holly hobby
With all this newfound energy, I've become strangely domestic. Genetically, and in complete contrast to my mother, I do not have a domestic bone in my body. No - I do not like to do the dishes, clean the bathroom, dust or cook dinner every night. Or even every other night for that matter. (Interestingly, I do like to throw parties with themes and decorations and clever centerpieces. We'll have to explore that another time though.) Laundry is a so-so event - I mostly like doing it myself because I prefer for my husband not to completely destroy my wardrobe by attempting to wash my clothes along with his.
But here I am, nevertheless - planning our dinner menu for the week and purchasing the groceries to cook not once, not twice, but THREE times! In one week!!! What am I thinking??? It all started with my weird little diet quirks, implemented last fall - no cheese and no sugar. For now anyway - I'm told this is a temporary setback. For those of you who know me, no dairy - translation, no cow dairy products (apparently goats and sheep are my friends) - and no sugar - translation, no cane products - is like taking away my reason for eating. Ack! No dreamy, creamy dill Havarti cheese on crackers? No drippy fudge brownies? No amazingly sinful 7-layer cookies, compliments of the lovely Charla? No mint chocolate chip ice cream? Ack! So, I had to get creative in finding ways to satisfy the sweet tooth and avoid dairy in meals. I started experimenting with "alternative" recipes every now and then. Survival was key. So, introducing... goat cheese lasagna! Maple syrup on oatmeal! Cereal with almond milk! You get the idea.
Fast forward to about two weeks ago and completely out of the blue, I decide to kick it up a notch. Bam! And thus began my desire to cook dinner at least once or twice a week. This week we are having Cornish hens with asparagus, arugula and spinach calzones, and hoisin-covered chicken breast with couscous. Yeah, we're not doing the mac-and-cheese in a box deal, and not just because I can't eat the cheese anyway. To me, there's a bit of an art to preparing a meal - so, actually, perhaps this foray into the culinary world is my way of tapping into yet another creative vein. Hm.
But for some reason, all this cooking has me thinking back to when those Holly Hobby easy-bake ovens were all the rage for any respectable 7-year old girl. I never had one though - so maybe this is the source of my cooking madness! Some bizarre need to fulfill my childhood dream of baking? Whatever - food is good.