Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Back in the saddle!





Howdy Friends!

It's sure been awhile since I posted, and I'm totally going to give a bunch of excuses!
Don't judge me. My guilty conscious couldn't take not posting anything anymore, I had to break the ice and post again after being dormant for a month. I got a promotion at work! Which is great, and I'm loving it! It does, however, take a little more of my time doing more managerial type things... I'm trying to find a balance though, so I can still do this and commit to at least ONE blog a week, instead of one per month. Ugh. I've also felt sorta uninspired, which to me, is a very bad feeling. Not wanting to fire up the stove, or try a new vegetable in season, or even make myself a healthy dinner?! My yoga has slipped a bit too, ugh. Does this ever happen to you, where you just give up on creating and slip into a slump? Doesn't have to be food per se, but just a block I suppose. Not sure what's been goin on the last month, but I feel like I'm in the clear now. I'm ready to cook, invent, capture it all on camera and tell YOU about it. YAY! Probably cuz we're in Leo now and my birthday is comin up :) Yah, that's it....

It's a good thing too, that I'm feeling my oats again, as I've got a BIG exciting delicious fantastic dinner party I'm cooking for this weekend! It's pretty much my first "secret dinner", which is a trend that's been rearing its' head in the last few years. Underground supperclubs are one of my favorite things. Invite a few dozen people to a big space, serve them a few courses of whatever it is you want to make, and you have yourself a beautiful evening.

This weekend the dinner will take place at a friends' home. They have an amazing urban farm here in San Diego, with bees and chickens runnin to and fro. They've got at least a dozen huge raised beds with everything you can think of planted. There's even a macadamia nut tree and guava tree! So, there's 40 people on the bill, and I'm schemin up a 5 course vegan meal to dish up for the lovely crowd. The theme is definitely summer at her peak! I'm going to post a blog of the end product with lots of scrumptious photos and recipes, so please come on back soon.

You'll be happy to know however that I haven't been TOO lazy. I revived my also dormant sourdough and made a few batches of bread. The first was a total dud, as the starter wasn't active enough just yet. I waited another week and fed it some more (she was hungry), and voila, much improved loaves! Good crumb, good rise, but not too sour. It's been about 3 more weeks of nice warm weather and plenty of feedings, and it smells good n sour now. I might make some more this week if I have time between planning/cooking my garden dinner. I also made a couple birthday cakes, some cookies, a wedding cake-birthday cake, which was super fun. Also, gotta keep drinkin those green drinks. :)






It's funny blogging, as I feel like I'm letting people down in a sense if I don't post what I'm doing. I know I'm letting myself down for sure not doing what I love, which is cooking and sharing! So there, that's my confession and I will be back more regularly. Thank you for reading my lil blog, and happy cooking to all!!