Success!

As promised, today was a day for cooking. Please see the recipes page for new and exciting updates. Furthermore, as a friend totally called me out on this, I will include the recipe for curry powder. I owe much thanks for it to Hossam's wife's dad's... uncle? Something like that.

I've been wondering lately, why does someone who likes food so much eat it so fast? I used to laugh at adults who said, "Now take a small bite, and chew 20 times before swallowing." Doesn't it just start to taste... well, tasteless, by that point? That being said, however, I have a great respect for the European culture of sitting and lingering for hours over a meal. This was my experience at a cute little restaurant in Divonnes-les-Bains:

• Salmon terrine in cream sauce with leeks
  
• Roast chicken with gratin dauphinois and summer vegetables
  
• Cheese plate
• Creme brulee

It didn't end up being all that much, in the end, but the food, the conversation, and the atmosphere certainly left me feeling pleasantly full :)

Late night, long day.

I promise to be less negligent in the future. But I would like to make some very brief remarks about how, as the Wilskillers used to put it, "hunger is the best condiment."

Dinner tonight (12 hour day, 1/3 of which was Excel spreadsheet nightmare):
grilled brie cheese sandwich with arugula and "superfruit" jam

Dinner last night (12 hour day, but lesson planning for Friday done!):
patatas bravas with Sriracha and rice&bean soup

In the works and upcoming:
ginger-cranberry-orange biscotti
port-poached pears
roast butternut squash with feta and balsamic reduction

I am in love with the farmer's market

Check out the full frigo--that should speak for itself :)
Will be lazy today, but plan to try out a curry soup recipe from a friend later tonight. Will definitely report back.

Procrasti-baking, Pt. 1

I have a list of things I ought to be doing / have done today. Certainly, none of them got done yesterday. And yet, to be honest, the only things I wanted to do today were on this list:
1. Dance, dance.
2. Turn in circles.
3. Cook cook cook.

Despite this procrastination, I've been thinking a lot about the word (and concept) of intentionality. Maybe it was thinking back to yoga, maybe it was something Ra said. In any case, I'm interested in thinking about how I can be more intentional in my actions. Sa might say "mindful," but that doesn't imply the forward thrust of intentionality. Kundera might say the "es muss sein," though that's a bit more meta than I'm going for.

This attention to the directed meaning in action is something I want to work on. Sometimes, you don't need to flirt with the guy in eyeliner just because you can. Sometimes, you don't have the presence, mindfulness, intention to realize that it's not something you want at all. So I'm working. Sometimes, this involves making lists and crossing things off. Sometimes it involves sitting really still. Today, it just took a moment of clarity in the middle of a completely unrelated (but no less enjoyable) conversation. I've decided to take time out of my night and *intentionally* bake.

I tweaked some recipes, combed my cabinets, and ended up with dark chocolate pistachio biscotti. They're going in gift bags tomorrow as a big THANK YOU to Beth and Rebecca.

Kitchen appliance love.

Tuesday. One of those days where I'll be going going going for 12 hours. Which would make me feel very productive... if I could even focus on that thought. This is another way of saying, damn it feels good to have a rice cooker. I loaded it with lentils, an extra splash of chicken stock, and a pinch of turmeric, and let it do its thing while I did mine (first Y trip of the school year). Not only was I reminded what a nice, small community I live in while working the stationary bike, but I came home to wafting wonderfulness with just a few more minutes left to go.

Threw some more things together while chatting with the sister, and end up with a balanced meal: a pulse, some greens, a bit of oil/fats, lots of veggies, and a tasty, store-bought starch (a "masala burger," last minute impulse purchase at TJ's).

PS. Who had a piece of quiche for lunch? And snacked on the crumbs in the afternoon? And totally was tempted to break out a frozen piece tonight? Hmmm.... I wonder...

New project, new post.

"There's a polar bear in my Frigidaire. He likes it 'cause it's cold in there." Opening lines to a classic Shel Silverstein poem that has stayed with me from the time the four-year old Sarah received A Light in the Attic. And unfortunately, a close approximation to the situation in her refrigerator when, at 25, she last moved. If there wasn't quite a polar bear in there, there were certainly other things that were white. And fuzzy. And just as scary.

Thus was born the beginnings of this blog. It evolved for several reasons, some of which I may come to later. But above all, it arose out of this desire: I want to know what I eat. This means, on the one hand, trying to buy as local / organic / fresh as possible. On the other hand, and more fundamentally, it means being smart about what I buy, and using it efficiently, so there is as little waste as possible.

So I will figure out, among other things: what to do with what's left in the pickle jar? How long will "seconds" from the farmer's market last? What are the perfect proportions for a must-use-these-eggs-before-they've-expired quiche?

And I will make it really obvious when I do (and don't) use things. On the sidebar, you will see a list of everything in my fridge, except for a few basic condiments that should last the next year or so. I'll update that each week after trips to farmer's market and store, so you know exactly what has been "at the back of the fridge"... and for how long.

Some weeks you may notice a prevalence of chocolate and French cheese in the sidebar. And personal questions or compelling issues in the posts. I think that's fine--there's no way that cooking can or should be impersonal. Some methods are just more explicit than others, and with blogs, well... suffice it to say that "navel-gazing" may not in this instance refer to oranges.