Let the Adventures Begin

Like many of you I saw and enjoyed Meryl Streep's newest movie "Julie & Julia". I have been reading the book "My Life in France," authored by Julia Childs. This book inspired Julie to write the blog that the movie is based on. I am intrigued, as Julie must have been, by the experiences Julia shares about her life in France. I have always wanted to immerse myself in another culture. But, I don't necessarily want to learn to cook French food. I fear I am too health conscious and vain to indulge in the richness of french cooking. And, how does one find all those special ingredients called for in french recipes?

Dave and I have been considering different hobbies we could enjoy together now that all our children have moved on. We used to cook together before the kids came. We still chuckle thinking about the time we made ravioli - did we really spend all that time cutting up those little squares of stuffed pasta? It is a fond memory. So, we have decided to pursue this hobby again. Dave has been the more adventurous cook over the years, I tend to stick with traditional basics. Wanting to be somewhat healthy we scoured the local Barnes & Noble for a cookbook on Mediterranean cooking. The quest was tougher than we imagined, but finally decided on a fish cookbook. The cookbook is made specifically for diabetics, and although we are not diabetic, we felt this was a healthy choice. It's a start, at least.

To go with our new cookbook we invested in a new set of cookware. We have been using pieces we have had for most of our married life and others we have picked up at local thrift stores. It was time to make the change - especially since one of our children took one of our most favorite sized pans off to college!

Dave & I worked together preparing our first meal of our adventure together. It was a dish with Cod (the recipe called for halibut with the bone in, but Cod was all we had at the time!) steamed in a broth white wine & clam juice full of finely chopped carrots, onions, garlic, fresh oregano and basil and celery. It was served with mashed potatoes. I tend to prefer spicy foods, and found this dish quite bland. I think I need to learn to be more exact to give a recipe a fighting chance! But, it was fun to cook and experiment - especially together, without any other distractions. We may need to find some slightly tastier recipes though! What fun is cooking if it doesn't taste divine?

However, I am not one who enjoys following fads. So, I hesitate to write about our cooking adventures because I'm afraid everyone else is going to start writing about their cooking after watching the movie. But, who am I kidding - no one will even know I'm writing about cooking, because no one will be reading my blog! This is more of a journal keeping exercise that Dave and I can look back and reflect on one day as yet another way we enjoyed our lives together.

And, maybe our kids can learn something too as one of them just texted me wanting to know how to cook a potato in the microwave!