Proud kitchen moments, anyone? .

[mmswm]

I just had somebody rave about my mac and cheese.  I thought it was funny because it was from a box.  Everybody at the table insisted that it was different than normal and asked me how I made it so good.  The only thing I can think of is that I double the amount of mild the box says you need, then cook it down until it's the thickness I want.  I guess it makes a bigger difference than I thought it did.

[lilfox]

Every time I've learned to make something from scratch that I formerly bought as a mix or ready-made, and had it turn out at least as good as store/restaurant/bakery:
gravy
stuffing
muffins (pumpkin, apple, spice, blueberry, etc)
scones
biscuits
cream of turkey soup

Learning how to use a bamboo steamer.  It's so simple!  I made steamed fish and broccoli with a soy-ginger glaze and it only took 20 minutes with almost no cleanup.

Any time I make something for dinner and my DD eats it all up. Especially the things I never would have tried when I was little (okay, even when I was older...).

[Minmom3]

This year I made two new pies.  I made a Dutch Crumb Apple Pie, and a Coconut Cream Pie.  Both beautiful, if I say so myself, and both well received.  I'll make the coconut again, because it really wasn't hard at all.  And the apple?  I'll make it every so often, because the kids liked it, and the man who will most likely be my first SIL loved the thing.  But good golly, that thing was a TON of work...

[Honeypickle]

Proudest kitchen moment? That would be marrying a chef.

(although managing to make meals from scratch for my first child comes a pretty close second).

[Arrynne]

I made my very first loaf of artisan bread and it came out exactly like the picture in the book, and tasted FANTASTIC. The loaf was gone the same night I made it!

This.  I was so happy when I made a loaf of sourdough bread and it came out shaped well, beautifully colored, and delicious.

[Moonie]

Everyone's "proud moments" sound absolutely delicious. I don't have any of those per se, but hope to soon. My two grandsons live with me, and we are starting (hopefully) a new adventure in cooking and eating. Last night I got out all my cookbooks and told them to each look through the books and pick something they would like to try. I will cook one of those picks each week, and the child that picked the recipe will help me fix it. So keep your fingers crossed that we find some yummy new things to make. I am a little worried, though, because the oldest says to me, "Hey this looks good.....what's a pheasant?" 

[Addy]

This past boxing day, I was hosting my DH's family, 35 people all together. I thought everyone would be tired of turkey, so I decided to do roast beef and Yorkshire pudding.

DH and I like our beef rare, but I wasn't sure if his family did, so I did two roasts, started half an hour apart. Well, the roast that was supposed to be medium turned out medium rare and the one that was supposed to be medium rare was rare. But to my surprise and delight, his family likes their beef rare too! It was a big hit.

But my speciality is the yorkshire pudding, and DH kept talking it up beforehand, telling everyone how good it is. So much so that I was nervous that it wouldn't live up to expectations. But it turned out so good that when it was time to clean up, 5 people were huddled around the pan picking off the crispy bits that were left over.

[ladyknight1]

I found a book called Handheld Pies.

Delicious little pies made from scratch. I made the chocolate cream, but after melting the chocolate and butter with rum and vanilla, our cream had frozen and would not whip. I made a pastry cream by melting butter, making a roux with cornstarch, and adding milk and simmering until it was the appropriate thickness, then stirring in the chocolate mixture. It was decadent bliss.

[KenveeB]

I made three-layer German Chocolate Cake last night. I've only made a couple of cakes ever, and this was my first three-layer one. I was VERY nervous about how it turned out. But one lady who had it told me it was the best German Chocolate cake she'd ever had!!

[Hmmmmm]

I made three-layer German Chocolate Cake last night. I've only made a couple of cakes ever, and this was my first three-layer one. I was VERY nervous about how it turned out. But one lady who had it told me it was the best German Chocolate cake she'd ever had!!

I LOOOOVVVVEEEE german chocolate cake.  It's my favorite chocolate cake. It's the one that my kids who say they hate pecans eat even though there is pecans in the icing/filling that and they just don't notice.

If you don't mind, which recipe did you use?  I keep trying out different ones, but keep going back to the Baker's Sweet  German Chocolate Cake versus their Original Sweet Chocolate cake.

[KenveeB]

I made three-layer German Chocolate Cake last night. I've only made a couple of cakes ever, and this was my first three-layer one. I was VERY nervous about how it turned out. But one lady who had it told me it was the best German Chocolate cake she'd ever had!!

I LOOOOVVVVEEEE german chocolate cake.  It's my favorite chocolate cake. It's the one that my kids who say they hate pecans eat even though there is pecans in the icing/filling that and they just don't notice.

If you don't mind, which recipe did you use?  I keep trying out different ones, but keep going back to the Baker's Sweet  German Chocolate Cake versus their Original Sweet Chocolate cake.

It was the Taste of Home recipe. ToH never lets me down!

The funny thing is, I don't like coconut, so I'm not a fan of German Chocolate Cake. I never even tasted the one I made!

[Hmmmmm]

I made three-layer German Chocolate Cake last night. I've only made a couple of cakes ever, and this was my first three-layer one. I was VERY nervous about how it turned out. But one lady who had it told me it was the best German Chocolate cake she'd ever had!!

I LOOOOVVVVEEEE german chocolate cake.  It's my favorite chocolate cake. It's the one that my kids who say they hate pecans eat even though there is pecans in the icing/filling that and they just don't notice.

If you don't mind, which recipe did you use?  I keep trying out different ones, but keep going back to the Baker's Sweet  German Chocolate Cake versus their Original Sweet Chocolate cake.

It was the Taste of Home recipe. ToH never lets me down!

The funny thing is, I don't like coconut, so I'm not a fan of German Chocolate Cake. I never even tasted the one I made!

Thanks. I compared and that is the same one on the Baker's Geman's Sweet Chocolate box that is the Original. The frosting they used was a little different though.

I got a giggle on the description part on the Taste of Home  stating "Many folks in our area of Ohio are of German descent, so this recipe is especially appropriate for our region."    German Chocolate cake isn't of German decent.  The man who developed the style of chocolate last name was German. That's why the boxed chocolate is German's Sweet Chocolate and not German Sweet Chocolate.

[CakeBeret]

Reviving this thread because I had a proud kitchen moment last night.

DH and his friends decided to have a boys' night in and asked if I would make them some spaghetti. In the mood for a challenge, I made the following meal entirely from scratch, with the exception of using dried pasta.

Pasta with spicy roasted-vegetable marinara
Homemade ricotta
Italian meatballs
Crusty French baguettes
Chocolate Kahlua mousse

Last summer I roasted a small army of vegetables, pureed them with tomatoes, and simmered with garlic and basil to make a basic marinara. I portioned it and stored it in the freezer for a quick marinara sauce. It tastes like marinara but has tons of vitamin-packed healthy vegetable goodness. So last night I caramelized a minced onion, added red and cayenne pepper, lightly sauteed garlic and basil, and then added the marinara and simmered for an hour and a half for the sauce. I made a small batch of ricotta to serve on top of the marinara, to cool it down a bit. The meatballs were half beef and half turkey, seasoned with homemade breadcrumbs, rosemary, and sage, and baked on a wire rack to reduce greasiness.

The French baguettes were simple white loaves baked with a crunchy crust outside and soft fluffy goodness on the inside. (Normally I bake whole-wheat only, so the soft fluffy white bread was a definite treat.) The first loaf was devoured directly out of my hand as I was trying to carry it to the cutting board. The second loaf was savored with butter and ricotta.

The chocolate mousse was made with low-fat milk, and whipped farm-fresh eggs for volume.

The boys declared it the "best meal ever".

[Amara]

The boys declared it the "best meal ever".

It sounds fantastic!

[KenveeB]

The boys declared it the "best meal ever".

It sounds fantastic!

Agreed! You've got me drooling.