Monday, October 3, 2011

Cooking Games and Bread


If you’ve never made bread from scratch, it’s one cooking game you definitely to try. When you make bread, you’ll feel closer to your ancestors who had to make bread themselves every single day, day in and day out. Bread was the primary sustenance of the early settlers and even the more recent ones. Today we walk into the store to buy a loaf or two, but just a few decades ago you were more likely to find a loaf of homemade bread than a store bought one.

Bread takes a few hours to make, but it’s the sort of thing you can do in bits around other parts of your day. You’ll start by mixing up the bread dough with a spoon and then by hand. You’ll have to knead the bread dough to get the last of the flour into the dough and to work out any air bubbles. Once you’ve mixed it, the bread will rise for about an hour. Then, you’ll punch it down and it will rise again in the loaf pans. Finally bake your bread, and you’ll be able to enjoy the results of the cooking games immediately.

Monday, September 19, 2011

Cooking Games and Recipes


It’s hard sometimes to buckle down in the kitchen and get any cooking done. If you’re not a natural cook, playing cooking games can seem a bit foreign initially, but this is certainly not a reason to stay out of the kitchen. You need to jump in there and learn how to cook and pretty soon, if you have some solid recipes and you’re pretty good at following directions, you’ll see a dramatic difference in how well you can play cooking games, regardless of how much cooking you’ve done it the past.

Cooking games offer countless hours of fun, and in addition to just having fun cooking up desserts, breads and entrees, you’ll also be creating something you can enjoy eating. How much fun is it to settle down with a slab of cake that you created that morning? It’s even more rewarding to make a sandwich out of bread that you baked than the store bought variety. Learning to cook will also teach you just how many things you can make that don’t cost much to create – an excellent way to stay on a budget.

Monday, September 5, 2011

Cooking Games and Watermelons


It would seem like a silly thing to play with, but watermelons are great for cooking games. The watermelons are an easy way to make a bowl for your fruit salad, and they are a natural ingredient in the salad as well. Start with a round watermelon that isn’t too big – you want it to be manageable. Cut off a tiny slice on the bottom of the melon. This is just to give the melon something to sit on – not to drip from, so be sure you don’t cut off more than just a sliver of rind.

Then, cut open the watermelon and using a melon ball scoop, start scooping out little balls of watermelon. Cut open a cantaloupe and do the same thing with that as well. Store the balls in a large bowl until the watermelon bowl is empty. Cut out the rest of the watermelon inside and then pour the balls back in. Mix them up with some blueberries and perhaps strawberries to finish off the fruit concoction. Easy dessert and beautiful to boot!

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Cooking Games and School Fun


One of the best things you can do for school is to make yourself a lunch group. Rather than go through the trouble of packing up your lunches every morning, you can enjoy something new and different every day through your lunch group. You bring one dish and your friends bring a dish and then you have a full collection of food to eat for lunch.

If you have four friends who all sit together for lunch, you just need to assign each person a course and you’ll have a full lunch every week. For example, you might bring sandwiches on Monday and your friends bring a big bag of chips to share, a few cookies to share and a pack of cokes. If you buy big enough packs and store the extra in your locker or in a fridge overnight, you can enjoy all sorts of things without having to remember to do more than grab four cans of soda first thing in the morning.

Monday, August 8, 2011

Cooking Games and Coffee


Who doesn’t love to head to the local coffee shop for a drink with friends? Just watching the baristas make great coffee makes me wonder how much fun I could have playing cooking games with coffee. While I might not have an espresso machine or a way to create my own steamed milk for cappuccino, I can play around a bit with the many forms of coffee creamers and flavors to see what sort of tasty concoction I can make at home.

For example, in my cooking games, I might start with a pot of black coffee. In a blender, I could pour in some coffee and put in a scoop of ice cream. A handful of ice and a generous squirt of chocolate syrup might just make a frozen coffee drink that is worthy of praise. Perhaps you can develop your own signature coffee drink you can whip up and serve to all of your friends every time they come over to visit.

Monday, July 25, 2011

Cooking Games on the Grill


Over the summer, I’ve decided that I’m not going to use the oven unless I’m making a sweet treat. Rather than cooking up large items that require the oven, I’m using the grill. It’s been a long time since I actually used the grill to cook, and the first time I fired it up this summer was probably the first time I’ve fired it up in a couple of years. But this was my summer to learn some more cooking games, and learn them I did!

I now know how to play cooking games with steak, chicken, pork, sausage and hamburgers. I am almost experienced enough to cook a meal every day of the week on the grill and not have to repeat myself. Sadly this is much more accomplished than I am using the oven or the stove, and I’m rather proud of my accomplishments. Thanks to a gas grill, I’m able to fire up the grill for some cooking games, take a few minutes to get the meat ready, and then simply throw it on the grill. It cooks while I work on side dishes and just like that – we have delicious summer cooking games!

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Cooking Games – Breakfast for Dinner


One of my favorite cooking games to play is to make breakfast for dinner. It’s actually rather simple, but you almost wouldn’t know it from the elaborate supper plans I often make. Sometimes I start thinking about steaks and salads and frou-frou desserts, but in reality the easiest and often healthiest thing you can have for dinner is a bit of what you might normally have for breakfast.

For example, French toast can be made with egg whites, skim milk and some whole wheat bread. Cook up your French toast while you prepare a bit of turkey bacon. When it’s all finished, have your French toast with bacon, fresh fruit and a cup of milk. You’ve hit every food group, made a minimum of mess and you’re able to enjoy your food knowing it’s healthy, it’s easy and it’s the sort of cooking game you can enjoy both morning and night.