Inspired By Julie

February 4, 2010

Yesterday, while my mouth was stuffed with gauze and unwilling to eat solid food, I decided to kill time by watching Julie and Julia - essentially a movie about food. Perhaps not one of my smartest ideas.


Though I didn't enjoy the movie as much as I thought I would, I was inspired. I wanted to be more gutsy with my cooking. That being said, I won't be cooking my way through a cookbook in a year - that would be quite costly, tiring and probably result in a lot of "melt downs". Probably not worth it for me.

However, I do have some goals and obstacles I want to overcome when it comes to my cooking.

1. I cook with what I know.
There's nothing wrong with that, really. Especially when you're pressed for time, you don't want to be fiddling around with new things in the kitchen. But for me, it's more of a fear of screwing up. I hate wasting things, and screwing up a recipe would most likely mean wasting food. I can't stand that.

My goal: Cook out of my comfort zone. Try new recipes, with new ingredients, from different types of cuisine. Try new techniques. Buy food I'm unfamiliar with, try different brands, different flavours.


2. I don't like getting messy.
Ever since moving out, I've suddenly developed a phobia of getting my hands dirty. Living with my parents, I never had a problem with touching raw meat, I never had an issue with sticking my hand into the dough. But now, I've got to have the gloves on, I've got to use the spatula.

My goal: Be unafraid to get my hands dirty again. We have plenty of soap.


3. I get lazy.
I have all these lofty culinary goals. Whenever I flip through a food magazine, watch a food show or see good food, I think "I could probably make that at home!". But when I look for the recipe (that in itself is a task and a half) and see all the ingredients that I don't have and need to go out and buy, or see all the tools I don't have and want to buy (but can't afford) or just the sheer effort it would take to make the dish, I give up.

My goal: Anytime I say, "I can probably make that at home", actually give it a try making it at home. So what if I screw up?


I'm excited to be a little more courageous in the kitchen.

Husband, prepare your stomach.

Everyone else, send me some ideas (or your very own recipes)! What recipes/cuisines should I make? What techniques should I try? What tools should I have?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

sounds like someone else is picking up a cooking challenge! Elsie is doing going through a cookbook that I gave her for Christmas. it's smart to set goals.. although I'm not sure if I'll keep them. haha. I cook with what I know as well.

choifish said...

My roommate makes this phenomenal orzo dish! I should get the recipe and send it to you, I think I'm going to try it too. :)

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