born-again foodie

[nephthys224]

I was reading through some of my old entries yesterday, and what really jumped out at me (besides the fact that I rambled on pathetically about my ex the whole time... thank god that phase of my life is over!) is how often I talked about baking cookies. Cookies as a reward when I was feeling good about myself, cookies to cheer me up when I was

Comments

[aeryn42]

Oooh yes, and I adore cooking, too. I think the only reason I eat anything that doesn't come out of a box is because I learned to cook and I like showing off to friends and loved ones! I taught myself the art of baking (which is so much more difficult than cooking a meal--baking is pure chemistry!), which has led to awesome and not-so-awesome results. I also like to make lots of random things whenever the mood strikes-- my favorites being curries and Tex-mex. I love a good enchilada at home!

I love that you get organic produce at home there. We have that here, too, but it's very slowly catching on as people still want to go grocery shopping weekly just to have their produce rot on them by the time they use it. I'm jealous of your mini grain mill! That would be really neat to have here, but I'm not sure if it would work well in an apartment?

Have you ever heard of Alton Brown or the television show Good Eats? I'm so tempted to send you some episodes. This guy is like a cross between Mr. Wizard and a cooking show. He goes beyond how to make a dish with a certain food and explains all the chemistry and technical stuff behind the food to help you understand why it does what it does. He also has amazing but simple recipes for everything from garlic to eggs to poaching fish.

Wow, I'm blabbing. I really want to go to culinary school and I love cooking. It's so relaxing and you get to eat what you make! Amazing stuff. I guess if you ever need to gab food in English with anyone, I'm available!

[nephthys224]

Mmmm, Tex-Mex. I reallyreallyreally miss good Tex-Mex. I have a hard time getting ahold of the right ingredients here, so I don't make it as often as I'd like. I can find habaneros and sometimes even jalapenos (sorry, too lazy to look up how to do the ~ above the n), but definitely no other types of peppers, no pinto beans, no salsa, and certainly nothing involving corn, which apparently is animal fodder here. Whenever I'm in Texas, I always stock up on El Fenix brand salsa and masa for corn tortillas (among other things).

But while it sucks to not have good Tex-Mex, I have discovered the joys of Indonesian food, which is sort of like the Dutch Tex-Mex. Lots of spicy curries and stews which are super easy to make and reaaaallly tasty. :)

Hmm... I don't see any reason why the grain mill we have wouldn't work fine in an apartment. It's small, fairly lightweight (you could keep it in a cupboard somewhere and just take it out when you need it), and reasonably aesthetically pleasing. :) It's a bit noisy (okay, it's really freakin' loud), but as long as you're not milling at 2:00am or something, I think it would fall within the range of "acceptable noises". Here's a webpage with some info on the one we have: http://www.simply-natural.biz/Schnitzer-Pico-Electric-Grain-Mill.php
For the record, they're about 1/4 of the price shown on that page if you order them in Europe. :-P Actually, when I was living in the US I really lusted after this mill called the Nutrimill. It's an impact mill (as opposed to one with a grindstone like I have), which some people don't like 'cause it gets warmer, but you can grind more stuff with it than with the type I have (I can't do flaxseed, chickpeas or other beans, etc). They're still pretty pricey, though-- I'm not sure I would ever have gotten one if we hadn't gotten it as a gift. :)

And I totally have the hots for Alton Brown. He taught me everything I know about scrambled eggs/French toast/vanilla extract/roast turkey/you name it. :) I'm so sad we can't get him over here... though I bet if I tried hard enough I could find Good Eats online somewhere. My dad just got finished reading a book of his and has promised to save it for me. Yay!

And wow, I would loooooove to go to culinary school. You should totally do it! Then you can pass on lots of good tips and recipes to your adoring LJ audience... :-))