Listen to the Flavors

Fast food seems not quite fast enough here these busy school days, so fast and furious food is more like it. In "spare" moments, like when I'm pushing Molly on the swings at the park and sort of zoning out, I've been thinking a bit about food, cooking, and food writing. I became bored with it pretty fast, and I think that's largely because there is a part of cooking that is just labor. For me, it is a huge part of it because I am always preparing food for my kids, one of whom is on a special diet. Still, here I am writing about food. Really fast. While scarfing down a spinach salad I just threw together with kidney beans, walnuts, cucumbers, and a simple lemon juice/olive oil dressing. The kids are at school right now, eating lunches we threw together this morning. Eli's latest craze is this pomegranate berry coconut water that comes in individual-size plastic bottles from Whole Foods. It's very low in carbs, and apparently really good for you as it is...

The new school year has begun, and my cooking style has turned upside down. Suddenly it is not about what would be interesting, fun, or new to cook. It is about what I can prepare in less then 30 minutes while simultaneously supervising math homework and playing Whac-a-Mole. Ideally....something everyone likes, and something healthy. This is taking some getting used to. I welcome ideas on this if anyone has any. For now, this is what I'm thinking: Pizza. Homemade pizza is the no-brainer dinner for me because it is so easy and everyone likes it. I get the refrigerated pizza dough from Trader Joes, and do some combination of cheese/vegetables/sometimes pepperoni or sausage. (Note: I'm calling it "homemade pizza," although I am not making the dough. Why do that, when Trader Joe's makes it for me?) Hot dogs. When it's not raining and we're not in the middle of a heat wave, I grill them outdoors. Same with sausages. Eli (on his special diet) can't have the ...

Our next stop was Cowgirl Creamery, where we were treated to a cheese tasting and talk by the cowgirl herself, co-founder Peggy Smith. We learned about and tasted some incredible cheeses. But I have to admit: I am a little intimidated by cheese. Or at least, talking about cheese. Oh, I like to eat it. But when you start talking about the history of it, how it's made, how the taste of milk varies throughout the month based on the cows' monthly cycles, etc., I'm like "What? Can we just taste it?" Maybe it's because I have never made cheese or even seen the cheese making process, so I don't feel as intimately connected to it as I might to some other foods. We tried a Mt. Tam cheese, which is made with whole milk and cream added to it, so in other words a LOT of fat. The next one we tried was very interesting - St. Pat's. It was wrapped in a nettle leaf and there was this whole story about how they came up with the cheese and the name. Something about how ...

On Wednesday, I was reminded of just how lucky I am to live in the San Francisco Bay Area. I am so fortunate to live a short drive and ferry ride away from the food heaven that is the Ferry Building Marketplace. I've been to the ferry building many times before, but this time I was part of a class sponsored by The Book Passage in Corte Madera. The class was Food Writing and Inspiration, taught by Joanne Weir , cookbook author, cooking teacher, and host of the PBS show "Joanne Weir's Cooking Class". So this time, I got to see it through Joanne's eyes. I have also never spent an entire day in the building, something one can easily do, with all there is to see and taste. Our group of nine started our day riding the ferry from Larkspur to San Francisco. On the ferry, we huddled around a big table on the lower floor. Joanne told us her story of how she got started in cooking, and how her food career blossomed. It was an inspiring and exciting story. We all then int...

I'm continuing to maintain my other blog, Cooking My Way Through The Columbia , about the Columbia Restaurant Cookbook. But I wanted to start another one so I can talk about other cooking and food topics. Listen to the Flavors came to me as a name when I was tasting an eggplant-basil-mozzarella bruschetta sandwich I'd made for the first time. There were kids and a lot of noise in the room, and I excused myself to the patio so I could have some peace. "I need to listen to the flavors," I found myself saying. Somehow, the quiet helped me hear what I liked and didn't like about the new recipe I had just created. It allowed me to notice that it really did not need tomatoes as I thought it might, but it did need some kind of tangy drizzle, like white wine vinegar. Listening is also the best way to enjoy food. I can't always go to a quiet place to taste food, but as I cook, eat, and write more, I strive to be a good food listener. I hope you enjoy what you read here...