Donna Cooks has relocated to a new address! Visit the new page at http://donnacooks.wordpress.com
I created this page to share my passion for cooking and eating.
Most 20-something urbanites dismiss cooking as an obsolete chore when there are so many great restaurants readily available. Cooking is viewed as laborious, time-consuming, and potentially hazardous, just to end up with a meal that may or may not be satisfying. I can relate. I recall many failures in my kitchen.
However, all the recipes posted here have been personally tested by me in my typical entry-level job yuppy kitchen with mediocre quality cooking utensils from places like Target. A successful recipe for me can be a delicious dinner made in any other kitchen. They’re not fancy recipes that call for ingredients from the gourmet market (and if they do, I will usually list a substitute ingredient you can purchase from your local Piggly Wiggly). I also include shortcuts wherever possible (like asking your seafood counter guy to de-skin your salmon).
Don’t be afraid of your kitchen! Dinner parties can be so much more personal and intimate than going out to eat with friends.
I also pair some meals with wines. I’m definitely no sommelier so these are just fanciful suggestions that I feel appropriate. Wines can complement the flavors of a meal and ease up unaquainted friends around the dinner table. But I warn you, I’m no expert!
A note about health-related concerns: I’m not a super picky healthnut, but I substitute with lower fat ingredients when it doesn’t compromise the taste of the finished product. I also prefer fresh ingredients when it’s not too inconvenient.
A note about portion sizes: I find most portion sizes on recipes ridiculously small (and those in restaurants the opposite). Portion sizes specified on this page are somewhere in between, enough to satisfy most 20-somethings after a long day of work without stuffing them so full to the point of nausea.
This page also contains restaurant reviews. Most are from the Dallas-Fort Worth area (since I live here) but occasionally there will be posts from my travels. As much as I love cooking, I enjoy a good (and especially adventurous) meal out, too!
Questions? Comments? Suggestions? Email me.
