Sic Semper Tyrannis

An Empty Stomach-The Muse of the Culinary Arts

Ever since the end of last year I set an informal goal for myself, a non-binding resolution if you will. It’s really quite simple: to expand my cooking repertoire. My mom helped out with this task a lot by giving me the good old Betty Crocker Red and White Cookbook for Christmas.

I’ve been cooking for myself for several years now, but I wanted to up the ante, try some different stuff, venture out of my comfort zone of Hamburger Helper and maybe learn a thing or two. I'm trying to view cooking as less about survival, (caveman with fire), and more about art.

Well, I must tell you, it has become one of my favorite things to do—to come home after work, put on some music and try a new recipe. This is a model of domesticated-bachelor bliss if I’ve ever heard of it.

It might be the rationalist or nutty-professor in me, but I like the process. You take these disparate elements, (sometimes things I’ve never even heard of, much less tasted before), combine them in various ways and at various different times, and arrive with an end product, hopefully something enjoyably delicious. That process of following directions to a result—something about that is soothing to my soul. It’s orderly. Purposeful. I need these things.

But along with this orderliness, there is also a spirit of adventure. Granted, the old Red and White is largely comfort food, or at least my initial forays have been with comfort food, but I’m still learning a lot. And variety is the spice of life; the more new things I try, the more adventurous I’m becoming. And you can’t beat the scavenger hunt at the grocery store looking for all of these new alien ingredients.

Life is good.

posted by Mike @ 3:22 PM