A Little Cooking Obsession

So over the past month I have been reading, cooking, eating, breathing this new everything about food challenge I have taken on this year. Because I am not a “dip my little toe in the pool” kind of girl but more like a “running dive and figure out the temperature once I am in the water” type of girl I have obsessively taken to my new challenge. Some changes and purchases have been made at the house in order to accommodate my new hobby along with honing some skills in other areas that I would love to share with you.

First of all I have spent so much time surfing the web and lurking in the aisles of Barnes and Nobel pouring over cookbooks, recipes, schools of thought on cooking and nutrition that I feel like I am back in college cramming for another final. The only difference is that this time I am doing the cramming intentionally, with purpose and a tremendous amount of joy. I have literally hundreds of recipes now that I want to try, tweak, modify, combine and make my own.

Secondly I have branched out into different places for food other than my nearby Vons grocery store. I am now buying most of my produce from local farmers at the farmers market, I find myself often at Trader Joes or Bristol Farms dying to purchase and try anything I do not recognize which is a huge jump from where I was 2 months ago jumping away instead of toward diversity with my food choices. I have also stopped buying ANYTHING canned or frozen if I can help it preferring fresh organic fruits and vegetables. As there is less and less boxed and canned food in my refrigerator and more and more fresh I have been noticing a SIGNIFICANT difference in the taste and complexity of my food. Little things I have learned to do have made a huge impact and have garnered me the ability to make better more nutritious meals for myself and my husband.

Thirdly I have purchased several new books for my new hobby and although I would ADORE to purchase cookbooks I am trying to focus my purchases more on the other aspects of food. The four books I have on my computer table right now are

Super Foods, Fourteen food that will change your life; by Steven Pratt and Kathy Matthews

The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth, The surprising unbiased truth about what you should eat and why; by Jonny Bowden

The Most Effective Natural Cures on Earth; by Jonny Bowden

And my new ALL TIME favourite book about food presentation I am obsessing over right now:

Working the Plate, The art of food presentation; by Christopher Styler



Aside from obsessing over recipes, purchasing food habits, and the several food books I am reading right now I also have developed a habit of collecting random dishes for my photo shoots because I realize that plating food on the same dishes in the same kitchen over and over again may get just a bit repetitive. Then I got so many new dishes that I had to get a shelf to hold them all.



Believe me it was not that full a few days ago but that is Macy’s fault. I happened to be passing through their home section when I fell across a table full of fine china on clearance. And I am not talking 10% off, OH NO I am talking about 90% off, like I got some crazy deals.



My favourite is this bone china by Noritake, a divine gold plate I got that was $69.99 originally and that was marked down to $6.99. BOOOO YAAAAAHHH SIX NINETY NINE! More disturbing than the original price of this plate is WHO would own this set of china.



I would be terrified of someone touching any of the plates let alone eating off of them. Can you just IMAGINE how much a set of 12 would cost. I will cherish this one plate.