If you're wondering whether or not I've been cooking all this time, or just laying around thinking about posting but never actually doing it, well, it's a little of both. But mostly the first. (Is it just me, or do I find the most inefficient way to say things?) For one, I cook for a job - I'm back at work in the kitchen of my old workplace/favorite restaurant. And yes, it is convenient when those things overlap. Or dangerous, depending on the way you look at daily mango tart consumption. Anyway, I moved back down to San Diego for the job two weeks ago in order to gain more work experience for my culinary school application. This is why, as mentioned in the previous post, I am away from my (slightly) better lit kitchen, making for (even) worse pictures, which is (only) one of the reasons you haven't seen more updates from me.
The other is that I never stop cooking. (What?) Let me explain. As tired and soiled as I may be after a day's work, the first thing I think about on the drive home is what I'm going to make for dinner, what ingredients I need to buy, which market would be the best to go to for them (because there is seriously no single market out there that is the cheapest for everything, and it drives me nuts), and whether or not to take a left or a right after the exit. Then, God willing I find a parking spot, I rush home, make a quick bathroom run, drop my groceries on the kitchen tile, and get cooking. Sometimes I don't even make it in my room (err, living room corner) until past 10pm. I am literally on my feet all day cooking and eating and planning and cooking and eating - and I love it, but quite often the last thing I want to do when all is said and done is spend another hour or two telling you I did just that. Besides, things happen - like the camera battery being dead from neglect and the charger being right there, but oh, we're hungry, and the food's getting cold, and the wine cocktail is getting warm, and do we have to do it right this second? Horrible things like that.
| because my friends who are better documenters than I am - (photos courtesy of AP, JMC, Sarah x2) |
If it counts for anything, I haven't been holding out too much on you. Since the last time we've seen each other, I've made the chicken tikka masala again (with more chicken), these bacon-wrapped dates, and about three different vegetable sides on rotation along with a pear and gorgonzola salad. Really, I'm surprised my roommates haven't been getting bored yet. Well...ok, so I've also made pizza, with a dough I was actually pleased with at that, and today I made some chicken stock from scratch for the first time. But all this leads me to the last excuse (I think) for my lack of posts:
I may have learned to make elaborate excuses from Deb of Smitten Kitchen, but I have yet to exhibit the extreme perfectionism that she does. One thing I really respect about her is that she doesn't post a recipe until she's completely satisfied with it - like, really, has searched wide and far reading and following recipes until she has found the one for her, which, because of her efforts, almost always becomes the one for me (re: chocolate sugar cookies, strawberry summer cake, whole-wheat apple muffins, raspberry buttermilk cake, etc.; you're welcome/I'm sorry in advance). When you read recipes posted by someone like that, you trust them - you know all the meticulous research and messy trial-and-error business have already been done and it can only be your fault when it doesn't come out perfectly. So I've also been more hesitant to share things with you the way I've made them because by that standard (the the one standard), I'm not sure I'd have all 11 recipes standing. And that's something I hope to change and get more consistent at with each post.
Basically, if you haven't had the patience to read this entire thing (I wouldn't, either), my excuses can be boiled down to 1) I get tired, 2) I'm a horrible documenter, and 3) Sometimes the recipes aren't quite there yet. They're pretty great, I know (the excuses, I mean).
I just wanted to provide some explanation for my absence and also thank those of you who have been supporting both me and this humble site. You are the best, yes, YOU. I have no idea how accurate the Facebook widget on this blog is, but if it works, 47 people I don't know liked my last post. This is exciting to me, along with the 3,200+ hits that have graced this page. If only you'd all leave some more comments so I'd know you're out there...just kidding, I'm not begging for comments, not me!
(But you know, if you want to...)
i'm here!
ReplyDeletelol, i don't think i can say it enough. i love your blog. and i had no idea you're back in sd.. does this mean we can never have our lunch/dinner/meal?
heyyyy brother
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