Wannabe Foodie

Man, do I love food.

I love reading about it, cooking it, tasting it, feeding it to others. I can't wait until Wednesday morning, so I can read the Food section of the Washington Post. If I'm not hungry, then I'm ill, or out of the ordinary things are happening to my psyche, like grieving or falling in love, or winning the lottery.

I call myself a "wannabe foodie," because I cook just for myself, eat out at mainly fast casual restaurants (a little foodservice lingo for you), and have not thrown a dinner party in years. My last year in college I threw at least three dinner parties in my tiny studio apartment, and it all went downhill from there. And of course, I dreamed of being a chef: even Tony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential, or Heat, Bill Buford's book about working in Mario Batali's kitchen didn't phase me. This video, however, which I watched only last week, made me realize that a chef's life was not for me. Just can't do that to a lobster.

When I was growing up, my mother had all of these cookbooks on a bookshelf by the kitchen table. Before school, I'd eat my Wheat Chex and read one of them, thus beginning my fascination with recipies and my inability to eat alone without doing something else; though I must admit that dining solo in a good restaurant with a good book can be an absolutely lovely experience.

The original photo can be found here. Couldn't upload it directly due to technical difficulties

I do a pretty decent job in the kitchen. I don't have a specialty or anything. I try lots of different things and usually fare pretty well. As my spoon rest says "Many have tried my cooking and have gone on to lead normal lives."

These days, it's a bit harder to find the impetus to cook when I'm cooking for one. I'm more likely to cruise the takeout section of Whole Foods and sit down to dinner with Nigella Lawson's How to Eat or Mark Bittman's Food Matters. I was lucky enough to encounter someone who had two copies of Mark Bittman's How To Cook Everything, so he gave it to me. Now the worst-looking, but most-used cookbook I own. He's published a new edition, but like a pair of old jeans, I'm reluctant to part with my beloved copy.

I recently became a fan of food blogs. I don't know who invented the format, but they're all written by great writers who have amazing photography skills and yummy recipies. You'll see some of them on my blog roll. Smitten Kitchen and Chocolate and Zucchini (I WILL make the chocolate-caramel tart one day) have provided me with hours of entertainment. And thanks to this post, I found some more blogs today. Here is what I made for my dinner today/lunch tomorrow. It's tasty!

Maybe one day I'll throw a dinner party again. My culinary skills have vastly improved since college. Until then, I'll keep on reading...and eating, of course.