pointing you elsewhere....

Posts like kateelliott's commentary on women in genre  make me wish I had the kind of brain that did proper academic breakdowns (despite being a classic analytical Virgo, I am an utter failure of dispassionate academic mindset; I go all intuitive and leap-y)

So go read what she has to say.  :-)

contemplations on the kitchen

Dinner tonight was roast chicken, quartered & rubbed w/ truffle oil & balsamic vinegar w/ maple syrup, roasted in butter w/ anchos & a scattering of mild chili powder. Nom. Adapted from the basic recipe in Mark Bittman's HOW TO COOK ALL THE THINGS (ok, How To Cook Everything. My title's better)

This is, btw, the cookbook that I recommend to everyone who is either just learning how to cook, or wanting to expand beyond "follow the recipe inch-by-inch."  It really does teach how to cook all the things, both the base recipe, and how to improvise on the theme.  (Then, I hand people the Silver Palate New Basics.)

It frustrates me, sometimes, that I don't have more opportunity to cook.  Back in the before years, when my partner's ability in the kitchen was limited* to pasta or nuking hot dogs, it became such a chore to have to cook, that I began to hate it.  It took, mmm, three years before I got the kitchen-love back.  Step by step, reclaiming the joy.  Now that it's a pleasure again, I keep looking for reasons to try spiffy new recipes and improvisations... but living alone, and in a different borough from most of my friends, limits my audience.  And in NYC, you don't really have dinner parties...

[I used to cook up a storm for people in New Haven.  OK, that's one point in favor of the 'burbs/smaller cities]

I probably should start hosting dinner parties again.  Dog knows, most of my friends do love to eat....

Do you have a favorite cookbook?  Are you the kitchen-elf (cook, or baker)?  Or are you the "what did you create for me" guest-type?  :-)



*by his own choice.  His theory was "well, you enjoy doing it, so why should I learn?"