Mastering the Art of Not Cooking

My name is Sarah and I am a food addict.

I just saw "Julie and Julia" and was enthralled and captivated throughout the film.  I then just had to get a wedge of brie and a sourdough baguette.  Unfortunately, when I got to the store there was no brie...just a "triple cream" cheese (oh, too bad) and I had to get the baguette at Atlanta Bread Company.  Oh the trials and tribulations of a foodie living in Northwest Arkansas.

I only wish there were a vegetarian version of "Mastering the Art of French Cooking".  I guess   Deborah Madison's "Greens" cookbook might be a close equivilent but there is no way in hell I am going to take that much time to cook, unless I'm having dinner guests.  Her recipes are enticing and sound delicious but parchament paper is just too much. 


And that is the point of the film and food writers in general.  Too many people are not willing to spend the time it takes to make the creations Mrs. Child wrote about all those years ago even though each recipe may be a masterpiece.  There are so many shortcuts a cook can take these days but it seems that too many cooks think that spending more than fifteen minutes preparing a meal is too time consuming.

I am so lucky to know people who believe in cooking and using fresh ingredients in the preparation of their meals.  I, on the other hand, am the laziest of the lazies and will, more often than not, reach for an Amy's Kitchen frozen entree or get something to go from a favorite restaurant.  Salad greens in a bag?  You bet!  Grated cheese in a ziplock?  Hand it over!  Dressing in a bottle?  Pour it on!  I'm even at the point that a decent a bottle of wine  with a cork instead of a screw top is getting a bit bothersome.

That is why I love having people over for dinner.  I get to churn my creative juices and lose myself in the preparation of a meal that I hope others will enjoy.  I love shopping for and planning a menu, just like Julia Child.  I only wish that someday there will be another like her...someone who loves to create recipes for the sake of eating, not for monetary gain.
Hmmm, Mollie Katzen comes to mind...

Ms. Lazy has finished her Henri Hutin Triple Cream Belletoile cheese with sourdough baguette and martini and was planning on a salad but is too full for anything else, other than a brownie.  Not quite the meal I had envisioned after the movie.  Maybe I should have gone out to eat.

Growing a snout now.