Cooking

Its cheesy, but its like they say, you often don’t know that you miss something until you have it again. Erm, they might actually say the opposite of that. I am not sure. Either way!

So, I have not been cooking lately. I just haven’t felt like it. Despite it being summer, and having no school work to do, I have been rather down in the dumps, due to various reasons. Because of this, I had no desire to cook. Usually, cooking is one of my favorite things to do. To me, its a really satisfying process where you get to see the fruits of your efforts nearly instantaneously. But that didn’t matter, I hadn’t had any interest in cooking. However, after gettings stuff at the Farmer’s Market Tuesday, I had a need to cook. Not a need as in a driving desire, as need as in I spent money on stuff I can’t eat raw, so I better cook it.

Tuesday was Eggplant parmesan. It turns out, I don’t like eggplant very much, and unfortunately I still have about half of one left, which I’ll be turning into a sandwich for Friday.

Wednesday was much better though.

Roasted potatoes inspired by my Grandma’s dish, with influence from Natasha’s all-around cooking know how, with just a bit of me wanting to make it crispier, but not being sure how to do so.

Accompanied by a brocolli & cheese soup

It seems like a lot, but trust me, these were rather small servings. The pictures are just really zoomed in. Taking these really made me want to get a macro lens again. I think my investigations might have to restart.

In addition to these dishes, I already packed my lunch for tomorrow. A spinach salad with balsamic vinagerette dressing (as per Shanying’s advice) with gorgonzola cheese & radish slices (Mom’s suggestion) and some more brocolli cheese soup, along with some trail mix & a banana for a snack.

Its really not very manly I guess, but I do like planning, cooking, and eating meals.

Edit:

Recipe for brocolli cheese soup

Fair warning, it is not particularly healthy. Accompany with salad, so you’ll feel better about yourself somehow.

• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 1 (16 ounce) package frozen chopped broccoli
• 16 oz chicken broth
• 1 (1 pound) loaf processed cheese food, cubed
• 1 cup 1/2&1/2
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1/3 cup cornstarch
• 1 cup water

1. In a stockpot, melt butter over medium heat. Cook onion in butter until softened. Stir in broccoli, and cover with chicken broth. Simmer until broccoli is tender, 10 to 15 minutes.
2. Reduce heat, and stir in cheese cubes until melted. Mix in 1/2&half and garlic powder.
3. IMPORTANTIn a small bowl, stir cornstarch into water until dissolved. Stir into soup; cook, stirring frequently, until thick.

• I just dumped the cornstarch in their, without mixing it first. This was a mistake. I spent a long time whipping it with a whisk.  This was a good thing though, as it whipped in air, and made it somehow fluffy-ish. So I recommend you mix the cornstarch in water, whisk that, put it in the soup, then whisk the fuck out out that too.