Kitchen Meme

Rebecca from Daisies 'N Chocolate tagged me to do this meme, so here it goes:

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

We usually eat all of our meals at home each week except for maybe one night on the weekend.

2. How many cookbooks do you own?

I own ten cookbooks and have scads of loose recipes.

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

I usually refer to a cookbook two or three times a week.

4. Do you collect recipes from other sources?

I collect recipes from my mom, a wonderful cook, and from magazines or off the internet.

5. How do you store those recipes?

I have all of them in a big basket- like container, and my favorite recipes are in my Lucy recipe book, along with some terrific pictures from the I Love Lucy show.

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

Sometimes I follow the recipes closely, and sometimes I just put a pinch of this and a pinch of that - it depends on what I am making.

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

We like good 'ol American food but also enjoy Mexican and Chinese. Of course when we get our Korean baby, we will have to learn how to cook a few Korean dishes.

8. What's your favorite kitchen task related to meal planning and preparation?

I like shopping for the ingredients, usually at good 'ol Walmart!

9. What's your least favorite part?

I agree with Rebecca, I don't like to clean up. That is why I just try to keep putting the dirty dishes in the dishwasher so they don't pile up! However, I have been known to make quite a mess with dishes and ingredients everywhere.

10. Do you plan menus before you shop?

Yes, because we are trying to stick to a budget, I do try to look through the cabinets, refrigerator, and freezer to see what I have and what I need to add to make the recipes I (or we) have chosen to make for the month.

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

My mixer, electric skillet, and George Foreman grill are my favorite appliances.

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?

I would probably buy a new stove if we had the money.

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

I would love to buy a bread machine that wouldn't take up too much space.

14. Do you have a separate freezer for storage?

No, we are hoping to buy a separate freezer someday to store all the blueberries we order each year from Michigan. Fifty pounds of blueberries only lasts us about 6 months.

15. Grocery shop alone or with others?

Sometimes I shop alone, and sometimes our whole family goes.

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

I hardly ever fix any meatless main dishes.

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

I have a country kitchen with colors of white, blue, and burgandy. I love antique utensils, etc. and decorate with them quite a bit.

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

The first memory I have of cooking was making some desert for 4-H.

19. How did you learn to cook?

My grandma and mom taught me how to cook with the exception of some 4-H lessons here and there.