Food has always been a central, important thing in my life and I take great pleasure in it. However, I live alone so usually there is no one to share it with. This means I have low motivation to do exciting things in the kitchen. I am a grad student, so I have very little time to devote to cooking, especially when there is no one else to share it with–it really doesn’t seem worth the trade-off.
Also, as a grad student, I have little extra money. This means that being a real foodie and trying all the things I’d like to are out. Also, as much as I would only like to use fresh, local, organic, etc. ingredients, I just don’t have the budget for it. I am at the “frozen vegetable, frozen juice, produce on sale, store brands, and cheese in a bag on sale” plan at this point. Except for special occasions.
But I still want to eat tasty, good, home-made food.
For the most part, I just can’t stomach processed, prepared foods. Not only are they usually not very satisfying, they are kind of gross and very unhealthy.
Speaking of healthy, I want to eat healthily for the most part but I am not obsessed with it. I think life’s not worth living without a good dollop of butter and cheese. I like my booze. I’m not strictly vegetarian (used to be), but I don’t eat much meat. When I do, though, it’s the “worst”: bacon and bloody raw beef (and canned tuna!).
So there is this weird blend of stuff that plays into my way of dealing with food right now. I feel like I’ve developed a loose practice that includes ingredients on hand, equipment necessary, advance preparation habits, recipes, and a general approach to thinking about and working with food. Maybe it is not so unique, but it’s mine and I haven’t seen it elsewhere. A lot of other people seem to enjoy what I have to say about food, so here goes nothing…