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.

Lunch and a Movie

I had the most wonder lunch at Hammontree's Grilled Cheese  today with my friends Matt and Sheila Ross.  This place has the best sandwich I have ever had, hands down.  I had the Brie's Company which is grilled apple, Brie, Gouda, caramelized onions, and a fig compote on sourdough bread.  Oh my gawd!
Sheila had the Caprese Melt which is fresh Mozzarella, pesto, tomato bruschetta, fresh basil leaf with their house cheese blend on sourdough bread.  Yummy!!
Matt had the El Chupacabre which is Pulled Pork, Queso Fresca, Manchego, poblano peppers, and a green mole sauce served on sourdough bread.  This guy is a major food snob but said it was good and will make a return trip (let me tell you, that's saying something).
Okay, enough about the food already.

After that we went to see "Bruno".  I laughed so hard that my stomach hurt.  If you like "in your face irreverence" and "made to shock even the most die-hard" you will love this movie.  The scene at the fight club in Fort Smith, Arkansas made the whole thing worth while.  I can't wait until it comes to DVD to see it again so I can find out what I missed while laughing until I cried.

I'll keep this short and sweet since it's my first post since February, 2008.  A lot has happened since then but my life is still as boring as always so I hope you enjoyed this little slice of my uneventful life.  I'll tell you about the spider bite later.

Dining at Home

I thought I'd follow up on my last post and let you know how my Asian Fusion dinner was.

The Szechuan Guacamole was very good. The ingredients were very interesting (toasted sesame oil, soy sauce, chinese five spice, ginger and oriental chile paste) which made the dip spicy and tangy. I served it with rice chips, cauliflower and carrots. I really wanted to have daikon instead of carrots for an all white dipping theme but there was none to be had.

The Szechuan Noodle Salad was good. This was a cold soba noodle salad with a marinade of soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, rice vinegar, ginger and a bit of that oriental chile paste. I was hoping for more of a kick with the chile paste so will definitely add more next time. I julienned a red bell pepper, yellow squash and snow peas which was a great combination and just the right amount of "crunch".

The Asian Fritatta was excellent. I stir fried onions, garlic, asparagus, julienned carrot, shitake mushrooms and mung bean sprouts and added soy sauce. This was placed in a baking dish and then 6 eggs were beaten and poured on top. I also made a sauce of water, soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, sherry and scallions which was thickened with corn starch. I had been hesitating about the sauce but was glad that I made it as it really added a nice touch.

For dessert I made a peach crumble. I got this from the Moosewood Dessert cookbook and the crumble had flour and cornmeal, sugar and butter. I used frozen peaches since they are so much cheaper. The dish was very good but I'll probably use less sugar next time. This was served with vanilla ice cream

After dinner we watched "Who the #$&% is Jackson Pollock?", a documentary about a woman who purchased a painting at a thrift store and then spent the next 10 years trying to get it authenticated. This was a very interesting look at the art world.

So the evening was a success and we ate and drank too much but that's okay. The best thing is that I have lots of leftovers!!

Al Gore and His Environment

I watch the Academy Awards every year. I know, it's a silly show about something normal people shouldn't care about but it's a tradition for me. I don't have television service so I usually watch it on my tv with a rabbit ear antenna so the picture is very fuzzy. This year I was able to go to my bosses house and see it on a huge wide screen tv with satellite which was great!

What does this have to do with Al Gore and the environment? As you must be aware, Mr. Gore made a film last year, "An Inconvenient Truth" (which I have not seen) and it won the award for best documentary at the Oscars. As Al was thanking everyone and attempting to be a comedian I couldn't contain myself and was yelling at the screen "Maybe if you'd stop eating all those cows you could help save the environment!" Gads, he looks like he eats at McDonald's every day! Not that I am some sickly looking skinny vegan but good god!

Then, I hear on NPR a bit about Mr. Gore and his home in Tennessee. You can read it at http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB117271689203622916-lMyQjAxMDE3NzAyMTcwMTE2Wj.htmlwhich is an article in the Wall Street Journal. In a nutshell, Gore spends more on electricity in one month than most of us spend in a year. Come on, if he is gonna talk the talk he needs to walk the walk.
Rant over.