Friday, April 18, 2014

Who's Cooking: Kate (Fort Meade, MD) + A Cookbook Giveaway

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Kate is my older sister, so she’s one of the few people who has known me my entire life!  We had a typical older sister vs. younger sister relationship when we were kids, but as we’ve grown up we’ve become close friends and realized just how much we have in common.  I’ve even almost forgiven her for shoving me out of the attic when I was in middle school (don’t feel bad for me, I deserved it!), but I think she still holds a grudge about me popping all the heads off her dollhouse people when I was a toddler.

Despite our childhood baggage, we share a love of cooking and I wish we lived just a little bit closer so we could cook together more often.

Kate is a 35-year-old mother of three: a soon-to-be 13-year-old girl, a soon-to-be 8-year-old boy and a girl who just turned 4. She and her family are an Army family stationed at Ft. Meade, MD.

She runs her own photography business: Captured Moments Photography and has just recently become a featured blogger on "Mom & Pop Culture". The site is comprised of a group of moms who are willing to save you the trouble by giving you tried and tested recipes, crafts, product recommendations and even local places and events. They are real and honest parents who are not afraid to make mistakes. Yes, we mostly live in stained sweats with our hair up!

Make sure to take a second and enter the giveaway for one of Kate's favorite cookbooks by Antonia Lafaso: "The Busy Mom's Cookbook". The giveaway entry form is at the end of this post, so make sure to enter before it ends at midnight Monday morning!

Q&A With Kate

Why do you cook at home? I cook at home for a number of reasons. The biggest is that I truly love feeding my family!  The secondary one is that I like knowing what ingredients my children are eating. I remember the moment when I baked my first loaf of bread and realized that there were only 4 ingredients in it...then I read the package of store-bought bread and discovered that there were so many more ingredients and chemicals in that! I have learned over the years that using fewer ingredients can be a good thing!

What is your favorite ingredient to cook with and why?  My favorite ingredient to cook with has to be potatoes. Yes, that is my Irish heritage coming out!  The main reason I love to cook with them is that they are so versatile. You can use them as a side dish or as a meal; they are the perfect canvas to showcase so many flavor combinations!

If you could travel anywhere in the world just to try that country or city's cuisine, where would you go?  I would love to travel along the Mediterranean. They have so many ingredients that I have worked with, but would love to try their authentic combinations! While my husband was in basic training I lived with my in laws. My father in law is a pretty good cook, and I took advantage of the time to learn some basics from him. The thing I have used the most is his cream sauce, which I have added some wonderfulness and turned into a mac & cheese that is loved by many!

I'm actually sharing that mac & cheese recipe with you all today and hope you enjoy it, just click the link below to take a look.


2 comments:

  1. I make a vegan butternut squash Mac and cheese and I would say paprika spiced breadcrumbs is a favorite topping to put on it before I pop the dish on the oven.

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    Replies
    1. Oooo I love the paprika breadcrumbs idea, I think paprika pairs so well with butternut squash too...yum!

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