Meet the Cook: Kathi N

Jul
16

Post by community member:

Say hello to Kathi from Colorado!

Q. What are your favorite things to cook?

I like to can, so jams, jellies, and preserves are some of my favorite things to cook. I’m a fan of tasty appetizers, so those are on my list, too. I like having an excuse to make an entire dinner out of a couple different appetizers. We call that “little bites” at our house.

Q. How/when did you learn to cook?

Mainly, I started to learn to cook so I could get my cooking badge in Girl Scouts. Though, looking back, the recipes we made for that were not exactly cooking. For example, at Girl Scout day camp, our leaders taught us how to make an “easy and portable” dinner, which was basically canned Chef Boyardee spaghetti mixed with corn and served in ice cream cones. It looked and smelled as if someone had already eaten it once. (Can I say that here? Sorry.)

Thankfully, I had some other help and my Mom and Dad gave me the Better Homes and Gardens Junior Cookbook for my 9th birthday, which helped a lot.

I can still remember making “mock drumsticks” (hee hee) and am happy to say I still have that cookbook.

It is well-used and stained, but I still love to look at the color photos inside it. Tutti-fruitti-ice SPARKLE!

Q. Tell us about some of your cooking triumphs.

Learning to can was a big one for me. My Grandma and my Mom used to can when I was a kid, but it was off my radar for the early part of my adult life. I am glad I finally got interested, ’cause I’ve made some really tasty things since then.

Q. What was your most memorable cooking tragedy?

There are too many to say. But the one that made me maddest was during my Girl Scout cooking badge-earning phase, when I made a recipe for curried rice with cheese. My entire family sat down to eat it, and my brat of a brother took one bite and ran to the bathroom to be sick. How rude! (Hey, maybe that’s why I am not a rice fan to this day. Shhhh… don’t tell my brother.)

Q. Describe your kitchen. Do you love it, hate it, and why?

I love having a kitchen, so in that sense I love it. But if it were up to me I’d have way more counter space and cupboards that made more sense for storage and accessibility. Maybe we’ll fix that someday.

Q. Is your pantry organized and are your kitchen drawers tidy? We need to know.

Um, no. I can find things, but it’s not neat and tidy. But, I don’t care enough to make it that way. Though if someone wants to come in and do that for me. . . hmmm.

Q. Do you have any favorite family cooking traditions?

Jim and I like to cook together. For our evening meal, he will sometimes make part and I’ll make part. And special occasion cooking is almost always a joint effort (for instance, pumpkin pies from pumpkins we grow in the garden).

And I always make my pineapple upside down cake hot pink. I use maraschino cherry juice as a big part of the liquid. That’s tradition!



Q. What is the one gadget (or ten) you couldn’t do without in your kitchen?

I am a big fan of my hot-pink KitchenAid stand mixer. It saves me a lot of time and work. And it looks pretty sitting on my counter. I also appreciate my food processor, especially when it comes to shredding cheese or preparing food for canning.

Oh! And our dog Nugget is a very helpful gadget. He is a pretty good vacuum, wet mop, and catcher, great at clean-up. He would love to also be a great dishwasher.



Q. If you had to take one food to a deserted island, what would it be?

Chili con Queso. I could eat it often and lots of it. But I would need plenty of iced tea to go with it.

Q. What is your go-to comfort food?

I’m definitely a mashed potato fan. Homemade. With cream and butter. Yum.

Some of Kathi’s favorite recipes that she’s contributed to Farm Bell Recipes include:

Penguin Olive Hors d’oeuvres
Guinness Ice Cream




See all of Kathi’s recipes and blog posts!

Kathi N blogs at How We’re Gonna Do It.

Do you have a recipe post or kitchen-related story to share on the Farm Bell blog? See Farm Bell Blog Submissions for information and to submit a post.

Want to subscribe to the Farm Bell blog? Go here.




Comments

  1. roosterrun says:

    My daughter would LOVE the hot pink mixer. Where did you find it? I don’t think I have ever seen that color, only the soft pink. By the way I love the penguin hors d’oevres recipe.

  2. GrannyTrace says:

    Hi Kathi!
    Thanks for sharing bits of you.. You have one awesome mixer!
    I enjoy getting to know you. Have a great weekend Friend!
    Granny Trace
    http://www.grannytracescrapsandsquares.com

  3. Kathi N says:

    @roosterrun: I bought it on amazon.com (’cause they had the best price).

    I bought it several years ago, and it went away shortly after that.

    BUT — I recently saw a similar color available, called raspberry ice. You could probably google it to find one.

    @GrannyTrace: Thank you! You are a gem.

  4. Liz Pike says:

    Thanks for introducing yourself! Loved reading about how your dh & you cook, and the dog!!

  5. carriej says:

    You are one of my top favorite “meet the cook”‘s! In the sense that everything you like, I also like. And your upside pineapple cake looks awesome!!! I love the cherry juice idea 🙂

  6. rileysmom says:

    Hi Kathi! Nice to meet you!

    I remember Mom making mock chicken legs for supper….thanks for the memory!

  7. roosterrun says:

    Thanks Kathi, I will google it for sure. My daughter is getting married in Nov. and she has requested a Kitchen Aid mixer for a gift. Her kitchen is black and shades of pink. I thought she would outgrow the pink phase, I thought wrong!

  8. CindyP says:

    Great to “meet” you, Kathi!

    LOVE the KitchenAide!!! It’s so great you and Jim work so well together in the kitchen 🙂

Add Your Thoughts



Search Farm Bell Recipes

Generic selectors
Exact matches only
Search in title
Search in content
Post Type Selectors
Filter by Categories
All Recipes
Appetizers & Snacks
Bagels
Bean Soups
Beans
Beans, Grains & Rice
Beef
Beverages
Biscuits
Blog
Boiling Water Bath
Bread Machine
Breads
Breakfast
Brownies
Budget
BWB Condiments
BWB Fruits
BWB Jams, Jellies, Butters & Preserves
BWB Marmalades & Conserves
BWB Other
BWB Pickles & Pickled Stuff
BWB Salsas
BWB Sauces
BWB Tomatoes & Combos
BWB Vegetables
Cakes
Candy
Canning
Casserole
Casserole
Casserole
Cereals
Cheese
Cheesecakes
Chilis
Chowders
Cobblers
Coffee Cake
Cold Remedies
Condiments
Cookery 101
Cookies & Bars
Cream Soups
Crisps
Crock Pot
Crowd-Size
Crusts
Cupcakes
Cure & Smoke
Dairy
Dehydrating
Desserts
Diabetic
Dips
Doughnuts
Dressings
Egg Dishes
Eggs
Entertaining
Fat-Free
Featured
Fermenting
Fillings
Fish
Food Photography
Freezing
Frostings & Icings
Frozen
Fruit Breads
Fruit Cakes
Fruit Salads
Fruits
Gift Basket Goodies
Giveaways
Gluten-Free
Goat Cheeses
Gourmet
Gravies
Griddles
Grill-Outdoor Cooking
Hard Cheeses
Herbs & Spices
Holiday
Homemade Cheese
How To
Ice Creams
Ingredients
Ingredients & Mixes
Jell-O
Jell-O Salads
Kid-Friendly
Kitchen Gadgets
Kosher
Lactose-Free
Lamb
Leftovers
Lettuce & Greens
Low-Carb
Low-Fat
Low-Sodium
Main Dish
Marinades
Meat Salads
Meet the Cook
Muffins
Non-Dairy
Old-Fashioned
One Dish Meal
Other Breads
Other Breakfast
Other Condiments
Other Dairy
Other Desserts
Other Main Dish
Other Salads
Other Side Dishes
Other Soups & Stews
Other Special Diets
Pasta
Pasta
Pasta Salads
Pastries
PC Beef
PC Chicken
PC Meats
PC Other
PC Poultry
PC Soups & Stews
PC Veggies
Pets
Pickling
Pies
Pizza
Pizza Crusts
Pork
Potato Salads
Potatoes
Potluck
Poultry
Presentation
Preserving
Pressure Canning
Pressure Cooker
Puddings & Custards
Recipe Requests
Relishes & Chutneys
Rolls
Rubs
Salads
Salads
Salsas
Sandwiches
Sauces
Scones
Seafood
Side Dishes
Soft Cheeses
Soups & Stews
Sourdough
Special Diets
Special Occasions
Steam Juicer
Stocks
Stuffings
Substitutions
Syrups
Tarts
Tips & Tricks
Tortillas & Pitas
Using FBR
Vegan
Vegetable Breads
Vegetable Salads
Vegetables
Vegetarian
Wild Game
Yeast Breads


If you would like to help support the overhead costs of this website, you may donate. Thank you!





Thanks for being part of our community!