When Esther lived around the corner from me here in London I called her all the time just to ask her what she was making for dinner that night. Esther is really good at opening up her fridge, looking at what is left in there and then coming up with something tasty! I, on the other hand, am really good at copying other people’s ideas! I’m just not very innovative in the kitchen… But if someone tells me how to make something and gives me the recipe I’m pretty capable of doing it.
I still call Esther from time to time hoping for ideas and inspiration, and I love to read the recipes the other girls post here on Babyccino. It’s so fun to learn all the typical recipes from the different countries. I love Michela’s easy pasta recipes and Emilie’s recipes for French tarts and sweets!
With all of this in mind, we thought it would be fun to set up a forum for our readers to discuss what you’re all making for dinner tonight. Whether you’ve prepared a 3-course meal, pureeing home-cooked baby food or you’re scrambling eggs, we want to hear from you!!! (It also makes us feel better if someone else is ALSO just heating up left-overs, or ordering take-out… :-))
And, If you’re making up a recipe, we’d love to know about that too (even if it wasn’t very tasteful — it happens to the best of us). We would especially love to hear your all-time favorite recipes… If you’re willing to share!
So please leave your comments. Check back daily to hear what others are saying, and keep the conversation going!
We think this is going to be so much fun!!!
Bon appetit!
Comments (7)
Hi! Thanks for this, I do this on a regular basis, not know what’s for dinner when I do not feel like planning.
I wondered if I could start a category within this? Along the lines of: “the good-old-last-minute-standbys” The things that work to get rid of something in the fridge but start with the same basic recipe. Things that, if you’ve not thought through dinner, you can always throw one of these together, quickly and it could be different each time. I have a few, but wish I had more.
Some of my examples:
risotto (always have arborio rice, stock, & some cheese on hand & you can throw nearly any good pairing in there)
fritatta: as long as you have six eggs, some cheese & some veggies … really any creativity works.
Stir Fry: always need rice, any combo of veggies is amenable.
pizza: as long as you have a pre-made shell (i.e. store-bought) you can get wildly creative without having to make a trip to the store, it is also easy to involve the kids and make them more excited to eat it.
Also, I’ve found that http://www.epicurious.com is pretty great if you want to open your fridge and do a search with the ingredients you want to use (i.e. green beans + eggplant). It is a mix of recipes from different sources and has some helpful comments from folks.
woops, sorry. Just realized I answered in the wrong spot.
great idea!
and it’s true.. esthe ris so gifted in throwing nice meals with what’s in the fridge!
Oh my gosh, I’m so excited about this! Can’t wait about all your dinners!
By the way, you girls are doing me too much justice! Sometimes the ‘creations’ are not THAT succesful!!
@ Keri: That’s a great idea! We’ll investigate if we can create categories. I would love to have a category like that.
I always like to have eggs, cream and cheese in the house for the good old spaghetti carbonara. I love the pizza idea – don’t know if you can buy ’empty shells’ here in Amsterdam?
i have to say for the pizza, it’s super easy to make your own crust. don’t know the european equivalent, but if you dissolve 1 package active dry yeast + 2 tsp honey in 3/4 c. warm water, let it stand till bubbly and add 1/2 tsp salt and 2 c, flour (i use half whole wheat, half white to pretend i’m making ‘healthy pizza’) and mix/knead, adding up to 1/4 c. more flour. let it rise for about 30 min (til doubled), add your toppings of choice and you’re good to go – just bake at 500 for 12-15 min. and much tastier than store bought. we like proscuitto, mozzerella, red onion and arugula and also proscuitto, nectarine, onion, pesto and blue cheese w/mozzerella.
I have gotten addicted to Michela’s pasta with broccoli. I always seem to have broccoli in the fridge and it always an welcome solution. So easy to make and so tasty… I also have to admit that Thai take away for dinner is certainly not unheard of in our home. I don’t know why but I have this idea that Thai food is healthier than other take aways…. maybe I am just kidding myself.
GREAT IDEA!!!! My best girlfriend here in Paris moved back home this summer but this was the NUMBER ONE question we would ask each other as we parted for the evening (we spent most days after-school with our boys in the parc). And yes, it was exactly for the inspiration of what to pick up from the store on the way home. I’ll be checking this forum frequently!