Tuesday 13 April 2010

Cooking to a timetable

When I'm cooking a large, special meal, such as Christmas or Easter I tend to get a lil OTT with planning. I dont like leaving anything to chance so start by writing in rough all that I'll be cooking and what timescale each takes. This then leads onto a timeline of jobs to do through out the morning so that each item should be cooked at the right time


I then set alarms to remind me (you know what its like when you get into crafting or something ;)
At the moment I am using my iphone as I can set several alarms with notes with each but before that I would set an alarm clock and alter the time for the alarm to go off each time it rang.
I keep the sheet with the timeline on and if something isnt cooked right I make a note on it, such as if the roast carrots arent soft enough I make a note to either make them smaller, or par boil them for longer. This is then used in reference the next time I make a similar roast.

Its a constant process of improvement

And heres what this list led to, our Easter Roast :)

6 comments:

  1. Looks like you approach works! Yum :-)

    I always make a list of timings for Christmas dinner (no alarms though); I do know someone who makes a list for pretty much every meal. A new list every time. Really not sure that's necessary!!

    PS Thanks for the tip about the apple cake x

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  2. Wow see now I should adopt this approch for when I'm doing fast food. Cook from scratch food I'm ok because I just stay out there with a book and my cd's but the stuff you bung in and forget.... I forget. And burn it every single time. K - how do I cook beetroot? It's been recommended at Slimming World but I've only ever ate it pickled. Any suggestions?

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  3. Carmen, you can have beetroots
    -Boiled- Boil small ones for an hour, small ones are pickled whole ones in a bag kind of size, larger ones for upto 2 hours until soft enough so a knife can pierce right through.

    -Roasted- Boil for 35mins, roll in some sort of oil (olive oil, butter etc)mixed with sort sort of acid (not burn through the floor sort, lol, that would cut done the calories, I mean vinegar or citrus juice) & maybe add some herbs/seasoning before poping them in the oven for about an hour, or until you can slip a knife through them. For this roast I used olive oil, balsamic vinegar and majoram.

    Hope this helps, well done on your progress at Slimming world, your doing fab!!!

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  4. p.s, I always peel them (wearing marigolds, lol)though I have heard you can cook & then flake skin off.

    You could also save the water you boiled them in & see how well it is to stain things such as fabric.

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  5. great idea and that food looks fantastic! Never had warm/hot beetroots before have always bought them ready cooked and used in salad but do like them.

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  6. I think you must be related to my OH. Your list looks just like his do. He gets very annoyed when I can't tell him exactly how many minutes it will take me to mash potatoes. Jaqui x

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