Thursday, January 10, 2008

conscious consumption

yesterday, inspired by a couple of my recent cookbook purchases...paul cunningham's madjournal and nigel slater's kitchen diaries, i started a 2008 food journal. i'm noting down there what i've been cooking and the adjustments i've made to the recipes (i can never exactly follow a recipe, it's simply not in me). i'm looking forward to being much more conscious about food--being thoughtful about the ingredients that go in--choosing organic and locally grown whenever i can. cooking more in tune with the rhythm of the seasons, learning, really learning, when things are in season and at their peak. and using them then. no more buying tomatoes from soulless dutch greenhouses all winter long. they taste awful anyway!

i'm also noting in the journal how things turned out, how i felt while i was cooking, where the inspiration came from for the dish, who was there when we ate it. i just feel starved for a consciousness about food...for too long, i've been too busy to think about it or to enjoy cooking. and cooking has always been a relaxing, soul-nourishing activity for me, but that was another thing i lost when i was too busy over the past couple of years. i lost the consciousness of the activity itself--the act of cooking. i hope this new journal helps me regain that.

No comments: