She was a home economics major in college. Clearly, we have a lot of them.
When I was younger and she still cooked, I remember sitting at the counter and looking at the pretty pictures in them, wanting to learn how to make those dishes just because they looked so good. Unsurprisingly, I'd usually skip over the meal parts and go straight to dessert.
Now, though, I'm rediscovering those cookbooks in their entirety. Even if you don't know what you're doing, just paging through the beautiful photos and carefully created foods is inspiring.
This morning, I went through the cookbook cabinet and pulled out a few books I've always loved. I'm excited to go through them and start picking out stuff to make- even if don't get an occasion to in awhile, it's fun to think about!
I still might not be completely comfortable with many cooking techniques, but just knowing what they are makes them seem a lot less daunting. Yesterday, for instance, we covered braising, pressure cooking, stir-frying and pureeing. We made mashed potatoes, carrots, squash and onions in the pressure cooker, apple-carrot puree, braised leeks, endive and fennel and a stir-fry with tofu, mushrooms and snow peas.
We're moving pretty quickly and there's a lot to remember, but I love it. I feel like I'm learning so much every day, and while I still don't know exactly what I want to do when I'm done with this program, I know I'm in the right place :)
Do you enjoy cooking? What's your favorite aspect of it- the prep, the process, the finished product?
