sqdsnuh: Squiddy's Kitchen Creations: Cooking With My MAMA!!!

the latest and long-awaited installment in Squiddy's Kitchen Creations is COOKING WITH MY MAMA! i love my mama, she taught me mostly everything i know about cooking, and fostered a natural love of yummy things and making yummy things from the time i was a baby. i don't get to see her nearly as much as i want to these days, so when i had the opportunity to spend a weekend with her, i jumped at the chance. we would be house-sitting for my aunt and uncle, who are also very cool, and would have all the yummy materials we would need to cook up a storm. yay!

so Friday, i arrived ready to make... PIZZA!

i brought my bread machine to mix up the dough while we played guitar hero.
when it was done, we started working on the toppings!

This is a slightly-fuzzy shot of my beautiful MAMA and my most excellent roomie, FrostyPants.

mmm...

there are few things so sweet as a pan of sizzling bacon!

Frosty is spreading sauce on his crust. his is better looking than mine.

then, we chopped up the peppers: the mushrooms, and the tomatoes.
here is my mama makin bacon! isn't she lovely?
and here is Frosty spreading again. he likes the sauce. heh.

MMMMMmmm... there are few things as sweet as a pan of sizzling bacon!

for my pizza, i chose baby bella mushrooms, bleu cheese, tomatoes, bacon, olives, and a bit of fresh basil and green pepper, all on a hearty homestyle sauce.

then i added Mozzi and some Olives. Yum!

and then... BACON! and it is ready!

here is Frosty's pie, pre mozzy:

not sure how i missed getting more shots of his, take my word that it was beautiful and delicious.
here is mine, a bit over cooked, but still yummy. i couldnt wait to eat it and thus:

and here is frostys perfect bubbly pizza, not overcooked:

Verdict: Guilty! (of being scrumptious!)

***

the next morning, mama and i decided to make a big breakfast fry-up!

we started with excellent cappuccinos from my aunts AMAZING wonder-filled caffeine dispensary:i have never tasted such magnificence in home coffee. ill bet that machine costs more than a car!

first: taters

next: onions and mushrooms. not pictured: green peppers. home fries are yummy!

those are hard-working hands.

two of my favorite veggies!

now for my favorite part. this is a great brekkie item that Frosty taught me. its fun to make, and yummy too! i call it Birds Nest / Eggs In A Basket.

first you need a nice hot fry pan:

some BUTTER: (because if you use margarine or some other such abomination, you clearly have NO SOUL. don't even say PAM in my presence. Bacon Fat, however, is perfectly acceptable.

now get the pan nice and sizzly with a good butter coating. don't burn it, baby, sizzle it.

now check on those taters, sizzling away. mmm, yeah! even the cheddarwurst is trying to sneak in there! you wait your turn, you naughty sausages.

time for the onions to go in. if you put them in before the potatoes have fried a bit, they get too crispy. and by crispy, i mean burned to charcoal.

now slap some bread on that sizzly pan that's been waiting.

and make a cookie-cutter type circle in it, like so. i usually use a small-mouthed glass, but you can use a cookie cutter/shot glass/jar or whatever. you want the hole to be about 2.5 inches or so, enough to hold the egg and still keep the structural integrity of the bread intact. press it down, and the pan will toast the bread under the rim making it easier to pull out.

now you have your nest. now put the egg in before the bread gets TOO toasty, or it ll burn.

i like to let it cook for about 10-15 seconds and then scoot it around a bit so it doesn't stick.

i like to add some veggies in there so i can eat them while i cook. I'm a piggy like that.

now you can see a good solid egg white on the bottom, so its time to flip. carefully!

ah, i was distracted at some point or maybe the heat was a bit high. the edges shouldn't look quite this dark. it ll still taste good though!
meanwhile, the home fries are still sizzling away.

normally, you would make the eggs after the fries are done, but i got excited, so sue me.
this is what the finished product looks like:

hopefully yours will be a bit less burnt, and have a nice, thick-gooey yolk center. yum!

now for the sausages! i really have a strange aversion to most ground meat items, but my one exception is cheddarwurst. god i love that stuff.

slap em in the pan,

and roll em around until they re nice and sizzly, and the skins start to split a bit. covering them is a good idea. i also like to add a dash of water to the pan really quick before the lid goes on, to make it nice and steamy in there. it helps the process.