Jaye Wells

Hello, my pets.

Before I share What’s Cooking in Jaye’s Kitchen, I need to share a couple of upcoming dates with you.

First, I’ll be attending FenCon in Addison, TX this weekend. Very exciting times are expected. Especially since the Guest of Honor is my Orbit sister, Gail Carriger. I posted my panel schedule here, if you’re interested in hearing me blather about all manner of geekery.

Second, every October the Richardson Public Library hosts the Buns N Roses Tea, which raises money for literacy programs. I’ll be at two events surrounding this worthy cause.

On October 8, I’ll take part in a multi-author booksigning from 3-5pm at the B&N at Creekwalk Village in Plano, TX. This is open to the public, so stop by and meet some cool authors and hang out.

On October 9, the Buns N Roses Tea is from 3-6pm. Jodi Thomas is the keynote speaker, and the fab Candace Havens is emceeing. Each table is hosted by an author, so you get to hang out with a bunch of smart writers and readers, swill delicious tea and eat dainty little delicacies, all while supporting literacy programs. There is also a book signing at the end of the event for all attendees. Tickets are stil available. Buns N Roses site.

What’s Cooking in Jaye’s Kitchen?

So, I didn’t cook too much over the weekend. But I did eat a corn dog, which is as close to the perfect food as was ever invented. So that’s something.

Last night, however, I did cook and was quite pleased with the results. The dish was Chicken Stroganoff rom Jamie’s Oliver’s Food Revolution cookbook. If you don’t have the book, here’s a link to a version of it.Chicken Stroganoff.

My only complaint about Jamie’s recipes is that he tries to be so casual about cooking that he can sometimes leave out instructions that less experienced cooks might need. For example, he says to throw your rice in water and let it cook as long as the package instructions list. Well, I bought my basmati rice in bulk (read: no instructions) and rice is traditionally tricky to get right. So I had to google the best way to cook it. Quick tip: Rinse your rice a few times until the water isn’t cloudy anymore. This gets the extra starch off the grains so they won’t be as sticky.

Anyway, given that the recipe had both mushrooms and leeks (highly suspect in Spawn’s opinion) the meal was a huge hit. I’ll definitely make it again.

One more quick thing, if you’re struggling to figure out what to cook every night, pick up this month’s issue of REAL SIMPLE. They have a special feature with thirty weeknight meals, along with shopping lists for each week. If October wasn’t going to be crazy with travel for me, I’d totally do it next month. Some of the recipes are on the Real Simple site here.

What’s cooking in your kitchen lately?