Define an Amateur-3/15/10

When I began to blog about my cooking, I was a bit naive. I thought my blog would eventually serve the same purpose as my husband Richard's triathlon blog, to get to know an online community of people interested in the same things as I was. That hasn't really happened and I long ago gave up being frustrated about it. You see, cooking blogs aren't really for amateurs. An amateur is defined as a person who does something as a pastime or hobby, not for income. Every cooking blog I've come across is not amateur, that's for sure. Check out any blog list online at Bon Appetit or Food and Wine. The blogs connected to these sites are hard-core and designed to sell. The authors of these blogs have careers and/or educations as writers, chefs, photographers, and many even work in the web design arena. That's tough to compete with when you are a stay-at-home mom who got her degrees in education. Having a super cheap digital camera probably doesn't help either. I'm sure there are some other true amateurs out there, people like me who love food and use writing about it as a creative outlet. If you are out there, and ever read this blog, give me a shout. I'd love to hear from you but until then, I'll just keep writing to Stacy and hoping I can convince her to come to Georgia to have dinner soon. (Love you, Stac!)
Tonight's dinner did not rank in the annals of blogging fame for difficulty. I made the Pineapple-Glazed Chicken with Jalapeno Salsa from page 34 of this month's Bon Appetit. I'd originally planned to make this meal over at my friend Devi's house but I forgot I had to watch Dylan (see the 8/26 post where Dylan and Eyrleigh helped make ice cream) and wouldn't get to her house in time. That said, this dish was super easy and super fast and I feel bad for canceling. I totally could have pulled it off. The chicken was simply baked in the pineapple juice and came out moist and beautifully browned. The salsa was excellent and not too sweet or spicy. Richard and I finished it off, though it was meant to serve 4. It took no time to put together and the flavors blended well immediately without chilling.
For dessert, I made the Coconut Creme Brulee on page 22 of this month's Bon Appetit. The coconut flavor was distinctive even though the solid coconut had been strained out. My only complaint was that the custard was a bit lumpy. As always, this could have been an error on my end but I really followed the directions quite closely so I don't know what happened. I did mess up on the top. I don't have a kitchen torch that works so I used the broiler. My rack was too low and so it took much longer to heat the sugar and in fact, I didn't get it hot enough. The top didn't have that distinctive crack, more like a crumble. Oh well, guess that's what you get for being amateur.
Pineapple Glazed Chicken with Jalapeno Salsa-B+
Coconut Creme Brulee-B-

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