So after much urging from some dear friends, I’ve finally decided to focus my little blog on my culinary adventures. Cooking & baking are two of my favorite things to do & lately I’ve found myself spending more & more time in the kitchen. I have loads to share. (Never fear, those of you who’ve followed my random rants for a while now…given the unfocused nature of my thought process, sneaking little tidbits of non-food related nonsense in here & there is inevitable)
First things first, I am a vegetarian…I know, I know, since the days of Woodstock the word vegetarian conjures up an ugly image of a dirty, granola munching hippie. So maybe I listen to Crosby, Stills & Nash on my record player & maybe I practice yoga, but I’m also obsessed with my iPhone4, am a beauty product hoarder & hate the smell of patchouli. How does that fit into your hippie equation?
So, before you carnivores stop reading right now, let me be perfectly clear: Nowhere in this blog will I ever tell you that you should stop eating meat. I won’t even hint at it. I don’t like meat, my body doesn’t digest it well, end of story. That doesn’t make me right, or anyone else wrong. In fact, if it strikes you to reproduce a recipe from my blog & cover it in bacon, by all means, have at it & re-post it right here! Part of this whole experiment is trying new things!!! That being said, for those of you considering giving the veggie thing a try, but really don't want to give up the substance & texture of meat: I don’t use them often, but there are some pretty hearty & convincing meat substitutes out there now a days. In the past I’ve gone so far as to conduct experiments with them, by cooking them into various recipes & feeding them to my father, yielding very positive feedback. Encouraging, considering the only green, organic substance he’s let near him in the past ten years is….well, let’s just say you won’t find it in any of the recipes on this blog.
I am not a profession chef, nor have I been to culinary school; I’m a 27 year old dancer living in New York City, with a kitchen the size of a respectable walk in closet & a fearless, somewhat unconventional approach to cooking. I don’t make fancy French food that I can’t pronounce. I don’t use ingredients that can only be found in crazy expensive specialty stores & I don’t cook “diet food.” Vegetarianism is not a diet; it’s a lifestyle choice. This is a one girl crusade to show people that food sans meat can still be creative, flavorful & satisfying, so if you’re looking for tomato slices on a lettuce leaf…maybe you want to check out that hippie thing.
What I am going to do is share the good, the bad & the ugly of stretching beyond grilled American cheese sandwiches & canned pasta sauce. Recipes I love, my own creations, & the inevitable crash & burns. I’m going to do my best to change minds about how little of an extra effort it takes to cook healthier food. Healthier in the sense of putting down the preservative filled frozen food & attempting to make a home cooked meal full of fresh produce. (& Perhaps a dessert or two) Given the right mindset, it’s actually pretty fun. I whole-heartedly welcome questions, comments & corrections; this is all a big learning process, so chat away. All of that being said, I hope you’re inspired. Let the games begin!
Okay, time to get my butt moving. I am baking red velvet cupcakes to bring to a friend’s birthday party this weekend. (I love an excuse to use my KitchenAid mixer) I’m using a recipe based off a Martha Stewart recipe that I’ve tweaked a teeny bit, because I can never leave well enough alone. A lot of times I think Red Velvet cupcakes fall a little flat, being a lover of the unusual, but this particular recipe really nails it, Martha knows her stuff. Sharing my baked goods with friends is really fun & a little nerve wracking at the same time. Generally my only guinea pig is my poor boyfriend & we’ve developed a pretty good routine when it comes to my less-than perfect attempts. (He tells me the truth, I pout, & then he tells me how good it was until I let it go & admit that he was right.:) But bringing a not so delicious baked good to a gathering of friends? Banish the thought. Lucky for me, said boyfriend’ never has a problem playing guinea pig when it comes to my baked goods. I guess he’ll just have to take one for the team & give me the cold hard truth beforehand….Enjoy the sunshine this weekend!
