Thursday, July 7, 2011

August Foodie

My vacation time is coming very soon and I am counting the days and hoping the weather will be warmer and less springlike. It's sunny and cold here today.  The wind is very gusty and I had to fight my scooter the whole way home because of it and the cagers were tailgating on the blue bridge. My count down is on for those lazy summer mornings and getting up whenever we wake up, the alarm goes in the drawer for the entire month of August.

August is also when my inner foodie comes out to play. During the rest of the year I make meals just in an effort of just trying to get something on the table. When I get home most nights it feels like the grind has ground me under and we are all tired from the stresses of the day from work and school. No one wants to help me be creative in the food department. I call myself a miracle chef - it truly is a miracle that we eat. Dinners get very boring and pretty much the same old rut type cooking. During the beginning of the school year I make promises to myself that I will pull out my cookbooks and try to do better, only to find that we are in the spaghetti on Wednesdays rut again and it gets worse in the winter.  Its funny because to me that is not what food should be about it should be savoured, enjoyed and nurtured to its full potential.  We say so many things through cooking, I can certainly see why great chefs feel passion and a love affair with their craft.  I just wish it came naturally and easily to me, it doesn't have to always be grand recipes, just good well prepared enjoyable food.

August comes with rejuvunination and my love of cooking. I love spending afternoons looking through cookbooks and finding interesting recipes and trying them out, I wish everyday could be a day in August! I take my time, shop for the ingredients and spend time creating dishes and not just slamming them out. I think a large part of the process is that I am not rushed or feeling pressure and there are fresh ingredients galore to choose from. As I am writing this I am sitting here being lulled by the tick tick of the timer of the rice cooker and enjoying the aroma of chicken cooking. We are going to have curried chicken & veggies tonight. Currie is a new foray into the culinary world for me right now.

August is also the month of the peach in our house.  I look forward to every summer and for me it is fresh peach pie with homemade pastry. I probably make 2 or 3 peach pies a week and we eat them for desert and for breakfast sometimes. I also make a wicked 'fruit salad' pie which is an assortment of berries and apples. My husband and daughter are always asking if peach pie time is coming closer? My neighbours know when it is peach pie time too, my husband brags over the fence and they usually end up with a pie or two because I can't torture friends.  Last year my hub went out and bought me a great rolling pin and I have been one with the pin in my pie making zen ever since.

This year may be a little difficult for pie making though because we are contemplating kitchen renos which will put my oven out of commission for awhile. I saw a nifty little camping oven at Cosco which I am thinking of getting. We shall see.

I have a question for those who read or stumble across my bloggio where do you get your kitchen inspiration from? What recipes make your inner foodie sing? Can you recommend any great cookbooks? I would love it if you shared your fave recipes with me and so would my family, because we are pretty tired of the same old food.

Did I mention that I love to cook with wine and butter? Oh yeah baby that is how I roll!

6 comments:

SonjaM said...

I totally know these food ruts, and sometimes the evening ends in getting take out such as sushi but yet nothing self-made.
My bookshelf contains more books about cooking and baking than trivia literature, my favourites being Italian and Eastern Indian cuisine.
But I found the Italian food the easiest to prepare.
Jamie Oliver's Italy (http://www.jamieoliver.com/books/jamie-s-italy-book) helps a lot.
Happy summer, enjoy the food preparation and don't forget to put some more mileage on that lil' scoot of yours.

David Masse said...

I love to braise. Chicken in particular can be spectacular. Cut in pieces. Marinated in red wine overnight. Lightly floured. Seared to goldeny brown. Gently braised in the wine with onions, celery and a carrot until nice and tender. Set aside to rest. Braising liquid strained and simmered down to a thick glistening miracle of a sauce to coat the gently warmed chicken. Simply heaven. Yum.

Trobairitz said...

Yum. I can't wait to see pictures of all those tasty creations you will be making.

We get in a food rut every once in a while. I make a weekly menu and go grocery shopping once a week unless it is to top up staples like bananas and OJ.

We are vegetarians so I use a lot of web resources for recipes. Ratatouille, curried couscous or quinoa, black eyed pea salad. Lots of roasted veggies. It depends on our mood and we can switch days if something comes up for a Monday and we don't feel like eating it, we'll make what is on Wednesday's menu instead.

It is just hubby and I so it isn't too bad. I am usually home from work at least half an hour before he is so it gives me a jump start on fixing dinner.

Hooray for having the month of August off. I can sense your excitement.

Dar said...

Sonja - thanks for the link, I love Jamie Oliver. I hear ya about the cookbooks. I bought a Nigella Lawson cookbook, I have to say I don't cook with it, you have to converts the weights & measures and it was an ok book.

David - I cook chicken like that a lot & I love to cook that and I agree with you the sauce is a miracle - yum! Top it off with a glass of vino & some great bread & it's fabulous.

Trobairitz - I envy those who are vegans. I have tried, but I think there is something in my genetic make-up that has doomed me to be a meatosauris. I do make veggie recipes and they are very filling & satisfying. As for August I am sighing in anticipation waiting for it to get here. Peach pie here I come!

Thank you guys for stopping by & sharing in my foodiness.

Unknown said...

Dar: I am not a cook but I did a lot of baking, years ago. More recently we discovered the slow cooker/crock pot for the one dish meal. works great during the winter and ready when you get home.

enjoy your August and be sure to post lots of food photos. If you make too much just say the word, we are as close as the next ferry

bob
Riding the Wet Coast

Dar said...

I have been picking up peaches at the grocery store, testing their ripeness, sniffing for the full on peach aroma and I haven't bought a peach yet. They are hard as rocks and will no doubt rot before they ripen & soften up. Now the produce guy in the grocery store gives me the 'hey there is the weird fruit sniffing lady '. He doesn't understand the art of peach pie making, the peaches have to be just so in ripeness and peach aroma. So I will continue on with testing and sniffing until I find the perfect 8 peaches for my golden buttery pastry.