For years I've been telling anyone who'd listen that I don't like to cook. I think that may now be a lie. Lately it seems I'm a lot more interested in food prep than I have been. It might have a LOT to do with the fact that so much of the food we buy is processed with sodium or high-fructose corn syrup and I really feel better knowing what's in the food I eat.
That's one reason why I expanded my vegetable garden this past summer. We grew broccoli and Brussels sprouts (which Mr. Groundhog ate most of), tomatoes, a TON of green beans (yum!), potatoes, parsley and cilantro.
For the past few days I've been a cooking machine. Wednesday I made Potato-Leek soup (the recipe is included in Bookplate Special) and a mince pie. Friday I made a HUGE lasagna. Yesterday I made a huge vat of turkey-vegetable soup (which will probably feed me for the entire winter, and nobody else in my family will eat it--I freeze it in small containers), and made cookies for the coming holidays. (Shortbread and Oatmeal Raisin cookies.)
The thing I'm noticing is that ... I'm now enjoying the process. Mind you, I love to cook with my husband, but lately we haven't done much of that. (Note to self: Bug Husband To Cook With Me.)
This year I've frozen a ton of onions, leeks, and parsley, good stuff for soups and stews. I have a bunch of crock-pot recipes I want to try. And since I became a cozy mystery author, I always seem to be testing recipes to include in my books. (Too bad most of them are so fattening. But, it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make for my readers. And if you believe THAT ....)
Sadly, all this domesticity hasn't manifested into a massive clean up of the old homestead. And this week for the first time in my life, I'm hiring someone to come in and give the place a good going over. (I think I'll go hide in the basement while they're here.)
But when I'm in the kitchen, I'm not exactly having fun ... but I do notice I feel completely content when I'm cooking something or other these days. I like that feeling.
How about you?
I'm more inclined to cook a meal at Thanksgiving and/or Christmas and be happy about it. Normally I'm not a cook, prefer someone else to prepare meals.
ReplyDeleteI don't cook, but I'm starting to feel the same way you do - I don't like all the processed food I'm eating. I'm getting bored with soup and salad, my dinner staple (I pick the soup up at Whole Foods, thankfully, their soups are not only yummy, but they don't have all the crap in them that canned soups do). But more and more, I find myself drawn to actually preparing my own meals from scratch. Maybe there's hope for me yet.
ReplyDeleteWould like to cook more, but w/a hubby who HATES onions (how in the WORLD do you cook anything that tastes good without those wonderful critters???), isn't fond of garlic, and thinks ALL herbs should be banned from the planet -- what's the point? Oh, and about the only veggies he likes are green beans and french fries. *sigh* Takes a lot of the fun out of the process.
ReplyDeleteIn the Potato-Leek soup recipe (which I intend to try!), do you dice the potatoes, chunk them or shred them for best results?
ReplyDeleteDice. But they'd work either way. They seem to cook down before the leeks, even though you saute them first. Go figure! (Love that recipe. It's now my favorite soup.)
ReplyDeleteBought the leeks and potatoes, gonna give it a shot here in the UAE. On TV it looked like upstate NY and a big part of the country was getting lots of snow today; here it's in the 70s and breezy and sunny.
ReplyDeleteGo for it, Dave! And about that 70s temp: Pllllllttttttttttt! (Can you tell it's errand day and I have to go out into the crappy white stuff?)
ReplyDeleteMade the soup last night, it was WONDERFUL!!!! The whole time I kept thinking, "is this going to have enough flavor, it's so simple??" Oh my goodness, it was DELICIOUS! For the chicken broth, I improvised by using Maggi chicken with low salt cubes (1 per cup of water); and I didn't have garlic on hand (you'd of thought I'd remember when I bought LEEKS for goodness sake) so I used some garlic powder; not the same but the whole thing turned out perfect. It was absolutely delicious and SO easy. Great recipe! Now I just have to finish reading Bookmarked for Death so I can read Bookplate Special. I will have some leftover soup today. I'm proud to say, also, it's the first time I've ever cooked with leeks!
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad to hear you enjoyed the soup! It's my absolute favorite. (I had a LOT of leeks last time out, and WOW--was it great.) I made it for my Dad when he was in the nursing home. Sadly, it was about the last thing he enjoyed before he took a turn for the worst. I usually don't puree it (my husband likes it "lumpy"), but that time I did (I was worried about Dad choking) and it was really good that way, too. Now when I make it, I think of my Dad.
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful memory, and a testament to the important social things that are attached to food.
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