Those elitist Barefoots

I read through this article about food and elitism, and I started wondering if I'm a food elitist.  I mean, can somebody who makes macaroni and cheese on a regular basis really be a food elitist?  I mean, okay, sometimes it's not Kraft, but nonetheless.  I am a woman of simple tastes, and if I could do it without gaining weight, I would live pretty much entirely on grilled cheese and macaroni and cheese.  Oh, and pizza.  Which I buy frozen from Costco, most of the time.  With a side of brocolli, because I have a degree in public health and parents who raised me to not get scurvy.

But I don't like champagne, or truffles.  I don't have an appreciation for really fine foods with fancy-sounding ingredients.  I like good, simple food.  I don't like having to ask, "what is xyz?" when I'm at a restaurant.  I like wine that tastes like juice, and much to Mr. Barefoot's constant annoyance, I can't kick my soda habit.

Mr. Barefoot and I try to shop locally, we buy organic when we can, and to make that financially possible, we also choose to buy in bulk (a savings which in some ways is countered by our high rent for our apartment that is large enough to keep bulk items in - room for a 25lb bag of flour is hard to find, but that bag cost the same as the 5lb bag of King Arthur.)  We have a shelf in our pantry dedicated to a rag-tag team of containers filled with cous-cous, four kinds of rice, barley, cornmeal, and anything else that comes in those iffy-looking containers.  We recently switched to dried beans, because we eat a lot of beans and the price of dried organic beans is vastly cheaper than canned conventional beans.  Dried beans hardly seem elitist to me, especially when we are buying them to save money.

I mean, maybe going to the Farmer's Market often enough to take engagement pictures there makes us elitist:

(By Prema Photographic)

I do think we do a lot of things that make us elitist.  We both own Kindles, and we read a lot of books.  We go to movies, then put our noses in the air and say the book was better.  We travel, often to places that require passports, and when we do, we go to museums or we go scuba diving.  In our house, computers outnumber people, we recently bought smartphones, and we both have post-graduate degrees.  

So yeah, we're elitist.  But not when it comes to food.  

Yoda Cookies!

In case you didn't know, Mr. Barefoot and I are pretty big Star Wars fans.  Maybe the name Darth Mixer tipped you off.  Star Wars is actually how we got together, so it holds great relationship significance for us as well.  Also, whenever it's cold out, I ask if we can watch my favorite cold weather movie, which is ESB.

So, I think, it is entirely possible that I will spend the next few months collecting all of these, whether I need them or not.

(only $40)

(yes, you could buy 4 reasonably priced aprons for this price but they are NOT AS COOL)

(Darth Mixer needs a friend!)

(What kind of mom will I be if I can't make yoda cookies for my kids?)

Tragically, the Barefoots are trying to save right now for our awesome summer trip to Wales, so I'm going to have to hold off on purchasing the entire WS Star Wars line.  But you don't have to!  Go forth and shop, my friends, and then send me pictures of your children eating yoda cookies!  

Salt and Me

I made two delicious loaves of bread this evening, and as they came out of the oven, I cut off a few slices for Mr. Barefoot and me.  As soon as I bit into my slice, a realization hit me.  I forgot the salt.

This wasn't the first time.  It wasn't even the second.  It wasn't even the second time I forgot it in this particular type of bread.  It was, in fact, probably more like the fifth.  Usually I remember before the bread actually goes into the oven, and hastily add it.  This time, no such luck.  Which is a shame, because this time I used bread flour and the loaves were unusually light and fluffy.  (Maybe it was worth the extra $4?)

But I don't add salt to things.  Not to most recipes, especially not before tasting them and thinking, "something is missing".  Often not before my husband tastes them and says, "honey, you forgot salt again."

Why my fear of salt?  My father.  You know how my unhealthy fear of butter came mostly from my mother?  My fear of salt comes directly from Papa Barefoot, who has high blood pressure and is incredibly sensitive to sodium in foods.  My Dad can swell up and gain something like 5-10lbs from eating high-sodium meals alone.  So he doesn't salt his food.  And remember that Papa Barefoot does all the cooking.  So I grew up without eating a lot of salt, putting salt in pasta as it cooked, or generally adding salt to food.

Unlike butter though, as a grownup, I know that salt is delicious, and that it's not that bad for us.  What is bad is processed food.  So as long as we continue to make most of our food ourselves, and not salt it too much, we're okay.  My swim coach also recommended salting my food to reduce foot cramps, but I think she meant iodized salt, which we don't keep in the house.  It's on the grocery list though, because I started getting bad foot cramps again recently, and I'm not drinking pickle juice like my mother-in-law tells me to.

New Rule

You know how you never go to the grocery store on an empty stomach?  Never go to Costco on an empty house. 

We haven't been grocery shopping in pretty much two weeks.  It's been pretty non-stop around here, between seeing friends and family and birthday dinners and trips home and things like that.  So we finally hit that point where we had eaten all the Wasa crispbread, all the frozen pizza, all the stocked freezer lunches, the last of the bread, etc. etc. etc.  We don't really even keep snack food in the house, and we were scraping down the bottom of the barrel on everything else, so I needed to make either a Costco or grocery run tonight after I gave blood.  Costco is closer, so I headed over there. 

When you don't have food in the house, you stock up as if a nuclear holocaust is coming.  So I bought freezer meals and thirty dollars worth of cheese and 8 boxes of pasta and a ton of sauce.  In my frenzy to make sure we Had Food, I picked up frozen pizzas and protein shakes and a sixpack of Lean Cusines and a bunch of other things we only sort-of needed and still won't make a meal. 

Now I'm home and I've come to my senses, a bit. But, I'm still not sure what we'll be eating for dinner tomorrow night. 

Butter and Me.

I have a complicated relationship with butter.  I had high cholesterol as a child and a mom who believes that fat = the devil.  In high school, I started baking on my own and began to understand something that is entirely separate from fat and cholesterol and calories:  I don't really like butter.

I don't add butter to things - MIL Barefoot was appalled that I didn't butter my toast before adding jam, Mr. Barefoot was confused that I don't put butter on a cheese and tomato sandwich (seriously? gross), I put syrup on my pancakes but it doesn't occur to me to break out the butter.  Sometimes I make a buttery noodles dish with Parmesan and yes, I like butter on toast.  When I bake cookies, I often search for a recipe that doesn't involve a sickening amount of butter (I don't like them if they taste too buttery).  If a recipe involves more than two sticks of butter, I typically steer clear.  As a health student, I hang on to the teaching about saturated versus unsaturated fats, so I usually pick olive oil over butter.

I read a number of cooking blogs - some that think that butter is unhealthy, some think that it is crucial and that nothing tastes good unless you use butter.  Such bloggers take the Paula Dean approach - scolding the rest of us for not using butter.  Some go another step and say things like, "what does low-fat mean?"  I know a few people who act like this too, and then complain about how many fat people there are.

As a person who used to be considered "obese" and now fluctuates between "overweight" and "normal", I'm sensitive to these attitudes, because I think they create an unhealthy dichotomy.  Some people act like they eat a full stick of butter every day, and it makes people like me feel like they got the short end of the stick, metabolism wise.  Which, frankly, a lot of us did.  But we don't need it rubbed in our faces like that.

My point with all of this is: I don't cook with a lot of butter.  And every Thanksgiving, I have a series of conversations about the use of butter in cooking.  I firmly believe that there is very little at Thanksgiving that requires as much butter as people put into it.  I also think that people use Thanksgiving as an excuse to overindulge and make food with at least six sticks of butter.  Which isn't necessary, because frankly, if you add enough salt and garlic to anything, it will still be delicious.

A gathering of recipes

Apparently one of the requirements for having a "good" food blog is that you include pictures of your delicious looking food. While I have known this for awhile, frankly, I would rather eat my food than take a picture of it. I don't want to pull out my camera, take a picture, then take out my card, upload my photo, and then upload it to the blog. That is a lot of work, and that is probably the main reason I've never taken this blog to "the next level" as a food blog. It has been and remains a gathering of recipes, ideas, and a smattering of advice. I don't consider myself a foodie. I don't consider myself a chef. I consider myself a girl with a set of really good knives, really nice pots, and a yen for comfort food done right. Have you noticed that I have at least 5 macaroni and cheese recipes here?

This blog sprang from a simple wish - when I studied abroad in Italy, I wished I had brought my kitchen recipe binder with me. I could vaguely remember how to make some of my old favorites, but I couldn't remember the measurements or the exact steps. Then Mr. Barefoot moved out of College Park and I would find myself at his apartment for a weekend with none of my recipes with me, wanting to cook something. I posted a few recipes to my email or to Google Docs, and then, as I started getting better at the whole cooking thing, people started asking me for recipes. "Blogs" as they exist today were still pretty new (that is, a dedicated space to talk about a particular subject, instead of a general angsty online journal) - I had started one for a student group and liked it, but it hadn't yet occurred to me to start my own. It occurred to me one day that a blog would be the perfect place to publicly store all of my recipes and let other people access them.

It's been a little over two years, and this little humble blog of mine has grown from a 2-person readership to a whopping 12. (Question - are my 3 followers on Blogger included in the Google Reader feed stats? Cuz if they're not, it's 15.) Generally speaking, I don't think I have that much to share with the internet that I feel that trying to "grow" the blog is worth it. I am a passable cook, and my strengths are making interesting vegetarian meals that don't weird out omnivores, making cheap food, and making damn good macaroni and cheese.

Posting has been light lately because I have a new blog-baby, www.weddingfortwo.blogspot.com, a venture that I am extremely proud of and devote more of my blogging energy to, and mostly because cooking in the Barefoot household has been boring. It's been a lot of reruns. We've barely been menu planning, and we come home and stare at the kitchen and say "wth are we going to eat?" We even broke down one night recently and ordered takeout! I would like to make sure I'm posting more of my recipes here, so that I don't get caught saying "I made this great meal...I meant to post it but I didn't."

So in light of that, I'm going to set a tangible, realistic goal. I will post at least one recipe a week. And include a picture with said recipe. (I think that just keeping a webcam in the kitchen and hooking it up to my computer will eliminate my whinyness about how much work it is.) Sound like a plan? Feel free to suggest new recipes, btw - they just need to be fish or vegetarian, and not take 7 hours to cook.

Home

So I'm home. The apartment is a disaster, I'm somehow already behind on schoolwork, and I feel overwhelmed.
I came home to an apartment missing all signs of Ms. Barefoot. With an emptied freezer, evidence of what life without a Costco membership could be; very little produce in the fridge; and a dishwasher filled with every single one of our bowls and three plates. The oven had some kind of spill on the bottom which may very well have been there since May which made it smoke when I tried to use it.
Nonetheless, I've been cooking. Today I broke out the big crockpot and the mandoline slicer. I'm also making bread because I have the counter space to really knead.
I've been shopping. I went to costco and stocked up on everything missing from the pantry. We still don't have enough vegetables in the house, but on Sunday we'll sit down and menu plan.
For now, I am home. Expect some more recipes coming soon. Sorry for the dearth lately.

An open letter to my Grandpas

Dear Grandpa B and Grandpa D:
It's been three years since you both died, and I think about you a lot still. I think that you would be quite proud of me, not only because I've gotten really good at ice hockey (6+ points last season) and it turns out I'm pretty good at law school; because I'm nice to my big sister now, and just generally because of who I've turned out to be. But I think you also would be quite proud of me in other ways.
I eat brown rice now. Seriously. Yeah, I still love the white fluffy rice that comes in a bowl at a chinese food restaurant. But at home, I make brown rice. Because I hope you were right and I will live longer.
I try anything now. Seriously. The only thing I still won't eat are pickles, anything with mayonaise, and olives. But I'll try whatever somebody puts in front of me, and I won't make a face.
I eat vegetables. Lots of them. I just finished frying up some kind of weird squash thing.
I eat pepper. And spices. Seriously. Put 'em on everything. Can't live without 'em.
I eat the crusts off my sandwiches. My hair isn't really curly, like you always promised, so I have to conclude that you lied.
I eat mushrooms. Again, really. Marinated and sauted, raw in sandwiches, anything.
I clean my plate. I am almost always a member of the clean plate club. The key is to not put so much on your plate that it's hard to clean it.
I still love chocolate. And ginger snaps. And Opa cookies. Which taste better when you eat them sitting on a rock by a creek. Some things don't change.
I miss you both.
Love,
Ellie

Vegetarian Wedding Food

Okay, so I contacted a vegetarian caterer in Bethesda to gauge how much food costs if you have it catered to a place like my church.
This was the food they/I suggested (I told them it would be fall, which is why there is so much pumpkin on the menu...and does pumpkin lasagna sound fantastic or weird?)
Appetizers
Veggie Platter with Hummus
Warm Artichoke Spinach Dip with Melba & Crusty Baguette Spears
Filo Triangles Stuffed with Pumpkin or your choice
ON THE BUFFET
Roasted Veggie or Pumpkin Lasagna
Ratatouille and Grilled Polenta Moons OR Veggie Chili
Romaine or Spinach Salad with Vinaigrette (chef's suggestion)
Artisan Bread & Butter
Coffee/Tea Service
Cranberry Punch

Does this sound like food that carnivores would eat? I think it sounds amazing.

A Barefoot Wedding?

That's right folks! The Barefoots are getting married! Eventually I will be Mrs. Barefoot. I'm excited about this prospect because I'm not changing my name IRL, but at least I can be Mrs. Barefoot here (and only have one last name...woo!)
The proposal details are simple - we went for a walk, sat on a park bench, and he asked me.
The best part is that as I was making dinner, Mr. Barefoot was telling me he wanted to go for a walk. I was chopping potatoes. They were going to take an hour to cook, but I had a mountain of homework to get done, so I didn't want to go. He talked me into it though, by acting all sad and needy, so I put the potatoes in the oven. Thirty minutes later after he asked me and we were snuggled together on Federal Hill overlooking Baltimore, I was torn between euphoria and fear that the apartment was going to burn down!
Then we headed home and had a delicious dinner of roasted potatoes, fake chicken nuggets and wings, and I think some kind of vegetable.
I will not blog about the wedding here, and am trying to come up with a name for my wedding blog. I may blog about food.
So here are the first questions for the crowd:
1) Is an all vegetarian/pescatarian wedding rude to your carnivorous guests? This will probably not be an option for us, but I like to think about it as a concept.
2) Are tacos or chinese food as catering "tacky" or "cheap"?
3) Design a dream vegetarian wedding menu. Do NOT give me "portabello mushrooms on a bed of pasta with some veggies as a side." I'm looking for substance, with a bit of flair.
4) What about burgers and fries? Tacky? Cheap?

Menu Planning

Menu planning has been going well for the Barefoots lately. Last week we stuck to the menu Mr. Barefoot planned, and so far, all two days of this week, we have stuck to the menu we planned on Monday when we got home from Chicago (and made a spinach-goat-cheese-roasted-red-pepper-sundried-tomato pizza...mmmm). Tonight was Chili and Coconut fish, plus I heated up the leftover Coconut-Sweet Potato bisque, and steamed some brocolli (during which I steamed the pan dry and scorched the bottom, but its okay.)
I guess the key to menu planning is to be realistic. When I menu plan, I try to make 5 new and different slow cooker curries or something fancy. When Mr. Barefoot menu plans, he tends to pick old favorites with a new twist. When we average one new dish a week, and four favorites, we're much more likely to get it right. Tomorrow night is dal. I had dal for the first time last Saturday for Valentine's day dinner in Chicago (Indian Garden - highly recommend.) We are turning to So You've Decided to be a Vegetarian: Now What? a classic culinary tome for those in the under-20 sect for a recipe. Stay tuned.

Nutrition

So I'm a stress eater and a stress exerciser. Usually I just channel my stress into exercise. This past semester though, that was less possible than I would have liked.
I don't diet. I'm not a fan of diets. I try not to eat crap, which went to hell during finals. So naturally, my pants do not fit. Maybe this is because they got washed on hot and went through the dryer. But one can only make excuses for so long. And I really don't want to have to buy new pants.
So how do I go back to eating "right"? And what does eating right even mean?
For me, because I'm a vegetarian, eating right is the right balance of protien/carbs/fats. Lately I've been short on protein. And on fruits and vegetables. The farmers market is now closed for three months; our local Shoppers has crappy produce; and I'm starting to get a bit tired of salmon and shrimp.
(Sidenote: trying to get my eating on track has nothing to do with a new years resolution of any kind. It has to do with wanting to feel comfortable in my own skin, and no longer getting nasty stomachaches from eating too many carbs or too much cheese; it has to do with wanting my skin to feel less dried out and for me to feel less tired all the time.)
So here are the following questions that I have to determine the answers to while I am on a quest for a healthier existance:
1) What fruits and vegetables are currently in season?
2) How do I cook fish that isn't salmon?
3) How do I fancy up frozen fruits and veggies?

Christmas Gifting

Christmas was pleasant this year, with my mother purchasing several items off my Amazon wishlist, including a Le Creuset Stoneware Casserole Dish which is a good size for 2-person mac&cheese, or for making a half batch of cresent roll wrapped brie - we'll see how the stoneware compares to pyrex, and maybe eventually look into the cast iron stuff. I also got one of each size of these and once I find my pyrex lids, I'll be in perfect make&take shape! I cannot wait for somebody to have a potluck.
I really didn't expect my mother to get me any of the pots and pans that are on my list, because I was sure my Dad would find something wrong with them or something, but Mr. Barefoot opened up this pot, and we both got super excited. It's wider than the Always Pot (3 qt) that we use, and a little shallower, and hopefully will allow us to cook two things at once. Or maybe do fewer dishes. It's anodized alumnium, which is so much better than the nonstick, and maybe once we use it, we'll find out why it was so cheap.
I would say, hands down, the most unexpected thing we received was a coffemaker from Mr. Barefoot's parents. Unexpected because we don't drink coffee, like coffee, serve coffee to others, etc. However, they do like coffee, and as part of hospitality, I suppose it would not be out of line to serve them coffee after they have driven down for 3 hours to see us. Then I came accross this article about other uses for coffee. I suppose now at least I can try the bread recipes I've always wanted to try that involve using coffee. Plus, Espresso Brownies sounds like exactly the kind of thing I could take over to Mama Awesome's for a girly movie session. And now I can serve coffee to my running buddies in the morning before races.

give life

This holiday season, if you want to make a charitable donation, save some money but give somebody another chance at life. Give somebody more time with a person they love. Save a life. The holidays are tough times for most people, especially if somebody they love is sick. The holidays are also a good time to sit around and remember those moments with lost loved ones.
In the years preceding their deaths, both of my grandfathers became sick at different times and required blood transfusions.
My father's father, who suffered from a chronic bleeding condition, required several transfusions because of it. Specifically, I remember he became fairly sick about two years before he died and required at least 4 blood transfusions (over a two day period). He made a full recovery and lived another two years at full strength. (Requiring at least one more transfusion during that time, I think specifically of platelets.) I cherish every extra moment I got with him because of those transfusions. I cherish every extra lunch, every extra phone call asking me how to use the computer, phone, tivo, every family holiday. Eventually, after living a full life to the age of 87, he passed away one morning during his nap. His 10am nap. That he was taking before he was going to go give a lecture. After he sorted his slides.
My mother's father had heart issues and metastatic prostate cancer. Around the same time my father's father got sick, my mother's father had a heart valve replacement. I am sure that the procedure required a transfusion or two, and the pig's heart valve they put in him gave me an extra two years with him, although he was never quite the same, because his mental accuity and other issues were just troublesome. He got really sick about six months before he died, and he was in between the hospital and the nursing home. About every two weeks, he would go back to the hospital for another blood transfusion. The transfusions always made him feel better, and they gave us just a little more time. I am so grateful to everybody who gave blood to give my grandfather even a few more weeks, and while to some, keeping the elderly sustained is a waste of time and resources, it gave us time to spend time with him, and it gave us time to get his affairs in order. At the end of somebody's life, time is everything.
So that is why I give blood. I give to give back, I give to give others the same chances I had, I give to give children, grandchildren, spouses another chance with somebody they love. I don't care whether the recipient is a good person, a bad person, liberal, conservative, whatever. I firmly believe that everybody deserves a second chance. I started giving blood long before I even realized what it meant, but now that I have firsthand experience with how important it is, I believe in giving even more strongly.
So this winter, give somebody else the gift of life. It is painless, and if you are afraid of the needles, just look away. It takes maybe two hours. And the juice and cookies are excellent.

Restaurant Review

The Barefoots went out last night for a finals victory dinner. We chose to go someplace near my school that I have been to before, which Mark wanted to try because it's gotten great reviews. It was a good post-finals place because sometimes the wait for a table is a long one, but we weren't pressed for time.
We picked the Brewer's Art, which is a local microbrewery and pub kind of place, except its like bar food on crack. Its delicious. Over winter break, we will be attempting to replicate the garlic and rosemary french fries that they serve. I will also buy myself a mini cast iron skillet so I can attempt my own version of their caramelized onion and chipotle mac & cheese. Last time I was there I got a veggie burger, which was also delicious. There is actually nothing on the menu that doesn't look amazing, and I think it will be one of the only places I go where I actually try multiple things because everything is so good. Mark got the shrimp & grits, which I didn't really like because the sauce wasn't my style and I don't like grits. But he enjoyed it. I think next time I'm going to make him get the Croque Monsieur so I can live vicariously through him.
The meals I'm speaking of are off their surprisingly reasonably priced bar menu. The restaurant portion is way fancier and three times the price, but if you're looking for fancy, its a good place. Otherwise, just head into the upstairs bar or the downstairs lounge. Sometimes you have to stand around and stalk people for a table. There are no waiters pushing people to clear the tables, so sometimes you need to go with dirty looks or a gentle, "when you're heading out, can you let us know so we can have your table?" Don't wear heels, because you might be standing around, especially on a Friday night or after 8pm.
If you just feel like stopping in for a drink, they have a range of their own beers, plus other local beers, and while you're there, get a plate of Garlic & Rosemary fries. I can guarantee you that it will be the best $4 you ever spend.

A little something for my readers...

This Thanksgiving, I am thankful for many things - my good health, an incredibly supportive academic and social community at school and at home, my family, that Costco still sells vegetarian burritos in ten packs for $8. I am thankful for the last election - not only for the outcome, but for the democratic process, which while horrible in many ways, I do believe in.
I am also thankful to now have a blog readership of more than 2. Recent comments leave me to believe that I am up to 6+ readers! So in the spirit of Thanksgiving, I am offering up the blog space to share, and asking you to share your favorite recipes with me.
They can be thanksgiving related or anything else. Vegetarian or meat-stuffed-with-meat. A recipe you know is bound to be popular at thanksgiving, so that when a lot of people ask you for it, you can just direct them here. (Obviously I don't have ads or anything here - this isn't about boosting my readership, its about sharing food, virtually or otherwise.) A cookie recipe you want to be able to access anywhere in the world. A recipe for Brussels sprouts that you think other people should consider.
You can email me or comment and I'll post any and all (serious) guest blog posts of recipes. This isn't a contest. There are no prizes. (Perhaps, someday, if I get up to 12+ readers, I will do a giveaway or something.)

Being Barefoot

Despite how unseasonably warm it has been lately (global warming is just God huggin' us closer!), it was chilly this morning. Our new(ish) apartment has hardwood floors (original to the early 1800s) and is a bit drafty. We already pay insanely high electric bills, so I've been reluctant to turn on the heat (the landlord pays the water, so I've been taking long showers to warm up.) Hardwood floors are warmer than the tile floors that grace Mark's parent's house (brrrr!), and are nicer looking than the linoleum at my parent's house (which they just replaced, so now they look like classy people that have lineoleum). They also seem to have a unique way of collecting dust and sticking it to your feet. So I have not been barefoot in a very long time. I pretty much always wear socks or slippers when I am in the apartment. (Somehow though, my toes are always still freezing when I get into bed.) This has me thinking about the title of the blog.
I think the origin of the phrase "barefoot and in the kitchen" suggests that wanting women to be barefoot deprives them of their autonomy or ability to go someplace. You can't be barefoot and take over the world. At least not in the U.S. You can't even be a professional chef while being barefoot (see Mario Batelli and his massive orange crocs). For these reasons, wearing slippers is probably akin to being barefoot. Wearing crocs is just professional.
I chose the title to poke fun at myself and my very feminist unsense of humor. But it is also to challenge our ideas of what is feminist and what is feminine, what is women's work, and where do women belong in today's society. I really think that we are moving towards a society in which the phrase "barefoot and in the kitchen" is a thing of the past, because more so than any other domestic role, men and women are sharing the load of cooking more than they ever were. That is a good thing. In honor of this concept, Mark is making lentil tacos tonight. (Yes. I'm giving lentils another shot.) Maybe as a sign of our growing societal equality (we just elected a black man president - if getting the right to vote is any indication, a female president is only 60 years away!), I will let him post his recipe.

In which one feminist tries to reconcile her hobbies and her beliefs by creating a blog.

I'm a vegetarian, a feminist, and a prolific baker/maker of food. I love to cook - the weight of a good knife in my hands, the scraping of a spatula around the edge of a bowl, kneading bread dough until it is "smooth and elastic" - and it has nothing to do with my femininity. It is also not an ironic statement about my feminism.
I have never felt as if women belonged in the kitchen, because growing up, my mother stayed as far as possible from the kitchen - usually somewhere in the basement creating a digital imaging system that hospitals around the world use today - while my father taught my sister and I to make spaghetti so she wouldn't starve when he taught late.
This blog is mostly for my own use, so I can access the recipes I use reglarly at any time, any day, anywhere in the world, but if in the process I end up sharing some really great recipes with the world? I'm okay with that too.