Ten on Tuesday (vol. 8)

Welcome 2010!

I’ve been remiss at updating…sorry. I have about seven billion photos to go through and post from my family’s visit up through New Year’s, and I haven’t gotten around to it, which has led to me neglecting our blog. However, when I saw Chelsea’s Ten on Tuesday questions for today, I had to come post my answers (especially after I spent the morning looking at photos of baked goods made by a friend who’s in culinary school).

1. Are there any movies that inspire you to bake/cook?
Of course Julie & Julia inspired me to get a little more complicated with my meals, but other than that, I can’t think of any movies that inspire me to bake or cook. Typically the Food Network and recipe books do enough of that for me.

2. What’s your favorite food blog and why?
I don’t have a favorite. I like the ones I read for different reasons. Every now and then, I’ll check Pioneer Woman, but I have honestly made more of Sweet Pea’s recipes (her blog is The Newlyweds). Jamie and Shaunna post fun recipes every now and then, too.

3. Who’s your favorite celebrity chef?
Tyler Florence from Tyler’s Ultimate. Not only do I love his kitcheh, but his recipes always look super delicious.

4. What’s your favorite kitchen tool?
I don’t have a particular tool that makes me go “oh yay! I get to use the ___.” That being said, I love looking at and using all the wonderful kitchen items we got for our wedding. I am particularly grateful for our stand mixer, hand mixer, our array of spatulas, and our All Clad pots and pans. We use all of these things constantly.

5. When it comes to cooking/baking, what’s your specialty?
Baking, hands down. I’m not a huge fan of cooking, mainly because handing raw meat disgusts me. But give me some flour, eggs, butter and sugar and I’m a happy woman.

6. When in the kitchen, do you wear an apron, if so, any cute ones you’d like to share?
Yes! I currently have two great aprons. One is from my mom and has my name monogrammed on it and the other is from my mother-in-law (who got it at Anthropologie). And yes, I have photos:

7. Is there anything that intimidates you when it comes to baking/cooking? (ex. Pie crust, yeast breads, sauces, etc…)
I suppose I could say that puff pastries intimidate me, but that’s only because I haven’t tried to make them.

8. What’s the weirdest gadget in your kitchen?
Weirdest? Perhaps the clicker for dog training? I don’t know. I don’t think I have any “weird” gadgets. Someone please tell me what might be labels as a weird kitchen gadget.

9. What’s your go-to music for cooking/baking?
Hmm well none? We played Christmas music some while I was baking last month, but generally speaking, we don’t turn up the stereo too often since we live in such close quarters with so many other families. (Is stereo an outdated word? I don’t know.)

10. After several failures, what do you do to motivate yourself to get back in the kitchen to try again?
I guess I’m just lucky. I haven’t ever had to motivate myself to get back into the kitchen. Perhaps it stems from the fact that I basically grew up in the kitchen. My mom baked all the time and I was usually her “little helper.” Here’s a picture of me when I was about 2 “helping” my mom knead a loaf of bread dough:

And later, when I was older, I’d help roll out pies and cookies: