Crafty cooking!

I first started cooking 'like an adult' when I was in college and living in the second place where I lived alone. I loved my apartment, the complex was known as the Gay Melrose Place of Albuquerque - and being there lived up to that reputation every day! At the time, I had a second job at Wild Oats and got a great discount, so grocery shopping became really fun while I worked there. I was usually so excited about pay day so that I could shop and finally purchase the things I had been eye-ing for weeks. I did a lot of exploration during that time. My friend, Big Al, bought me the Moosewood Cookbook and then it was really on! My favorite meal to cook was Moroccan Stew (vegetable tagine), which I would cook while drinking a beer and listening to Moroccan music. Ah, the joys of living alone... that was a little bit of heaven for me.

Since December I've been getting Real Simple magazine; it was a Christmas present from my friend Weezie. I wasn't really sure what to expect from this magazine, because I had never had a subscription to it. But I have been so pleasantly surprised. I especially love the recipes. And I love the change the recipes have had on my life, as well as the effect they have had on Chris and my life as a couple.

As an individual, I've used the recipes as a chance to take a breather and basically meditate in the middle of my day. My routine has now become: come home after work, turn on NPR (I love Fresh Air with Terry Gross, Counter Spin, As It Happens and the Tavis Smiley Show), open the recipe book and decide which one I'm going to make that night. What I love about cooking is that sense that this is the one time in my life when I don't have to make the decisions - yeah, I'm that kind of cook. I'm not creative, I don't taste something and think, 'that needs...' like Chris can. My creativity and courage doesn't infiltrate my cooking. I love the idea of letting the recipe guide me, tell me when to put what in the bowl, saute it for only x minutes, mix it with such and such at this moment, etc. I love it. I get to listen to the news and zone out a bit for a while during my day. I especially love prepping vegetables. I love cutting them into equally proportioned pieces and putting them in bowls with their partners in crime.

As a couple, I love that I've thoughtfully created a meal and Chris and I get a chance to sit down and enjoy a great meal together with a glass of wine. And laugh. We do a lot of that. Especially over dinner, we have a good time together. But for some reason, dinners are especially fun for us.

(One more thing that's been a boon with my cooking fever is that our pantry has shrunk down and the refrigerator is usually packed with FRESH food. We greatly decreased the amount of processed and packaged food we eat now.)

Anyway, my renewed interest in cooking has also come at a time when I have a renewed vigor for my crafting and my purpose in life (that'll come later - thanks Sarah-bug!). All of the cooking has required that I wear an apron and I luckily inherited my Grammie's old apron, which I love SO much! It reminds me of being really young, living with her, and sitting on the kitchen floor while she cooked. I love her. So, I treasure her apron. But the very best thing about her apron is, not only does it look totally cute, it's so utilitarian - it comes with a little pocket and a built in towel for wiping your hands! Genius!

So, I got some of my scrap and gifted fabric down from storage and am inspired to make some aprons! This is the only way I know how to lend creativity to my cooking - for me, the meditation method is my saving grace in this hectic life I'm living in San Francisco, so making fabulous accessories will serve as the creative outlet. I'm going to sell some of them, but I will definitely have to make myself AT LEAST one! I'm excited and I'll post pics as soon as some are done!