According to Elegant Island Living’s website data, the number ONE topic that our readers access in our online archives are the recipes we share in the magazine. (Especially Southern Soul Barbeque’s Brunswick Stew recipe, which we printed eight years ago and people still pull up online every single month!) As a nod to our readers, Terry, Beth, Kathi, Yolanda, Molly and Julie collaborated to produce this bacchanalia of the senses. Unfortunately, none of them wanted me to contribute to the issue. Knowing me as they do, I’m not much of a cook. In fact, I literally go out to eat for EVERY meal!
I have one pot and two pans. Well, one is more like a cookie sheet. I can make a mean PB&J sandwich and I can microwave a TV dinner with the best of them. I once bought a set of knives to give as a wedding present but forgot to bring them to the wedding, so I kept them. Is that wrong? I DO use my blender sometimes when I try to make a “healthy green smoothie.” That counts as cooking, right?
On the positive side, both my eleven-year-old dishwasher and oven look brand new! I think I’ve only used my oven a couple of times, because if you look closely at the photo here you’ll notice that the oven door only “opens” about 15 degrees before hitting the refrigerator. Makes it tricky to get that lasagna in the oven, much less getting it out of the oven! I tend to use the stovetop for “important papers” that I will eventually throw out.
David in the kitchen
Now that it’s bathing suit weather, I need to try to drop a few pounds. (Ok, maybe more than a few.) Friends tell me that I need to quit eating out so much if I want to lose weight. I should start cooking at home more. More? I never have cooked at home! As I sat down to write this, I decided to come up with a recipe using whatever I have currently in my kitchen. So, even though the EIL gang didn’t want me to, I would like to present to you, dear reader, the Butler Family Banana Bread recipe. Feel free to try it out yourself!