Bed vs. Stove

If you're looking for some kind of housewares show down, I'm sorry but you'll have to Google that. And I think you're a little weird. But I am too. Let's be friends, k?

I just got the newest issue of Food and Wine magazine in the mail today! And while Calvin was napping, I had a blissful hour or two of almost silence and peace to flip through it. I stumbled upon an interview with Elizabeth Gilbert who wrote Eat, Pray, Love. While I'm sure there is some political, religious, feminist, or hipster reason my peers would give for not liking her and her writing, I do. So neener. I really enjoyed Eat, Pray, Love. I wouldn't mind reading it again, actually. And I'm looking forward to hopefully getting a chance to read her newest release, The Signature of All Things. There is a slight good chance I want to read it just so I can shout, "ALL THE THINGS!" without warning while reading it. But on to the point! In this "getting to know you" style interview, Ms. Gilbert was asked, "What's more important, the bed or stove?" Her response: "Stove. You can sleep on the floor. You can sleep in an easy chair, you can sleep standing up, but food is definitely, obviously the most important. What kind of night's sleep or sex are you gonna have if you're hungry?" AMEN, SISTER!

We went to stay with my grandmother for a few weeks after my grandpa Joe passed away. Every time we left the house, we came home to something else a friend or neighbor cooked for us in the fridge. Cooking food for someone is a very common way to show comfort and support in times of grief in our society. Cooking for people can also be a way to show that you like them. In other cultures, cooking for guests and visitors is a sign of utmost respect. Families will go a week without food of their own just to cook for and show respect for a guest. We bake cakes for celebrations. We have potlucks and dinner parties just to get together and catch up. Dinner clubs are really coming back into style. And as for me? When I'm nervous, I bake. When I'm grieving, I cook. When I'm frustrated, I cook.I made the best Hollandaise of my life when I was angry with my husband. If you come visit me, I will try to feed you. I don't care if you're hungry or not, I will still try to feed you. I get that from my mother who's mission in life is to feed the entire world. And honestly, it's my mission too.

While this is not the case for all of man-kind, food a huge part of our lives. We can sleep when we're dead.

So in the battle of Bed vs. Stove, Stove wins!

Photo credit: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c4/Eat,_Pray,_Love_%E2%80%93_Elizabeth_Gilbert,_2007.jpg

What I want to be when I grow up...

Last night my dad handed me a book he checked out from his library. He recently ordered it. One of the perks of being a branch manager is having access to all of your new inventory almost immediately. A few months ago, when he ordered the late and great Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking", I was the first to get my hands on it. I'm the first to get my hands on this one, also. "Culinary Careers: How to get your dream job in food with advice from top culinary professionals" by Rick Smilow and Anne McBride. (It has that new book smell, too!) Have I mentioned that I adore books? I do; very much. But that's a tangent for a different time.

At first glance it looked like one of those self-help books that don't really help yourself. You know...the books that ultimately damage your ego and make you feel like a failure? Yeah. You know those books. Honestly, I should know better than that. My dad has great taste. As I flipped through it I found so many big names in the culinary world like Daniel Boulud, Thomas Keller, Gale Gand, Graham Elliot Bowles, Elisa Strauss, and Dan Barber. I am so consumed by these chapters and pages. The priceless advice these amazing people are able to give comes from talent, years of hard work, and knowing how to play your cards right. They all specialize in different fields of the culinary world. The point of the book is to show that there are so many options regarding food service other than being a chef. I was reading through the options and making some neat discoveries when something caught my attention: Specialty farmer.

Farming is something very near and dear to my heart. My momma's side of the family owns and operates a dairy and crop farm in south-central Pennsylvania. I spent lots of summers there feeding calves, digging in the garden, and playing in the cotton seed piles. As I got older, I started playing in the dirt and planting things at home. I discovered that I have a "green thumb". By the time I got to college, I thought that I would surely end up doing some sort of agriculture. I tried landscape architecture since that combines horticulture and drawing/design. It turned out that chemistry and math are enemies of mine. The core classes made me miserable and I was very unhappy with the path I'd chosen. I gave up on agriculture and horticulture and opted for the culinary world. Shock and surprise! I can still combine farming with cooking. It seems as though I'm going back to my roots. I just wish it had not taken me so long to really put more thought into this.

Farm-to-table. Sustainability. Cooking and Eating Seasonally. Using the best, freshest ingredients possible. Thank goodness consumers are becoming more aware of and familiar with these concepts. It's about time we started paying a bit more attention to what is on our plates. Dan Barber is a perfect example of a chef working to achieve these things; especially "farm-to-table". I've been a fan of his for a few years now. He's the chef and co-owner of Blue Hill at Stone Barns- a restaurant in which all ingredients come from the Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture. It's a fully functional, four-season farm, teaching center, and restaurant. It is amazing and one of the places at the top of my "I must go there" list.

I want to do something like that. At the very least I'd like to have an herb and vegetable garden at my restaurant. I want to be a farmer and a chef when I grow up. I wonder where this path will lead me now. There's only one way to find out. But first, I really want to finish this book.

Elle
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I know I've already put up a few links within the post, but here's a few more to check out if you have some time to spare:

Definition of sustainability in a global sense here.
Really good article from the ACF here.