Cookin’ at the Keyboard with Shelley

A Change is in the Wind

Last month I planned a cooking session, did the shopping, and then discovered that our teenaged daughters had other plans for the weekend. “What could they be thinking?” I wondered. There was nothing else to do but adjust my plans to include our 10-year-old twins (and the 6-year-old who thinks she’s 10, or maybe even 16!)

It was slow going compared to other cooking days I’ve known. For example, it took most of an afternoon to cook 20 pounds of ground beef. But the spontaneous exclamations of “This is so fun!” made up for the lack of progress. While the older girls could systematically create and complete a cooking session on their own, the younger girls were thrilled to be a part of the camaraderie we experience in the kitchen. I guess it’s time to pass the baton and build a new team of freezer cooks.

While I’m in the mode of changing things, I thought I’d try a new approach to the newsletter. Instead of including detailed instructions for using the Advantage Cooking software, you’ll see links to pages with a full explanation. I’m hopeful that this will help you find the information you need, without having to wade through a ton of text. Let me know what you think!

Recipe Section

Glazed Pecans
I use these as toppings for all kinds of salads. I also eat them plain, right out of the freezer bag. The glaze includes a unique combination of orange juice, cinnamon, cayenne pepper, and mace. Watch out…they’re addicting!

Center Stage Salad
This salad includes Boston lettuce, bleu cheese, red onion, glazed pecans (see recipe above) and a raspberry vinaigrette dressing. It may not be freezer friendly, but it’s a healthy addition to your table and your Advantage database.

Software Suggestions

Software Tutorials
If you’ve just purchased or downloaded the Advantage Cooking software, take a few minutes and run through these software tutorial exercises.

Metric Conversions
If you measure ingredients in metric units instead of English units, use these simple steps to get your software to start talking “metric”.

Download a trial version of the software! It’s free!

Closing Comments from Shelley

I received this email last summer from a fellow freezer cook. It’s been several months since I published a newsletter, so I was never able to share it with you.

Hi Shelley! I just wanted to drop you a note and tell you what a blessing you and freezer cooking have been in my life. I had an unexpected event happen on June 14th. My husband, who has a corporate managerial position, was electrocuted at work. He went to plug in his cell phone and touched some unseen exposed wires by an outlet. Needless to say, this set off a whole series of events in our home.

When I brought him home from the hospital, I was able to give him homemade chicken soup I got out of the freezer. I literally did NO cooking for the next five weeks!…and I only had one neighbor bring us dinner because everyone knows I do freezer cooking and they helped in other ways.

I can’t tell you how this saved me. We have no family in the area and so it was up to me to see that everything got done. I couldn’t have survived and cooked, too.

My husband is on the long road to recovery. But with God’s help and your recipes, I think we’re going to make it.

Thank you very much, Jil

Thanks for writing, Jil. I hope that your husband has fully recovered and that your freezer is restocked!

Shelley