Kitchen Meme

I was tagged by Sprittibee via her Gathering Manna blog to participate in this kitchen meme.

1. How many meals does most of your family eat at home each week? How many are in your family?

There are 4 of us in my family. On weekdays, we typically eat breakfast and dinner at home. I am currently trying to break the eating-out-for-lunch habit for me and the kids. Griff eats lunch out every day. On weekends, we eat out 2-3 times (depending on the current cashflow). So, I'd say we eat about 15 meals at home each week.

2. How many cookbooks do you own?

16. Most of them are the church cookbook variety - my favorites!

3. How often do you refer to a cookbook each week?

Probably twice.

4. Do you collect recipes from other sources? If so, what are some of your favorite sources (relatives, friends, magazines, advertisements, packages, the internet, etc)

I love the magazine Quick Cooking, but after taking the magazine for a year and never using one of the recipes, I did not renew. I figured that one year gave me enough recipes to try (especially since I wasn't actually TRYING them - ahem).

5. How do you store those recipes?

I have some recipe software and a cookbook that you write your own recipes in. I also still have a lot of the magazines hanging around waiting to be input into the software.

6. When you cook, do you follow the recipe pretty closely, or do you use recipes primarily to give you ideas?

I follow recipes to the letter, unless they have an item I don't care for. Griff doesn't care for mushrooms, so I might leave those out. I don't like onion, so I usually reduce the amount in the recipe.

7. Is there a particular ethnic style or flavor that predominates in your cooking? If so, what is it?

Lots and lots and lots of Italian (spaghetti, baked ziti, ravioli, etc). Second place would probably be Mexican, but I really prefer to eat that out.

8. What's your favorite kitchen task related to meal planning and preparation? (eating the finished product does not count)

I would have to say that my favorite part is when I use the time to teach my kids how to cook.

9. What's your least favorite part?

Cooking the meat. I don't know why, but I just dread that part.

10. Do you plan menus before you shop?

Nope. I should. I know I should. But I don't.

11. What are your three favorite kitchen tools or appliances?

I love my Kitchenaid mixer, Pampered Chef stones, and my crockpot.

12. If you could buy one new thing for your kitchen, money was no object, and space not an issue, what would you most like to have?

Can I count new kitchen cabinets as one item? Mine are not laid out well and some of the doors are too narrow to fit things through them. Oh, and they are an ugly 70's wood stain.

13. Since money and space probably are objects, what are you most likely to buy next?

Hmmm... Specifically cooking-related - probably new dishes. Mine are chipped and broken. However, the next thing that will change in my kitchen is the floor because the tile is literally cracking beneath our feet.

14. Do you have a separate freezer for storage?

Oh, how I wish! I'd love to have a small separate freezer.

15. Grocery shop alone or with others?

I usually go with my kids, which I don't mind. Occasionally, though, I go by myself and that can be nice.

16. How many meatless main dish meals do you fix in a week?

Hardly any. A meal without meat is not a meal for my husband. It's just not gonna fly.

17. If you have a decorating theme in your kitchen, what is it? Favorite kitchen colors?

I don't have a theme currently, but I definitely want to go the French Country route. As far as colors go, I love a blue and yellow kitchen. Red is good, too. Of course, there's always green, my absolute favorite color... See why I haven't painted my kitchen yet?

18. What's the first thing you ever learned to cook, and how old were you?

I didn't cook much until I was an adult. I think the first thing I learned to make was cinnamon toast (in the oven). I have no idea how old I was. Probably early teenage years.

19. How did you learn to cook?

I picked up a few things from my mom just by watching her, but I'm mostly self-taught.

20. Tag a few other people to play.

If you would like to participate, consider yourself tagged.