I just got my husband to clean up the kitchen! All I had to do was tempt him with the three dishes + one dessert that will result at the end of the day. Rock on.

It's simple really. I'm unemployed and we're living with my brother and sister-in-law who ARE employed and therefore can afford a beautiful house with the most slammin' stocked kitchen in the world. Or Lancaster County, where we now reside.

We moved two weeks ago from the land of San Francisco where we indulged in culinary experiences on a regular basis - out of the apartment that is - because mostly our fridge was filled with frozen delicacies from Trader Joe's.

I've appointed myself head chef of this house for the time we reside here. And so far it's working out well. I love perusing the Internet for recipes and my favorite mainstays are olive oil, garlic, and fresh vegetables. Thankfully my relatives aren't picky and will eat just about anything as long as they didn't have to cook it after working.

My sister-in-law spends her days keeping a classroom of 1st and 2nd graders under control and my brother ticks through the hours trying to keep a marketing company revving in this crap economic atmosphere. So I am more than happy to provide them with dinner when they come home. Oh yea! She's pregnant too so I'm also cooking for my not-yet-born niece/nephew. Which I think is pretty important.

Lancaster is rural but thankfully filled with people who value food and therefore is dotted with awesome grocery stores. Within 10 miles we have a Giant, a local favorite called Shady Maple, a Menonite mainstay called Yoder's, WalMart, and in the summer dozens of cheap farm stands. (There should be at least one good thing that comes out of the chronic manure scent of this part of PA.) If you head to downtown Lancaster there is also the country's oldest farmer's market - Central Market which is only open three days a week but thrives by selling some damn good culinary treats.

I started the day off ambitiously. You see in addition to dinner I also want to leave the bro and sis-in-law with some food bc the husband and I are going to DC for a week.

This is what I started at 10 am - The Ultimate Potato Gratin
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/the-ultimate-potato-gratin-recipe/index.html
It was in the oven by 12 noon at which point I implored husband to clean up some of the dishes. He rocks.
I burned the first batch of bacon so after filling the house with smoke I had to start over. Oops.
It's still in the oven and in 9 minutes needs to get uncovered and baked for another 30 minutes.

Next I began a recipe that I cooked last week which my brother enjoyed but the sis-in-law couldn't taste because she had a cold. It's called Healing Cabbage Soup.
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Healing-Cabbage-Soup/Detail.aspx
She is still sick a week later so I think it was false advertising. But it does taste good. I switched it up today by adding chopped carrots and a can of cream of celery soup.

The next things on tap are dinner and a dessert. I love love love Lydia who cooks on PBS and she made a poor-man's lasagna last week with eggplant and italian bread. PBS doesn't post their recipes so I found a nice woman who recreated it.
http://girl-fiend.com/archives/597

And I'll top it all off with a Gourmet Magazine find called Black Sesame Seed Peanut Butter Cookies.
http://www.gourmet.com/recipes/2000s/2009/03/black-sesame-seed-peanut-butter-cookies
I thought they looked like they had ants crawling all over them in the picture, so I'm using regular sesame seeds instead.

I'll let you know how it all turns out later!

For now let me thank:
Tyler Florence and The Food Network
All Recipes.com and JGCASE
girl-fiend.com and it's writer
Gourmet Magazine

Please don't call your lawyers. I am just commending your recipes and spreading the love.

~Back to my cutting board~