Culinary Wish List

Good and happy Friday to you all. The end of the week could not come soon enough, though a lot is on our plates this weekend. Thanks so much for the kind messages-we all have these kind of weeks, and the empathy is appreciated. We're juggling two sets of wakes and funerals, DD2 battling a stomach and respiratory bug, my wonky knee, and all three of us with head colds. We've also had three days of bitter cold. Though, we are not getting buried in snow like other parts of the country. Last week was supposed to be my Friday off, but I swapped for this week, but I still have some work to complete, and I left my phone at the office (I hope). I need to be in contact this weekend as I'll be out of town for show choir, and DH will be in town, leaving for one of the services, and then going back. I will be showering in a bit, and making the trek after rush hour to get my phone, and turn around and come home again. I'm trying to think of any errands I need done in St Paul on route so it is not a completely wasted trip, but can't think of any. I might shoot a message to my friend who works from home to see if she might want a coffee break. I haven't seen her since the Thursday after Christmas, and that would make the trip worth it.

Long digression to get to my real post. I had arranged to brown bag lunch with a colleague when I got back from a morning meeting. We rarely enjoy the company of lunch with another person, and I was looking forward to a little fellowship.She called while I was on route as everyone decided to order Thai food, and did I want in on it? Yes, please! There ended up being eight of us, with more food than humanly could be eaten. I brought half of mine home, and DD2 had a big portion as she was perking up, proclaiming it the best. I'm eating the last for breakfast. I had Pad Thai, and it was so good. Thai food is on the list of food I've never tried making, but now will be on my wish list to try. It wasn't super expensive, considering the amount of food, but at $11 for basically, chicken, noodles, a few vegetables and peanuts, I have to figure this out for home. I will add though, the 30 minutes of sitting, relaxing, and laughing with my colleagues was worth every penny.

Looking to broaden our evening and weekend meals, I can think of other well like foods, that I've never tried or mastered. Pasty's, the little  meat and vegetable filled pastries, would be just the thing to pull out of the freezer, if made ahead, on our crazy nights. Or we could be enjoying variations like a calzones, and fill with pizza ingredients, or what a former Somali coworker would make, sambusa's, filled with spinach and lentils. I'm lumping these together, I know, but I've never tied any sort of filled pastry, main dish or desert. I'll do the roll up kind, but not ones that could be made ahead. Pot Pies! I've never made a real pot pie at home, despite my family liking even the Banquet frozen varieties. UK food bloggers will write about Shepherds Pie, or Shepherdess Pie, something I think my family would enjoy, but I've not tackled.

There's food in our basic diet, that I still buy the store variety, though I know most of the world makes it from scratch. I bought DD1 a hummus cook book for Christmas, but haven't made it myself. es hummus can be low cost enough, but for basically smashed chick peas and seasoning, I must be paying 3-4 times more than the ingredients cost.Going another step, I've not made falafel at home either, but keep telling myself I will.

Keeping in mind that making curry was a new venture for me before a year ago, what else do you think I should be a staple in our meal rotation? Who has resolved their culinary curiosity and made something new to them lately? Does anyone have an fool proof methods or recipes for any of the foods I mentioned above?