Step into Trina's Kitchen (online)

Well we ragged on C.I. for calling a lengthy break when we thought we'd ironed out a schedule for writing this edition. We'll talk about that in our "A note to our readers" but for now we'll just admit that those who were bothered were wrong to be. As suspected, C.I. was helping a member of The Common Ills set up their own site. C.I. told Mike that the cell phone he was on was providing too much static and he'd have to switch to a landline. When we regrouped, some of us still grumbling, we were surprised when Mike mother Trina joined us during the hellos, happily surprised. We were floored when we learned that she was the member setting up her own site. Here's our interview with her and check out her site Trina's Kitchen. First question is Mike's.

Okay, so Wally starts his own site and I'm the dark there. Fine. But my own mother starts her site and I learn about it after the fact?

Trina: Well Mike, you know how you like everyone to come off the best they can. I didn't want to step into your time but I also was afraid you'd be prompting me to write and rewrite my first thing over and over.

So what's the site going to be like?

I think a lot of topics are already covered by various websites in the community. I'm going to cover cooking and hopefully a little bit on politics.

A dash of politics. Let's step back and ask the name of the site?

Trina's Kitchen.

Mike here again, just wondering who did know? Did Dad know? Cause if he did, he didn't say a word to me today and you know I was helping him with the car for hours this afternoon.

The only people who knew were C.I. and Ava.

[Mike]: None of my brothers or sisters?

No, Michael.

[Mike]: Okay, that's cool then.

So the next question . . . I'm sorry, Mike's not the only one surprised. We're all happy but we're kind of surprised.

I am too. But Mike enjoys doing his site and seeing that had me interested. I also thought that, with the economy, a lot of people probably are on budgets and I know about that so maybe I could share something that would help someone.

Okay, Ava here, and I'm obviously not one of those surprised. You'd talked about budgets to C.I. and myself and I was wondering if you'd like to say anything on that for this interview?

Well, we're a large family. Mike and his sister are the only kids living at home now. So now I cook for four people, them, my husband and myself. But for most of my marriage, I've cooked for a much larger number of people. So I'm very familiar with budgets and understand how difficult it can be to cook on a budget. With the Bully Boy economy and thinking about Kansas and how he'd discussed the high price of tomatoes, which is true in our area of the country as well, I thought that some people might find it interesting and maybe a few would actually be able to benefit from that.

What type of food will you be discussing?

Nothing complex. For the first six months of my marriage, I did attempt to do courses. Then I got pregnant and the idea of courses went out the window. This won't be a gourmet website but more about dishes you can cook easily and inexpensively.

[Mike]: Ma hates the word "cheap."

I don't know that I hate it, Mike, but the word does make a lot of people think poor quality and that's not always the case. Cheap to purchase ingredients will generally be part of the recipes but the food itself shouldn't be called cheap.

Will you focus on just main dishes or other things as well?

That was Dona, right?

Right.

In DC, Dona had a cold and there were two avocados and not much else soup wise. So I'll share the avocado soup recipe I used to make that soup.

Dona here and that was really good soup. My throat was killing me and my nose was running. That soup got me back on my feet so pay attention when Trina shares that recipe.

Betty here and I love that you're doing a site, any sort of site, but I'm very interested in your focus for obvious reasons.

You've got three children and you work. So you know about budgets and about limited time.

[Betty]: Too well. And I don't like to stand at a stove after working all day.

Which is something that a lot of people will relate to and I do. There will be a number of recipes for dishes you can cook in the oven. Betty's got small children and it really is difficult to be standing at the stove and taking care of small children. When Mike's youngest sister turned seven, I felt so much freedom that I hadn't experienced in years. That's not just an underfoot complaint but the fact that you do have to keep an eye on them and standing at an oven isn't always possible.

[Betty:] Unless you're prepared to live with a fifty-fifty rate of cooking success. Anytime I cook at the stove, I know there's a good chance that I'm going to be pulled away suddenly and something's going to burn. I really am glad you're doing a site period but I also am really excited about the focus.

Jess here. I know from your conversations with my parents that you cook a lot meals with vegetables. But it's not going to be a vegetarian site is it?

No. There will be some dishes that don't include meat and some that will. If you're on a strict budget, and I have been before, meat's not something you have every night.

Ty here and I've just rush read your first entry, Ava's already linked to it at our site. First of all, well done. Second of all, your template looks very familiar.

It's Mike's but with another color.

[Mike:] It is?

It was the first choice and also the first one with the profile on the left which I did want since I'm on the left. And Mike, I was rushing because I know you all work hard on these editions so I've used your e-mail which I hope is fine until I have time to create a different account.

[Mike:] Yeah, that's cool, Ma. Hey, it is like mine. I'm looking at Trina's Kitchen right now.

Elaine here and I think that was a smart move not to give out the e-mail account your friends write to you at. You'll find that some people want to spam you. Here's my situation, and we've talked about this before but I think some people will identify, I come home from work and I'm still rushing around. A few hours later, I'm realizing that I'm hungry. More often than not, I either end up ordering take out or fixing a peanut butter sandwich. The soup you fixed for Dona was a very quick thing to fix. There will be recipes like that, right?

Yes. You don't have to have children to be pressed for time. The recipe I posted tonight requires prepartion work but not all will. I picked the recipe tonight because it's from a book that's been a staple in my kitchen and the dish is a family favorite.

[Mike:] Enchiladas. We have that every Wednesday night and still want it more than that.

Jim here, and the recipe is from a book by Frances Moore Lappe who we were hoping to discuss last week but ran out of time.

Frances Moore Lappe's Diet for a Small Planet. A friend gave me that book as a gift and I've gone through several copies of it because I use it so much it not only gets food stains, it also tends to fall apart.

That's a book that some of us have read and I was wondering if you'd be willing to discuss in our book discussion.

Yes, I'd be happy to.

Cedric here and I want to say thank you to you for linking to both my old site and my current one. Especially knowing that you were hurrying. The second thing I want to note is that Jim was the first one to violate the new policy.

Is it going to be a problem? I saw that announcement this morning at The Common Ills.

[Cedric:] No problem at all but there was some discussion when C.I. called a break to help you set up your site and I just think it bears noting that Jim's the one who violated the policy.

Jim here. Cedric's razzing me because when C.I. announced a break, I had a few choice words about how we needed to stay focused.

Well staying focused is important. And Cedric, you have strong work up at the old site too so, even with hurrying, it was an honor to link to your old website.

Still Jim. I'm going to toss to Wally and Kat because they haven't spoken yet.

Wally: I'll just ask, "Good Lord woman, do you know what you've done?"

(Laughing) You're thinking of your own mother.

[Wally (laughing):] Right. There are days when she thinks about starting a website.

Well I survived the first post, I think. I'll let her know how it goes.

[Wally:] Glad to have your site in the community and, in a tag you're it kind of way, you're the newbie now not me since you're site is the newest.

Mike's talked about how pressure lifted for him when new websites came along. I'll be the newbie, that's fine.

Kat here and I'll make a deal with you. You wrote that you intend to blog no more than once a week and it might be less than that. If you promise to stick to that, I'll try cooking the vegetarian enchiladas.

Well I do plan to stick to it but I think you should throw in something additional like the name of the conditioner you use. Kat has incredible hair. But I know from Mike, Ava and C.I. this week and from the rest of you at various times that it can be hard to make time to put something up at your sites. Saturday's really the only good day for me. Unless something changes, more than once a week isn't even a possibility.

[Mike:] I'm grabbing the last word here. Ma is the coolest mother in the world. Be quite Ma, I'm talking. She really is the coolest and she is a great cook so check out her site because you can learn a lot from her. She doesn't like it when she gets compliments which is why she's twice tried to cut me off forgetting her "silver rule" about interrupting that was drilled into all of us kids growing up. But she's the best cook, she's really smart and she's the sweetest mother in the world so check out her site.