My story

Welcome to Eating Out of House and Home!

After seeing the movie Julie & Julia, I thought it would be fantastic to blog my way through a cook book. However, with two little guys at home, I find this to be a little ambitious at the moment. Instead I thought of this blog... an opportunity to be inspired and be challenged to grow as a cook, and to share the experiences with anyone who wants to come along for the ride. And because my recipe box is a mess and this will be an easier way to keep track of them. ;)

My philosophy of food

I love to cook. I enjoy spending all day cooking for people, as rarely as that happens nowadays, it is a JOY when I have the chance. This is not to say that I consider myself a seasoned gourmand. By no means, certainly not this early in my "cooking career." I do believe I have a creativity in the kitchen and a knack for putting interesting, healthy foods together. I have an eccletic taste in all other areas of my life, so it only follows that it would be this way in the kitchen.

My take on food is that it should be healthy, nourishing and running around crazy with good flavors. In an ideal world, I think meals should be interesting and pretty, and a little fancy if possible, not necessarily difficult. I think planning, preparation and presentation are key to cooking. Time-saving gadgets are nice too, but I haven't let myself get too lost in that world yet. I like to keep it simple. A goal of mine right now is to grow a simple herb garden, so that I don't have to run to the store for cilantro and basil which I put in almost everything. It would be fantastic to have fruits and vegetables growing out of my kitchen window one day as well.

I cook pretty standard fare mostly, because I don't have the time or resources to do otherwise. But I like to draw upon international foods for inspirations when I can, my most favorite is Indian but I also enjoy Greek, South American, Thai and anything else I can fuse together! There is so much to learn, discover and EAT - and not enough time! :)


My roots

As my Mom may admit, and my former roomates if they can't resist the temptation to tell, is that I left for college not knowing how to boil water. And not because my Mother did not know how to cook, because my mother could have cooked Julia Child under the table! I suppose I became too used to everything being done FOR me, so college was a wake up call. My idea of a healthful meal was throwing a frozen "Voila" meal in a skillet! Oh brother!

I remember being awestruck when I told my husband I was in the mood for meatloaf in the early days of our marriage, and he wandered into the kitchen and emerged 2 hours later with the most perfect diner-style meatloaf. I thought he was a magician. And he was gleeful to have a break from the usual frozen perogies with sour cream and salt, I'm sure.

So I bought a cook book, and learned that making chicken that doesn't taste like rubber is an art. That baking soda and baking powder are not in fact interchangeable. That broiling fish is a lot faster and tastier sometimes than baking preparing on a skillet. That it's important to grate potatoes from the proper side, your hands will be grateful (no pun intended). And that tossing a little bit of salt in a pot of water helps it to boil a little more quickly. ;)

After I became pregnant with our first child, my sister Sarah introduced me to the world of organic foods and the importance of whole grains, and our lives were never the same. I look forward to all that I will learn and do and eat in the kitchen, and I'm hoping to document a good portion of it here.

Thanks for visiting and I hope you'll come back!