cookbooks

Spent some time working on my novel yesterday, and also indulged in one of my secret vices: reading cookbooks.

Yes, I know I'm always going on about how I can't cook. The fact is that I'm not one of those natural cooks who can whip something up out of her imagination, with an intuitive knowledge of what ingredients go well together, just the right amount of spice to add. The few times I tried "creative" cooking, they were disasters.

But I can usually follow the instructions in a cookbook. In fact, I sometimes enjoy going through a cookbook and trying out recipes. To me, cooking has always seemed magic. A cookbook is a sort of book of spells, outlining all the ingredients and incantations necessary to make that spell work. As long as you follow the instructions, you're almost always guaranteed an edible result.

And I've always loved reading cookbooks. Yes, I do actually read cookbooks. Maybe not from start to finish, but I'll browse through and read through recipes that sound particularly interesting, savoring the sound of the words in the same way I'd enjoy an especially sumptuous description of a meal.





One of my goals this year is to cook from scratch more often, rather than just open a can or stick something frozen in the oven, to use fresh ingredients whenever possible. I also want to do more Japanese cooking, which is why I spent time poring over cookbooks given to me by Parki and by Jeff & Gail Kesner for my birthday last year. I also enjoyed reading through the Moosewood Restaurant Cooks At Home cookbook, a gift from my sister and her family. The latter has recipes a lot more straightforward than the ones in my other Moosewood cookbook.

A question for those of you who cook at home regularly: Do you use cookbooks? If so, which are your favourites and why?

Jeff is helping me switch to OS X very soon! If I drop out of contact suddenly, you'll know that something went Terribly Wrong.





Links/Updates:

Loved this entry by Seanan entitled "100 Things About Me". Really well-written, funny and heartbreaking at the same time. It's her birthday today!

Insecurities Project: If you're asked by airport security personnel to take a photo to prove that your digital camera works, you can send it here and have it turned into art. :)

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Today's Blatherpics:

From archiving project. Click on any image to see a larger version.

	Jeff and his siblings years ago. From left to right: Case, Jeff, and Larkin.
	Jim and Ruth playing checkers. Annie and Sara are now playing checkers (and chess!).
	JBR, Ginny, me and Jeff at Virginia Falls during our canoe trip in the Northwest Territories several years ago.