French Fries

Alrighty. Yesterday, K had some potatoes to use up and I wanted some fries anyway. Seriously. I had just woken up from a nap. (I take a lot of those.) I looked across the room at K, who was standing there talking to J, And I said, "I want french fries" and then a second later, "But I can't get up." K found it all amusing. I guess you had to be there.
Anyway, this recipe, is a combination of one from my uncle and my own experimenting. Or maybe it's all his. I don't remember.

So, on to the joy.

The stuff:
Russet (I think) Potatoes- I love french fries, so I'd do 2 big ones for just me
Salt
Veggie Oil (Of your preferred variety)
A bowl with enough water to cover potatoes
Other fun ingredients are any old (or new) spices and/or cheese

How to's:
1. Wash the taters. If you're weird and don't like skins for some reason, now is the time to peel those off
2. Cut the potatoes into french fry shapes.
My favorite way to do this is cut them in half long ways (this way you get long fries) then cut them in discs (that's the best word I came up with it) going from the outside edge inwards. Then cut those discs into strips. Those are your fries. Try to make them all about the same thickness, or else you get crazy in the cooking with some burning and some not getting done.
As you cut the taters, throw them in the bowl with water. Make sure there's always enough water to cover them. It's not a bad idea to stir them around every once in a while.
3. You'll want to use a baking sheet with edges. So, like one of those other fancy kinds is not a great idea.
Pour some oil on the pan and kind of move the pan around so the oil runs all over. Don't worry about covering the whole pan. It will happen. Also, if you're nervous, go skimpy on the oil. You can always add more if you need it.
Dry off the potatoes. A few paper towels work well for this. I usually just grab a hand full and rub them off for a second. Then, throw them on the oily pan. Add some salt. Once again, you can always add more later. Now is a great time to add other seasonings, if you're into that. Toss it all around. I love getting my hands involved.
4. Once all the potatoes are on the pan, bake them in the oven. For me, 425 works. I just do 15 minutes at first, stir them. Taste them. Put them back in for 10 minutes. Stir and check again. In my experience, with the size I cut my fries, It usually takes about 35 to 45 minutes. I like mine with some crunch and some really soggy parts. It's really up to you.
5. If you want to add cheese, wait until they're all cooked. Spread some shredded cheese around. Turn the oven off and stick the fries back in the warm oven for maybe 3 to 5 minutes. Just watch it. Cheese should be gooey, not crispy.

Stroganoff

Today for dinner, we made my mom's delicious Stroganoff. It's great served over rice or Egg Noodles.

You'll need:
1 lb Ground beef
1 can Cream of Chicken Soup (You can use Cream of Mushroom, we just don't like it.)
Milk
Worcestershire Sauce
2 Beef Bullion cubes
Sour Cream
(You can also add onions, garlic, garlic powder, or I love just experimenting with seasonings.)

Here's the steps and stuff:
1. Brown the grounds beef. If you want to add onions, garlic, or any seasonings, now is the time to do that. I chunked it up really small, but really just do it how you would like to eat it.
2.Stir in cream of chicken soup and enough milk to make it more like a sauce and less like a congealed something. If I had to guess I would say that today we might have done 2/3 cup. Maybe, I'm not really sure. It's a good idea to add a bit, stir, and then decide if you need more.
3. Add bullion cubes and Worcestershire sauce. About 8 shakes from the bottle should be good. I'm all for tasting the food as you go along.
4. Stir it all together and simmer. (Now is a good time to make sure the noodles are cooking, if that's what you're serving it over. You might have wanted to start the rice a while ago, if that's your preference.) You can pretty much simmer as long as you need to. I'd say go for a 7 minute minimum. Basically, the longer you simmer, the more the flavors soak and combine and stuff.
5. When you're ready to serve it, add in 1/2 to 1 cup sour cream. Once again, add some. Stir. Taste it. Add some more. Just go until you feel like it is great.

And, yeah. Depending on how saucy you like your food and such, I'd say it can serve 5 to 9 people. 9 sounds random, but you're just going to have to trust me that it's not.

Mission Statement (of excellence)

This story starts out with K, J, and me. We're just hanging out at the oldest(K) and her husband's(B) apartment during a two week break between classes. While we were all together, we decided to make some of our favorite meals. For me at least these are meals I love, but don't want to spend the money to make them for one person. (It doesn't hurt that B and K are providing all the ingredients. haha.)

So, we're calling and emailing home to whip up some sweet meals. Then, K said we should make a website to keep track of these recipes. I figured a blog would work. And then I can keep any other cool (delicious, weird, etc.) recipes I find here. So, yeah. That's my plan.

Here's a list of recipes I know I need to put up:
Stroganoff
Chili
French fries
Spaghetti
Oven Pancakes
Apple Crisp
Guacamole
Pizza (baked potato flavor)
Limeade
Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies
Ramen Burrito
Banana Bread (with pudding mix)
Laura's chocolate cake
Cake mix (and brownie mix) cookies
Madeline's carrot cake and cream cheese frosting
No-bake cookies
Caramel corn
Edible playdough
Grilled cheese
Waffles
Brett's browines
Breakfast potatoes

I'm sure to find more that I love.

Oh, and just be warned, I am very much into experimenting and not using exact measurements.