Return to the Blogosphere!

A good idea (in any field) is if you haven't got a clue what you're doing, you should absolutely stop and reconsider. Reorganize. Reboot. No shame in starting over, after all, if you don't have time to do it right the first time, when will you have time to do it at all? (Thanks, John Wooden!)

I stopped writing for a year because I really didn't know where I was going... at all. My writing was aimless, my personal life was sloppy and inconsistent, and I needed to figure out what the hell I was really doing with my life. Ultimately, I'm still not 100% sure on that front. I've got a lot of options ahead and I'm thankfully in a very flexible field I adore. But life's definitely gotten more stable. My dog and I are in a cute studio I can comfortably afford, my bills are all paid mostly on time for the first time...frankly ever. I even have a human being who likes spending time with me on the regular! It's pretty exciting. And so delightfully average. I absolutely love it. And I feel comfortable enough to start writing again.

Writing about the cooking I'm doing, the events I work, the weird little freelance life I'm building alongside my day job. I can't guarantee this blog will always best filled with ridiculous stories and weird adventures, but hopefully it'll bring a smile to your face!

Cheers~

Chapter 2~

I've been in such a cool space lately! For the first time in months, things are honestly progressing on the up and up for me. I FINALLY have a place to live, and will be able to get my things out of storage for October. I have a job that I love, that challenges me in all of the right ways and actually supports me in my personal life. And while the transition is still a tad rocky, I'm doing well enough that I got to spend a week in New York City last week with some of my best friends on the planet. Even better, my current job will afford me the ability to do that more often, and travel elsewhere more easily! I'll finally be cooking at home again!!!

With that, I'm finally going to be able to bring a direction to this blog. At least once a week, I'll do a new recipe for y'all and the story that accompanies it. When I travel, I'll tell you about the amazing local products I find. And while I study for my sommelier certifications- well, you'll get an earful on how goddamn tired I am of drinking goddamn French wines, no matter how delicious they are. (Seriously, I love French wines now, but studying them makes me want to slam my head into their stupid limestone-laced terroir.)

It's a new chapter, and I can't wait to start writing it!

Homey Homies

I recently had the pleasure of cooking with a friend.  Not, I-cook-for-him or He-cooks-for-me, but an actual collaboration meal that we planned together,  shopped for, and executed as a team. I can't remember the last time I did that. I forgot how nice it was. 

It really hit home why I enjoy food so much- aside from the incredible flavors you can unearth,  it brings people together. I'm far too lazy to do any kind of real study, but I doubt I would be remiss in saying that people who live to eat vs eat to live are exponentially happier.

Plus, cooking together is just plain fun! Nobody is bored, and conversation doesn't stop. Add wine, and it damn near becomes a party. This entire experience has made me happy enough that, when I am in a position to do so again, "family meals" are going to be a regular occurrence at my place. Friends, family, train hoppers- whoever has time and is hungry will be welcome at my table. No exception. 

In the meantime, I find myself working crazy hours this weekend, so Saturday night/eeeeearly Sunday morning when I got home, I threw a crapload of stuff in a crockpot I found at Salvation Army for $3. I'm calling it SoCo Stewp.

Stewp is what I'm calling the watery stews my father specialized in.  Stew-soup, get it? This particular one is made with:

1 lb stew beef
1 russet potato, small diced
2 long celery stalks, sliced small
2 roma tomatoes,  diced
1 cup of grated carrot
1/2 medium white onion, small diced
1 qt veal stock
Juuuuust enough water to cover all of the ingredients
Salt to taste
Lemon pepper to taste
1 oz Southern Comfort 100 Proof

Directions:

1. Gather all of your shit together that you'll need
2. Put it all in the crockpot
3. Keep the crock pot on high heat for 2 hours, then go work or fuck off for 14 hours with that sucker on low heat. Stewp's done when the potato pieces are tender and or mushy. Again, to taste.

Simple, pretty basic, and the booze gives it complexity and me an excuse to get rid of that godawful liquor. Everyone wins!

Nights at a Round Table

For supposedly being part food blog, I have done shockingly little writing about food. Probably because I have been eating like crap lately.  Between wonky scheduling and still clearing remaining debt accrued from lack of pay at former jobs, I've unwittingly been only eating maybe one, two meals a day. Oops. Not good. And the proportion of that that is fast food? J would be ashamed.

It's definitely a tough cycle to break,  though. I get home at the crack of dawn, maybe stopping for Waffle House if I'm starving. Sleep until 2pm, or 4 if it's been a rough night, then make myself a little something and back to work. If I'm lucky enough to have the day off and find myself with friends,  I may eat a bit more as a social thing, but for being so obsessed I can't seem to make time for it. Maybe that's part of why I am so fascinated- I never really get enough.

I love eating with friends, though. It just feels more, I don't know,  familial I guess. The best meals are the ones friends cook for me, though! Don't get me wrong,  I love cooking for my friends. But when they welcome me into their home and make me dinner? I will always be exceedingly greatful. I know the effort that a meal takes, and the value of food in the cupboard. So, much like I value time that people give me, I value any effort they put into feeding me exponentially moreso. And one of these days, when I'm rich and famous?  Every last one of them is getting something special.  I have no idea what, but it's going to kick ass.

In Vino, Veritas

So I went to a wine tasting event today! Or yesterday, I suppose, as it's now after midnight. It's a huge trade show a local art museum sponsors every year, tied in with an auction. I was returning for my second year, as I fully intend to keep learning about wine even if I don't necessarily sell it anymore.

I spent the majority of the event hanging out with a friend of mine, Daniel- he's one of the few friends I have that has a similar appreciation for wine as I do. We were having a grand old time, venturing from booth to booth, and I happened to run into my old supervisors from the retail job. One I had expected awkward, stilted conversation with, and I wasn't disappointed. The other, however, was much colder to me than I had anticipated. We had been friends back in the day, or at least I thought so, and seeing him today he was far more brief with me than I expected.

Really, I could be completely over-analyzing the encounter. I have a habit of doing that. But it wouldn't be the first time I was treated differently by old friends because of my choice to take a paycut and get back into the kitchen. C'est la vie, I'll just let it be, and it'll all turn out in the end.