May Postmortum

So I thought having a baby would mean I cook less - but I guess that's stupid, less going out means more cooking at home.

I have made a routine of making pizza dough and pasta every week.  I guess I'm done for the most part with ridiculous techniques, and really just focus on doing things well; and that's what you need; cease-less practice.   Not sure if it matters - lately I've been either experiencing a blandness in lots of my cooking; other times I get only harsh flavors.

All of the sudden we're on a schedule - Pizza Monday, Pasta Thursday, Asian on Friday, Grill on Saturday....when did this place turn into a cafeteria?

Maybe the new routine will mean I stop keeping track of all this, I'm starting to not have the time anyway...same thing every week, seasonal ingredients; weak cooking skills....no need to mark it down.

Weekend Evaluation: This is Not Awesome

Maybe this should be an airing of grievances - but summer is the greatest time of the year; but it's also the most frustrating.  The produce is amazingly great, so you should cook at home all of the time, but it's so nice out you want to be out enjoying the weather.

I guess this is why people have grills.  Too bad we just bought tiny house and it doesn't even have any outdoor space.

On top of that, since everything looks great so I always buy too much at the farmer's market.  I don't want to miss out on a thing, especially in the early spring certain product comes and goes so fast.  You need to jump right on asparagus and favas since before you know it, they're gone.  So with this stuff on top of the regular CSA share I always have a slammed refrigerator every Saturday; and spend the weekend digging out of the mess. 

This week asparagus, rhubarb and scapes probably made their last appearance at the market, but cherries showed up, so I felt compelled to buy them with no real idea of what I was going to do.

Usually this means a lot of great food that's fairly easy to prepare and an opportunity to be creative; but not when you're not trying to prepare to move in less than a week and still get out and enjoy the 86 degree weather.  It becomes just one more thing you have to deal with, a chore...almost. 

This led to some rushed and sloppy cooking; pretty stupid.

Weekend Evaluation: Hear that Funny Sound? It's My Hooves!

When Gretchen bought me this t-shirt for my birthday a few years back I don't think she expected me to actually cook all of the parts that are delicious.

Weekend Evaluation: I Was Hot and I Was Hungry

Sometimes cooking is a great feeling.  There's an awareness and confidence that you can feel while cooking, it seems like you can't make a mistake. You know exactly what is happening and why - the cause and effect are completely linked.  Your evaluation of the ingredients, the plan you put in place, and the techniques you apply to achieve the final product is all are very clear.  

You feel in complete control of what's happening and everything works out exactly how you want with very little effort.  

This effortless feeling is why I cook.   

This weekend was not effortless.