Terribly excited about cooking
I'm not sure whether a beast was awoken by the cherry-extravaganza or I was just fed up of being overfed and not being able to cook (on the cruise), but when our LPO box arrived Friday HOLY CRAP I am excited about what's it in!
A bit of my dietary past...
Both my parents I would consider good cooks. Back in their days pre-children, I've heard of crazy grastome parties where they cooked Indian or Italian or whatever feasts with friends. My dad used to make insanely good lasagne: homemade sauce, homemade noodles, homemade sausage, whole nine yards. Growing up, though, we mostly ate ... betty crocker. You know, meat, potatoes, or pasta or casserole. Not complaining, but pretty standard. I was asking my family what veggies they remembered eating while growing up: salad, broccoli, green beans, peas, corn, potatoes (does that one count?). My mom loved beets and brussel sprouts and other things, but apparently since my dad didn't like them and we were kids (EWWW what's that!?!?) she rarely cooked them. I don't think I had ever eaten a cooked green until a few years ago when Nate's family made some.
So this LPO thing has been an amazing food adventure. Chard! Broccoli greens! Tat Soi! Beets! Kohlrabi! and all kinds of regulars that have extra-amazing taste because they're so fresh. I felt like I had never eaten a proper carrot, once I bit into one from LPO. And it's a challenge, too. You get a box of stuff and a certain time to use it before it goes bad. It's a puzzle: how can I use carrots and beets together? I've done a lot of learning! Plus branching out. I love eating out for Indian, Mexican, Thai, Middle Eastern, all kinds of "ethnic" foods. But I've started dabbling in cooking in those styles at home. Mostly because of this amazing vegetarian cookbook I got for Christmas. I spent a few hours just reading the first few chapters. It has SO many styles of cooking, wonderfully explained and listed with tons of variations and substitutions on each recipe. I get so excited whenever I open it - it's like I look up one thing, and end up reading and dreaming and drooling over various things for an hour.
So now I'm looking at beets, carrots, celery, green beans, cooking greens, GORGEOUS summer squash yellow & zucchini, arugula (which I'd never knowingly eaten before maybe a year ago), and a few red onions. MMMMM. The possibilities! (plus, omg. we got strawberries and blueberries!! I may be unable to cook with them because I think I'm just going to eat them all.)
I also found a pretty awesome middle eastern grocery right near my house, which has supplied new and exciting pantry items like sumac, cardamom, dried chickpeas, and the inspiration to try to make pitas and falafel.
PS. the cupcakes were a hit! I definitely will make them again.
A bit of my dietary past...
Both my parents I would consider good cooks. Back in their days pre-children, I've heard of crazy grastome parties where they cooked Indian or Italian or whatever feasts with friends. My dad used to make insanely good lasagne: homemade sauce, homemade noodles, homemade sausage, whole nine yards. Growing up, though, we mostly ate ... betty crocker. You know, meat, potatoes, or pasta or casserole. Not complaining, but pretty standard. I was asking my family what veggies they remembered eating while growing up: salad, broccoli, green beans, peas, corn, potatoes (does that one count?). My mom loved beets and brussel sprouts and other things, but apparently since my dad didn't like them and we were kids (EWWW what's that!?!?) she rarely cooked them. I don't think I had ever eaten a cooked green until a few years ago when Nate's family made some.
So this LPO thing has been an amazing food adventure. Chard! Broccoli greens! Tat Soi! Beets! Kohlrabi! and all kinds of regulars that have extra-amazing taste because they're so fresh. I felt like I had never eaten a proper carrot, once I bit into one from LPO. And it's a challenge, too. You get a box of stuff and a certain time to use it before it goes bad. It's a puzzle: how can I use carrots and beets together? I've done a lot of learning! Plus branching out. I love eating out for Indian, Mexican, Thai, Middle Eastern, all kinds of "ethnic" foods. But I've started dabbling in cooking in those styles at home. Mostly because of this amazing vegetarian cookbook I got for Christmas. I spent a few hours just reading the first few chapters. It has SO many styles of cooking, wonderfully explained and listed with tons of variations and substitutions on each recipe. I get so excited whenever I open it - it's like I look up one thing, and end up reading and dreaming and drooling over various things for an hour.
So now I'm looking at beets, carrots, celery, green beans, cooking greens, GORGEOUS summer squash yellow & zucchini, arugula (which I'd never knowingly eaten before maybe a year ago), and a few red onions. MMMMM. The possibilities! (plus, omg. we got strawberries and blueberries!! I may be unable to cook with them because I think I'm just going to eat them all.)
I also found a pretty awesome middle eastern grocery right near my house, which has supplied new and exciting pantry items like sumac, cardamom, dried chickpeas, and the inspiration to try to make pitas and falafel.
PS. the cupcakes were a hit! I definitely will make them again.