Beginnings In The Kitchen

I can still remember the day I developed a distaste for honey and ginger ale...what a lot to lose in one fell swoop!

My brother and I decided to make ourselves a snack. With his reckless abandon and my poor matching skills, we came up with Saltines covered in honey and mushy toppings (can't remember what!). Our beverage was ginger ale that had lost all it's fizz. I still remember how gross this snack was, and how excruciating it was to eat.

My favorite concoctions as a child were mostly pretty normal: Lucky Charms, Milkshakes made of ice cream, milk, and malt powder, hot cocoa, sandwiches. Once I got into high school, my eating habits got a little odd. I liked cans of room temperature English peas for breakfast, and ate pickles and vanilla shakes for lunch many days. College was signified by a free meal plan and a LOT of coffee.

As I've grown through my twenties, and now in my 30th year, I can say I love the way I eat. A friend introducing me to sushi* in the last few years was wonderful. Now I experiment and make my own sushi that I love. I am always excited to try new foods in new places, and am particular enamored with regional cuisines (my own region and others!). Slowly making my way from "lazy" vegetarianism to conscientious veganism has really taught me many things. I have learned about health and animal welfare, but also to my surprise, about the amazing variety of foods, kitchen tools, cooking methods, and so on .

For my 30th year, I have some cooking/food goals on my mind. Here are a few:

-Veganize some serious Cajun recipes

-Learn to make bread products! I am hopelessly terrified to even try things like pie crust and savory breads. Being part of the Daring Bakers Challenges is curing me of this fast! Last month we made crackers! More wild challenges ahead! Wish me luck!

-Improve my tofu-preparation abilities!

-Create some original recipes.

*This cute sushi pic is linked from a neat craft blog.