When Your Happy, What Do You like to Cook for Your Family?

Aaaaw, I'm happy too because my boys are coming home from school for the Thanksgiving break. I got a list a mile long of what I'll be cooking!

But tonight it's just my daughter and I so I think it'll put some chicken on the grill (yeah it's too cold out but I don't care) and a salad of some sort.

The prospect of cooking lots of things for lots of people who love it with music playing and kids (big kids though they are) in the kitchen makes me very happy too!

Enjoy!

:)

I make homemade raviolis and bread, etc. In fact, I love to make pasta and bread when I"m feeling happy. I also like to make cakes.

When I am happy it is because I am not cooking:)

I make cookies, muffins and loaves when I am happy.

Ha ha! I love it, "When you are happy". Of course when I am NOT happy or stressed out, it ends up being "fend for yourself night" or pizza delivery! Not that anyone seems to mind too much.
When I am happy, I usually bake. My family loves fresh bread and rolls. I particularly have liked the bread recipes from Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes (really, the recipes are foolproof and wonderful) and the roll recipe from OurBestBites.com. We love them topped with strawberry freezer jam. My family seems to really appreciate the effort :)
When my hubby is happy, he will smoke some meat for us. It takes nearly all day, so it is a big effort, but he is becoming a pro at it. In the last few months he has tried smoked deer roast, smoked pork roast, smoked chicken breasts, smoked ribs, smoked brisket. It is all good. We will usually have leftovers all week and will throw it on salads and sandwiches. Hoping he will keep at it even though it is now freezing outside! Yum!

We decorate homemade sugar cookies!!
OR this elaborate chocolate bunt style cake that you have to cook in a water bath. A lot of work, a lot of pay off. It's SOOO yummy.

I don't really cook, so when I am happy we get sushi to-go. A family favorite and even the kids know when we go out or bring in it is a feast and a celebration (even if we are just celebrating tuesday - LOL)

Chinese take-out.

:)

I don't make anything specific when I am happy but making bread makes me happy. I feel all old worldy and accomplished when I knead dough.

I like to make homemade pizza. Easy and fun to make. I also love to bake cookies, cupcakes, etc. This is one of my families favorites in the fall...http://www.food.com/recipe/easy-pumpkin-coffee-cake-77222

Homemade bread and loaded potato soup (cooked with skins, and with real butter, crumbled real bacon, sharp cheddar, mushrooms, sour cream, and chives addded in)

Can I come to your house ;) it all sounds so yummy! I like to make lasagna for my family too when I'm happy. It's my husband and kids favorite and it makes me happy to see them happy.

I love soup, and there is just something comforting to me about having a pot simmering on the stove all afternoon, so I do that quite a bit. I suppose that soup makes me happy, so I make it when I'm in need of a pick-me-up. When I am in a great mood and feel like cooking I make spaghetti and meatballs. Its my husband's favorite :-)

Peanut butter banana chocolate chip muffins!

Oooo.. love this question!

I love cooking and watching people eat my food!

Gosh totally depends on the weather.. it is so hot here most of the time, we try to not turn on the stove or oven.. So in the summer.. We grill.. beautiful steaks, corn on the cob, with a huge beautiful salad..

In the cold weather. i love to make soups. Homemade chicken soup (caldo) with carrots, leeks, potatoes, garlic, cabbage..

Or chili and cornbread with sharp cheddar cheese.

Maybe Stew with a really good bread

And I love to bake for them.. My husbands favorite is an Apple Kuchin.. Or a cobbler.

Our daughter likes pies..

I make a wicked good homemade red sauce, which I add Italian sausage to and serve over spaghetti squash if we're trying to be "good", over a hearty pasta if we're not. I plate this up with some steamed cauliflower, top it all with freshly grated parmesan cheese, and perhaps a little crusty bread to mop up the sauce with.

My hot weather "happy meal" is smoked salmon I've brought back from visiting my bestie in coastal Washington served on rye crispbread with cream cheese, some fresh dill from the garden, and a squirt of lemon, with salad on the side.

Yeah, It's Italian for me too. I married into an italian family, so I enjoy cooking big meals. Stuffed shells are my favorite to cook, along with Lasagna, and sausage and peppers, and Chicken Marsala, and lots of garlic bread.

Although, the southern side of me always enjoys cooking a big southern breakfast with grits, eggs, biscuits, bacon and sausage, and homefries!

Cookies! Chocolate chip and mexican wedding cookies!

what you did!
or a turkey, ham or roast with garlic roasted mashed potatoes and green beans......

I bake.
I braise.
I plan meals for days.
Last night was tenderloin and potatoes.
Some times I have to see how the day goes.
I saute.
I chop.
Always miss an ingredient when I shop.
Cooking for others gives me great pleasure.
Sharing a meal with them is a treasure.

Interesting question. I love to cook, and cook all of the time (literally every day, sometimes all day) but don't associate it with whether or not I'm happy. What can make me happy is seeing one of the kids sit down to on of their favorite foods. My SD is so appreciative of the brownies I make from her great-grandmother's recipe and my youngest boy is on cloud nine with a big piece of caramel apple pie.

i love cooking for myfamily. this week i made home made salsa, lasagna, meatballs. i make severeal things a day. it relaxes me