Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain

This is the only book on my list that I wouldn't read again! I can't even say I enjoyed reading this one, but it effected me significantly and that's the point of this list!

It's part memoir, part behind the scenes look into the restaurant industry. It's a well written book, interesting and funny at times, but the honest look into professional kitchen life was a bit much for me. I think I went at least three months without eating out after I read it!

Even though parts of the book severely grossed me out, I like that it elicited that strong of a reaction from me. It's yet another reminder of how we are all connected in this world, though we tend to forget that. Each time we go out to eat, we are putting our life into the staffs' hands. That may sounds a bit over dramatic but after reading this book, I don't think it is! We trust that people are going to treat our food with care and show up to work sober, but that doesn't happen all the time!

This book shook up my perspective a lot. Obviously so when it comes to restaurants, but also about people in general. And even though I wouldn't read it again, I am glad I read it in the first place. It taught me that you don't necessarily have to like a book for it to have an impact on your life!

B is for Breakfast

They say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. I don't know who "they" are but I've learned that they're right!

I'm a foodie, so for me, every meal is an important one. The only problem with breakfast is that it happens in the morning! For years, I'd skip eating in the morning or try to get by with scarfing a banana as I drove to work,  because I "didn't have time to eat." Eventually, I realized my body was telling me that I need to eat at the start of my day. If I go too long without eating, I'll usually get a headache, my mind becomes foggy, I become irritable and eventually get to a point where I can't function. When this happens by 10am, it doesn't sit well with co-workers and makes for a loooong day!

For the majority of my life, I wasn't a "breakfast person." I'm not a huge fan of many of the dishes traditionally served for breakfast. Thanks to a couple traumatizing experiences of being forced to eat eggs when I was a kid, including one particularly memorable time of vomiting the forced eggs back onto my plate, I didn't eat eggs that weren't hard boiled until I was in my 20's. Even now, I'm very picky about eating eggs. I'll only eat scrambled eggs if I've made them myself, otherwise I just can't get them down. At a restaurant, I'll occasionally order eggs over easy (if they come with the meal I'm ordering) but I've been known not to eat them if they "don't look right" when they arrive at my table. I don't like French Toast, it's always too soggy and wet bread grosses me out. Until the past couple of years, I'd never liked pancakes much either but then I discovered crepes and realized that not all pancakes have to be the diameter of a dinner plate! However, I will admit I'm a huge fan of breakfast meats and fried potatoes so I can usually find something to eat on a breakfast menu!

In the five years that I've been with my significant other, I've reaped the benefits of the fact that he likes to cook breakfast! I've discovered breakfast items that I enjoy, like the previously mentioned crepes ( I love crepes,) scotch eggs, biscuits with gravy and of course I've always liked waffles. I've also noticed that like most other meals (but even more so, in my opinion) breakfast foods are much better when they are homemade and catered to our particular tastes. Instead of syrup, I put Greek yogurt and fresh fruit on my pancakes and waffles, for example. 

Not only does breakfast provide me with the sustenance needed to start my day and use my brain, it also forces me to be still for a few minutes. On work days, stopping to prepare and eat something helps me focus and sit down at the start of my day. On weekends, time in the kitchen preparing breakfast with my other half has become a fun, bonding experience for us. Sitting down to eat our meals together gives us more quality time and a chance to chat. 

I now realize that all the mornings I skipped breakfast over the years I was missing out on an opportunity for quality time with my loved ones and delicious food. I can't get that time back but I've learned from it and try to make the most of each morning I have now! 

My Life Tastes Good

My boyfriend and I are both self proclaimed "food snobs".  My friends call me a "foodie", that sounds a bit nicer! Before I started dating Reggie, I appreciated good food but not to the degree I do now. The main difference between him and I is that he enjoys creating beautiful food before eating it, where as I'm just looking to indulge. Sure, I can cook and I enjoy cooking sometimes but only to a certain degree. I don't choose recipes with more than say six main ingredients, and I have trouble with timing all dishes in a meal to be done at once. If it's a recipe a little beyond my comfort zone, Reggie will serve as my sous chef.  I've read articles in magazines that give step by step instructions on how to cook a meal with your spouse without fighting. That's not an issue for us. We have never fought over cooking and honestly have only had a few actual arguments in all the time we've been together. He has done the majority of cooking our meals but since I've been out of work this summer, I've pitched in more than usual. But it goes like this: I'll make a few meals, stuff like baked fish with veggies or chicken enchiladas and then he'll make one meal that is fancier than all of mine combined: a whole chicken on the grill with green beans in yogurt sauce and sliced tomatoes with herbed mayo!

My female friends are typically surprised to see how much he loves to cook and even more so when I tell them we often cook together. They say "You're so lucky to be with a man who likes to cook" and I say "Oh yes, I know". We've both been married before, him to someone who was  picky about food, and me to someone whose motto was "If it hasn't been processed more than twice, I'm not eating it". Now, we both truly appreciate having a partner who shares our love of good, fresh food and adventurous eating. One of my favorite food stories is on our first Valentine's Day together, Reggie cooked us and amazing meal of steaks, baked potatoes and asparagus with lobster risotto.

What girl wouldn't love that, right? Well I was a vegetarian for seven years and although I'd been eating meat for two years at that point, I'd never had lobster before. I took one bite and said "Eww, what's that fishy taste?!" Apparently that's lobster and I don't like it!

We plan out our meals for the week, usually trying at least two new recipes per week. We grow a large garden and preserve some of our harvest, we make as many things from scratch as possible. For Reggie, cooking is a way to decompress after his day at work. He makes fresh bread, pasta, pies, salsa, you name it. Meal time is more than just eating for us. We were both raised in traditional households where Mom cooks the meals and the whole family eats together. We rarely eat anywhere but the dining table, which is always set nicely, even though it's just the two of us. We talk about our day and current events. We also make amazing meals with our family and friends. Just last weekend we had a sushi night with another couple. Well, I drank wine and took photos while everyone else rolled sushi! It's always a fun, bonding experience to make food with other people that you eat together.

Any time we eat at a restaurant, we're always inspecting our meal and saying "Oh we could make this at home"!  We're constantly amazed by the amount of prepared, processed foods in the grocery store. But even though we're "snobs", we know we're fortunate. I can't imagine what it would cost to feed a family of four (or more!) the kinds of foods we eat. I'm constantly frustrated by the fact that you can buy ground beef and Hamburger Helper to create a meal for only a few dollars when buying whole foods and fresh ingredients is often 3-4 times as much. I don't understand the politics of it but I wish there was a better solution. I'd much rather know we were the norm than a rarity.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Create

            

          Initially I drew a blank for this challenge and wasn’t sure I had a photo to use. When I got to thinking, I realized that if there’s one thing we’re good at creating in my house it’s lovely meals. My boyfriend is what I call a “food snob” and he loves elaborate fancy meals. Lucky for me he likes to cook them as well and we are often trying new recipes and taking photos of our (more like his) creations.

            Last spring when his sister graduated with her masters degree, she wanted a home made sushi meal as her celebratory dinner. The two of them spent several hours in the kitchen preparing all the food and it was a lovely family meal. I was tasked with setting the table so I feel like I can take a little of the credit for the creating this time!