Cooking questions from Susan at ByGrace

So what kind of cook are you? Meat-and-potatoes? Gourmet? Or somewhere in between?

Meat-and rice! And tortillas, or pasta and sauce. And salad. During winter-lots of soups and stews.

What's your favorite cookbook/cooking magazine?

Right now I'm really enjoying the Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book, but I usually have to adapt a recipe a little so my hubby likes it better.

What is usually in your pantry, your staple ingredients that you can't do without?

Rice, pasta, beans, canned cubed tomatoes and tomato paste, potatoes, onions and garlic, and the baking supplies that I make waffles with.

What is your favorite type of dish to cook: main dish, sides, breads, desserts?

Spaghetti-I love making it.

Do you have a signature recipe, one that everyone knows you for?

Oh no I don't think so, not yet.

What's your favorite appliance or gadget that you couldn't get along without?

Well I could get along without it if I had to, but I love my rice cooker! I use it nearly every day.

And finally, what is your husband's favorite recipe that you fix? You know, the one that says "I love you - this is especially for you!"

That would be pizole right now. I gave up making it for a while because I had flopped so badly the last few times I made it. Then I got step by step instructions on how to make it good by someone who knows how. I made it last week, and my husband was very, very happy with it. I have to admit, it was pretty good! The thing that Ryan is so excited about is that now all I have to do to make his favorite meal of all time is to make it with beef tripe. Then you have menudo. I only tried making menudo one time. After all the work, cleaning (YUK) and cutting the fat off, and cleaning again and cutting it up, I was told the canned menudo was better. (Internet recipe-something of a gamble anyway.) Now I can do it right, and Ryan loves that stuff. He will have all kinds of warm fuzzys when I do it. I think I'll make it a holiday thing.