a binding agent to the meatloaf to add body and texture; basically to make it a better vehicle for all those flavors you're going to add, and also to treat it as something other than a big hamburger, which is all it is without the binder.  Oatmeal, crushed saltine crackers, or bread crumbs will fit the bill, but only if you remember to combine them with eggs to make the mixture fluffy when it cooks, and not like a heavy meat brick.

Now for the last of your basics, you need to add something to form the basis of your flavor platform.  For your most basic meatloaf, tomato sauce does the trick.  This works if you prefer the traditional meatloaf flavored with ketchup and onions.  For something bordering on Mexican or Southwestern flavors, you might substitute your favorite salsa instead of plain-Jane tomato sauce.  For an Italian-style meatloaf, you might use the juice from a can of San Marzano tomatoes.

So to recap, your basic foundation needs to include your meat or meat mix, binding agent (eggs + oatmeal, crackers, or bread crumbs), and flavor baseline (tomato sauce or ketchup).  Add heat in the form of a 350-degree oven, and you've got a meatloaf.

So for those of you who want to make it a little more exciting, here's where you get to explore your culinary wild side.  The basic meatloaf concept is so plain that it forms a perfect base for your favorite flavor combinations.  You can go with something traditional, or go completely off the reservation and experiment with literally anything.  I already alluded to adding different meats to your meat mix to form the flavor base.  Chorizo, Italian-style sausage, or even andouille would start to nudge your meatloaf in the ultimate direction you wish to go.  A word of caution though: be careful of the fat content of what you add.  If you add too much of a very fatty ingredient you risk making your meatloaf greasy or overly mushy.

If you decide not to use other meats and go strictly with ground beef, you can add flavor profiles with a variety of spices.  For Italian-inspired flavors, consider basil, oregano, marjoram, and parsley.  You could go with fresh herbs if you want, but keep an eye on how much water content you're imparting to the meat.  The reason for this is the same as for overly fatty meat mixtures.  For something south of the border, consider cumin, coriander, chili powder, and cayenne pepper.  If you really want to light your face on fire, add a handful of minced habanero or serrano chiles and make sure to have a fire extinguisher handy.

Basically what I'm getting at is to add spice combinations which achieve the sort of flavor you're looking for. And if you're not sure, just throw something in there that smells good and see what happens.  You could even experiment with diced vegetables, whole herbs and spices (garlic, fennel seed, etc.), or whatever!  Just keep an eye on how moist they are so you don't waterlog your meatloaf.

Finally, once you've assembled everything you want, mix it all together with your hands (this is the fun part!!) and press it into a suitable glass baking dish.  If your mix is lean and devoid of moisture-rich ingredients, you might want to consider placing your vessel in a water bath in the oven.  For well-hydrated (high moisture/fat content) meatloafs, you could probably get away with no water bath.  It can't hurt, so do whatever you feel like.  Depending on the size and thickness, start with an hour on 350 and see how that does.  Feel free to adjust the temperature and cooking time to produce your perfect meatloaf.

Well, that's it for this installment.  I hope today's info helped demystify this American staple (or at least make it less gross to your kids), and give you something new and exciting to try in the kitchen.  Until next time, my friends, I wish you happy cooking!

Making Your Grandparents Proud

Well, hello again, friends! Yes, I'm back, and I'm just itching to share more ideas, tips, and other stuff with you. I've just returned from a long (7 month!!) military deployment, and I've had a lot of time to think about the kinds of stuff we should talk about when I got back. Well, I'm back now, and it's time to talk about those things. So, strap in and let's get to it!!

On my deployment I got to travel over a pretty significant portion of the world, and through my travels I got to see and experience a wide variety of culinary culture. I sampled everything from fresh hummus and tabbouleh in Dubai to Chinese street food in Singapore, and everything in between. And through it all, a thought for this first post struck me: why not talk about our own food backgrounds?

True, America is a melting pot in so many different ways, but one of the most fun for me (and most delicious) is sampling the many and varied types of food from people's cultural backgrounds. I would argue that paying tribute to your family roots through your family recipe book is one of the most powerful tangible ways to honor and remember that rich history. I'm sure we all have that "family secret" recipe, or closely guarded ingredient that makes our lasagna, meatloaf, chocolate cake, better than anyone else's. Our cultures, heritages, and traditions are reflected heavily in the food we share, whether it's a one-bite masterpiece or a spread for a house full of company. Just ask your grandparents sometime if your favorite dish (again, pick your favorite) is the best one out there. I can't imagine any self-respecting grandmother would concede that her cooking comes in second to anyone else's! 


I could wax philosophical all day on how culture and tradition play into our family recipe books, but while that's certainly an undertone of this post, it's not the point I was driving at. I wanted to throw a couple of tidbits out to hopefully spark some discussion along those lines, and to see what sorts of hidden treasures I could find for all of you. We all have that one favorite recipe or sauce that, while traditionally widespread and "standardized" by modern culinary standards, we just can't seem to derive our own version, make one that we like, or even begin to understand the mindset behind how it's constructed. Now, I hope I'm not hurting your head with all this, but when I cook I like to understand the "why" behind a recipe, and to get a sense for why certain ingredients go together in certain ways, certain orders, and under certain cooking methods and conditions. As a non-professional (that is to say I haven't been to culinary school) chef/cook/foodie, understanding a bit of the science behind combining ingredients gives one the proper foundation on which to experiment with new versions and variations of traditional favorites. 


Arguably, two modern culinary archetypes in America today (at least in my opinion) are those of Italian cuisine and good old-fashioned barbecue.  Both lend themselves to infinite variations, and they all contain a heavy dose of family heritage, which puts love into the food.  As long as you follow some basic fundamentals for these two veins of cooking, you can branch off and try wild and crazy offshoots until the cows come home.  


I love Italian food.  It's one of the most satisfying combination of flavors that I can think of, and playing with different combinations of herbs, spices, tomatoes, etc. in my tomato gravy is something I have a lot of fun with in the kitchen.  When I cook I like to play around quite a bit with the flavor profile, but I always follow a pretty basic set of fundamentals.  My palette likes a robust tomato flavor, but not one that's overly bright (that is to say that the acidity of the tomatoes make it taste very vegetabley...yes I know that's not a real word).  I prefer to cook my sauce with meat to add the depth of flavor imparted by the fats and the meat itself to the sauce, which adds a velvety texture to the mouth feel.  You don't have to use meat, and for a lot of sauces (like for pizza) I don't, but I will consider using tomato paste to add a bit of flavor and to thicken it up a bit.  You just have to take that into account and adjust your seasonings.  I use fresh herbs whenever possible (basil, oregano, rosemary, thyme).  Dried herbs are just fine, but the flavors - while similar since you're using the same basic ingredients - tend to be earthier and more assertive rather than subtle and velvety when using fresh.  And although I don't have an Italian bone in my body, I pay tribute to that school of cooking by including red wine in the sauce.  I add it after the aromatics and cook it down to form a good base before I add the tomatoes, which more often than not are San Marzano tomatoes.  I make my own Italian pork sausage (again, fresh herbs as much as possible!!), and use either 2 pounds of that, or one pound each of that same sausage and ground beef.  Again, this is where you get to be creative and either omit the meat or use different combinations/proportions.  As a side-note, a lot of people like to use veal in Italian cooking.  Whereas veal is certainly delicious, I like to keep it simple and use pork and beef.  And don't forget (like with everything) to season as you go.  Freshly cracked black pepper and Kosher salt are two things you should never be without in the kitchen!  Finally, the last ingredient in a good tomato gravy (in most cases) is time.  Simmering your sauce (depending on what you're going for) can impart flavors to it that you never knew were in there.  It literally can turn out a little different every time, which is the beauty of this style of cooking.  The most important thing I can tell you is to start with a good base, whether that's your old family recipe or one you get off your favorite cooking show, and work from there.  Practice makes perfect, and like anything else, you have to do it a few times to find out what you want to adjust for the next time around.


Likewise, I also love barbecue.  It's one of the coolest things about American food culture, and something guarded jealously by practitioners (including me!).  With so many different kinds of barbecue flavor (Texas, Memphis, Carolina, Kansas City, etc.), and the age-old rivalry of pork vs. beef, just imagine the permutations of recipes!  I myself prefer a thick, sweet barbecue sauce with plenty of heat, but it's got to keep that sweet, smoky taste and not just be liquid fire that rips your face off.  I've experimented a lot with combinations of rubs and sauces, and I like slow-roasting a pork butt with a lot of rub, and finishing with a good homemade sauce.  I go back and forth on being a purist and starting with tomato sauce and building from there, and just basing my sauce on ketchup and allowing those pre-spun flavors to form my taste foundation.  There's nothing wrong with using ketchup, sometimes I think it's just good to remember your roots and try to construct the sauce from scratch, sort of like the first purveyors of barbecue sauce had to do.  Pretty sure they didn't have a bottle of ketchup on hand to get them started!  


For the rub, and what has consistently worked for me is a combination of brown sugar, black pepper, paprika, cayenne pepper, and mace.  Yes, mace...but not because I'm trying to fend off a bear.  The stuff is actually a very sweet but assertive substance, and I think it goes very well in barbecue rub.  Again, this is where you get to be creative.  Definitely use the brown sugar, paprika, and cayenne, but experiment with some other flavors that sound good to you.  For the sauce, choose your base (tomato sauce vs. ketchup vs. vinegar for Carolina BBQ) and then build from there.  Onions or onion powder, garlic or garlic powder, cayenne, liquid smoke, and brown sugar or molasses are all good base ingredients for a solid sauce.  Try a little lemon juice to give your sauce a little extra tang.


Ok, well since I'm not actually going to divulge my family recipes (I did mention that they were closely-guarded...), I'd better wrap it up.  Just remember: no matter what combination of flavors you decide to try, make sure you're always having fun in the kitchen.  Until next time, my friends, I bid you happy cooking!