My set of mixing bowls and the reading lamp behind the couch are easily my favorite non-artwork things in our apartment. This is probably a good thing, as I spend a great deal of time with both of them. Especially when the beautiful fall days are infringed upon by endless sheets of cold rain, and my desire to go take a walk or explore our new town falls even lower than usual. I mean, I know where the library is, we've been around the quarry twice, and we went to the art museum, what more could there be?
Last night I made lentil soup topped with caramelized onions and corn, served with homemade thyme & garlic flatbreads. It has been oh-so-blustery lately so I have been eating a lot of oatmeal, best served with peanut butter and jelly (and brown sugar, who am I kidding). Even without the cold weather incentive, much of my life is centered around food production. With surprising regularity my first thought upon waking is "wait, what am I making for dinner tonight?" Even with hours to think about it, and my weekly meal list up on the fridge (more suggestion than rule - and really just to make sure we don't eat pasta every day), I am often hesitant to commit to a meal until I know what I am hungry for. George is of little use in this regard, he would consume any dinner I put in front of him, regardless of taste or consistency or number of dishes, and tell me that it was great. I don't know if I really want a pickier dining companion, that might be more aggravating than having an almost entirely indifferent one - which isn't aggravating at all, merely free of useful feedback. It is sort of like when he tells me about his indexing or metadata homework. I am interested in his work, and fully invested in his success, but I don't know enough about it to make very useful suggestions.
Yet, because obsessing about food can't occupy every minute of my day (well...) I have been making things. Some of them might even count as art. The floor between the couch and the window is piled with paper and fabric and thread and glue and rulers and embroidery hoops and so on. I can't seem to stop making paper stars (a really good use for wedding cards), and I want my Blick order to get here *now* so I can start all the other projects that are buzzing around in my head. I really love the process of imagining the finished product, then following the steps backwards to figure out what materials and skills I will need to accomplish it (though, often as not, starting with no ideas at all results in a more interesting product!). I cook in a similar way, rarely following recipes exactly (except for baked goods) but knowing what I want it to taste like and working backward from that.
That might be how everyone cooks, I really have no idea.
So, what's for dinner?
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