Tonight, I thought I'd just talk a bit. I'm not cooking dinner. Nobody here but me, so I don't feel much like making anything. I poured a Hoegaarden, put a slice of lemon in, and am pretending that it's some sort of Belgian cough elixer. This flu/bronchitis/pneumonia/whatever the hell it is is kicking my butt. I look like hell, and sound like Lauren Bacall. Personally, I'd rather look like Lauren Bacall and sound like hell, but....I digress.
Anyway, here we are again. For those of you that are not yet familiar with my personal food philosophy, you must be wondering why I named this blog "Food Happens." I could also have named it "It's Just Food." Anyone who has ever worked for, or with me, knows that that is my favorite saying about food and cooking. There is so much damn hype and false importance surrounding food, cooking, chefs, restaurants, etc. Whether it is in a restaurant, a catering event, or your home kitchen, it's really just about taking some ingredients, putting them together, possibly applying some sort of heat, putting them on a plate, and eating them. It's NOT heart surgery, rocket science or even child rearing. IT'S FOOD. This is not to say that I don't take great pride in what I do, or that you or I shouldn't get excited or inspired by cooking.
Now, I know, you're going to say, "Jen, you do this for a living, of course you don't get bunched up about cooking." Anybody out there that worked anywhere near me in the early days will know that I used to get completely whack about cooking. Yep, I was the pan throwing, screaming chef. Then, at some point, I had this epiphany. I said to myself, "Self. It's just food." And I have been a lot happier since. From a cooking standpoint.
Here's the deal. You eat what you like. Let's focus on what you eat at home. You want to eat healthy (well, most of the time). You buy some cookbooks. (cookbooks? what are these BOOKS of which you speak, Jen?) You go online. You watch all those FASCINATING cooking shows. (Honestly, no sarcasm there. At all. I'm thinking of dying my hair white, spiking it up and then I can be famous..whee!)
But you still just don't get it. It all looks so hard. Or expensive. With ingredients you can't find. Or you don't like the food in the recipe. People. Relax. It's not that hard. Recipes are just a starting point. A suggestion. An idea. Have you ever looked on one of those recipe sharing websites and found about 15 different versions of something you want to make? See? There's no one way to do MOST things. (We are not talking French mother sauces here, ok?) Whenever I teach a cooking class, I tell people that even though this recipe is for tuna, say, and you don't like tuna, substitute another fish, or chicken. Adapt. Once you've gotten through a couple of dishes without one of the Ten Plagues visiting upon you, you will realize that it ain't so hard. Then, my friends, you will start to experiment. And the fun will begin!
I promise, I will explain this in more detail as we proceed. I have actually written a cookbook, which is currently sitting in a drawer, that shows you how to conquer the kitchen fear, and be able to make something delicious, beatiful and amazing whenever you want. I think I will give you the introduction I wrote for that book in the next post. Right now, I'm going to have some leftover sausage and kraut from New Year's Day. (good luck, you know) The Belgian elixer of life has quieted my cough, but now I'm ready for bed.
Be good, and I'll talk to you all tomorrow.
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