Why Bother? 2012 - Ketchup & Mustard

With Memorial day weekend just a few days away, it's time to get to making our toppings for hot dogs and hamburgers!  Don't put away your car keys just yet, you may still need to make a trip to the grocery store! 

I was on the fence about making my own ketchup and mustard.  I mean, they cost about a dollar.  Two dollars if you want to buy organic ketchup.  Would it really be worth the time and effort to make my own condiments?  Yes and no.

First, in order to make your own condiments, you need a well-stocked spice cabinet.  Celery seeds, cumin seeds, whole yellow mustard, whole cloves, cayenne pepper, the list could go on.  If you decide to make either of these recipes, be sure to check your cabinet thoroughly and make a list. 

You'll need to head to a grocery store or spice market that has a large spice selection.  Penzey's spices is a great store with just about everything you'll need.  You can also order online and you'll have your spices in a few days.  Whole Foods had a smattering of spices that I needed and I filled in the remainder at Fairway (a popular tri-state area grocery chain).  When I thought that I had them all, I realized I was missing celery salt and had to make a last minute trip to Pathmark.

I decided to make honey-mustard, since I already had plain yellow mustard and Dijon mustard in the fridge.  It was simple enough to make.  Just combine all of the ingredients and let it sit overnight.  In the morning, pour it all into your favorite food processor and pulse the heck out of it.  It smells amazing.  How does it taste?  Mine came out super spicy!  The reason?  The freshly purchased mustard seeds.  Those little guys really pack a flavor punch.  While it doesn't have a distinctly honey flavor, it will be amazing on hamburgers and hot dogs.

I put off making ketchup until just last night because I couldn't find the time to make it.  The process is simple enough, you just have to have enough time to allow the tomatoes to reduce and reduce and reduce.  It took a long time.  Complaints came left and right about how weird/bad it smelled.  The boiling vinegar made my eyes tear up.  Sure, I got some tasty ketchup out of the process, but it took a long time.  Maybe make this on a lazy Sunday.  Personally, I'm going to just buy organic ketchup when I run out of my own!

There we have it.  We can make our own condiments!  It's up to you as to whether it is worth the price of all of the specialty spices to have homemade ketchup and mustard.  I think I'll try a few different mustard flavors before hanging up my condiment hat.

Stay tuned for next weeks final installment of BBQ food - pickles!  Then we'll see how all of these homemade foods do near the grill.  How will homemade ketchup and mustard pair with my own refrigerator pickles?  Will I be overwhelmed with flavor?  Will I eat all of the pickles before they make it to the burger?  Will I even put them on a burger?  We'll find out!

Morel Risotto

I wanted to take a minute to thank you all for helping out with my bake sale benefiting Relay for Life.  With your help, we were able to raise over $350 for the cause!  Thank you so much!  I'm very excited to take part in the Relay this coming June.  Now, to celebrate our successful fundraiser, I've made you a fancy dinner.


They're so weird looking!

According to my mother, I have spent 26 of my 30 years on this earth going to school.  I started pre-school at the sweet age of 3.  Blonde with ringlet pigtails, I headed off into the world to learn my ABCs and 123s.  Apparently I wanted to go to school the year before because my brother was going and I was jealous. 

I always liked school.  I liked learning, taking tests, doing homework and bringing home good grades.  When I got a good report card we went to the toy store and I got more Barbies.  High marks = more Barbies.  That's some good math for a little girl.

As I continued through high school, the Barbie brides fell away and I simply realized my nerd potential and kept up my good grades.  I don't think it would surprise you if I said I took advanced placement chemistry and placed in the top of the New York State Chemistry challenge.

I spent a year in college, trying to pretend that I wasn't a big old nerd.  I was a photography major!  I spent hours learning about shutter and aperture, shooting roll after roll of film and wandering blindly through the color darkroom.  I wasn't a nerd, I was an artist!  Unfortunately, I was doing better in my calculus classes than I was in my art classes (I am not a painter).  Come sophomore year, I switched majors and the rest is history (or a story for another time!).

Watson's Sponge candy Winner!

From the comments left of my Sponge candy giveaway, there are a lot of Buffalo ex-pats that miss their sponge candy!  I can definitely count myself among them!

In the end, there were 47 comments and Random.org chose...

Comment number 32!  Which was...

bflogurl!  Did Random.org not so randomly pick out a former Buffalonian as the winner?  We'll never know! 

Okay bflogurl, send me your details to wildeinthekitchen (@) hotmail (dot) com and I'll have Watson's send you your big box of sponge candy! 

Weren't the winner?  Head over to Watson's and buy a little bag for yourself.  Personally, I'll be ordering two big boxes.  One for bflogurl and one for ME!  And I'm not planning on sharing...  (bflogurl, it's up to you whether you share your winnings!)