On Not Cooking

The past few months, I haven’t cooked much. As in, barely at all. I can remember the last meal I properly cooked--an excellent cauliflower and bacon pasta, for dinner on Friday when we had friends over--and before that, I’m honestly not sure. I’ve baked bread every couple-few weeks, and I’ve looked at recipes plenty. I’ve read the serious food magazines that came in the mail, and the email newsletters scattered with luscious photos--every word. I’ve day-dreamed about cooking: standing in the kitchen with the sun streaming in, a little jazz playing, and piles of vegetables yielding under my knife.

But I haven’t actually put knife to vegetable, except to yield the carrot sticks that are the only vegetable Little Z, now 3, regularly eats. Oh, that’s right--a couple weeks ago I also baked Little Z two birthday cakes in one week, one for her school party and one for home. And I attempted to bake crumpets, but failed because I filled the molds too full. I will try these again, soon. I will.

Whole Foods + Marc Vetri + Olive Oil

This one has to start with a shout out to Food and Wine, if only because that’s where the recipe came from. I subscribed to the magazine a year or so ago because of some ridiculous deal, and I was frankly pretty unimpressed. I planned to cancel when the deal ended. But then the past few months, the magazine has been really good. With, like, recipes that I might actually cook and stories I enjoyed reading. Way to turn it around, Food and Wine.