Working Girl

For the past three-and-a-half years or so, I've been mostly unemployed, through no fault of my own.  (Actually, that's probably a story worth telling in its own regard, but that will have to be another time.)  It's been during this time where I've had a lot of time at home that I really ended up developing my skills, talent, and passion for the kitchen.  Sometimes it can actually feel weird to look back and realize that six years ago, I didn't even know how to cook.

Things have changed a bit this past month, though!  I have gotten a part-time job that may be working into a full-time job soon.  The thing is, I only work a few days each week, but on the days I do work, I can be gone from the house for twelve or fourteen hours.  And the first week, I worked four long days out of five, for training, which kept me away from the house (and the kitchen) quite a bit.  Because the job has me working with expert doctors, I don't even get to pack the nice bento lunches like I used to--I'm supposed to buy lunch for myself and the doctors during the clinic (as a reimbursed business expense)!  I understand that this is kind of a perk to have my lunch paid for by the company, but I liked my homemade lunches.  My poor bento boxes are getting neglected now.

For the [U.S.] Independence Day holiday, I have a stretch of seven days off in a row, so I decided to head out shopping on my first day off and get ready to reconnect to the kitchen!  The first thing I made was some wild Alaskan sockeye salmon, grilled and served with curried lentils and an arugula salad.  (The recipe was from my new Food Network Magazine, naturally.)  I hadn't had lentils outside of lentil soup before, and my sweetie was a bit skeptical of what curried ones would taste like, but we both agreed afterwards that it was a delicious dinner.

I've also been using my grill a lot this week, what with the record highs in the Pacific Northwest; I made some really awesome strip steaks, some sausages (with Girl-Scout-style foil-packet potato hash!), and of course hamburgers.  I'm still planning some shrimp on the grill, and maybe some more cedar-planked salmon.

And then on Saturday, it'll be time to go back to work.  I really can't complain, though, I do love my new job.  It's just going to take a little bit of adjustment, as it does for any change, to find a new balance, and not make plans that are too big for the energy level I have left after a thirteen-hour workday.

Out of the Kitchen, To the Fire

In the spirit of broadening my cooking horizons, I decided this year to get in on some of the "summer" cooking that you can only do if you own a grill, so I bought a small (18") Weber charcoal kettle grill a couple of weeks ago.  There's a small part of me that feels a little weird about it, because the more things I read in order to learn to use this grill, the more I get the sense that outdoor grilling is very much considered a "guy thing"--to an extent I'm not sure I realized when I got the thing, although my sweetie had mentioned it as a concern that kept her from buying one for me as a gift.

Of course, I tend to think the "guy thing" business only applies if your household actually includes a guy, which mine doesn't.  At least, not unless you count our German Shepherd, Bodie, and I really don't think I'd trust him to cook anything properly.  And I have to say, any tiny niggling "weird feeling" is rapidly being chased away by the flavor of the food that has come off of my cute little grill so far.  

First, I christened it by making some cedar-planked Copper River salmon, which was absolutely to die for.  It was too rainy for outdoor cooking last weekend, but this weekend I made the entire "Farmer's Market Menu" from the July/August '12 issue of Food Network Magazine, including some brined pork chops off the grill, with a nice chutney.  I think they had to be the best pork chops I have ever had, and the meal really did make me realize that there is no substitute for the grill--you simply don't get that flavor any other way.  I'm already hoping the weather stays nice enough I can fire it back up tomorrow and make some flame-broiled burgers.

So I'm thinking, why should I bother feeling even the least bit weird about enjoying "men's" cooking?  I'm a kitchen witch, which means I like to cook.  Why would cooking with a charcoal fire be any different--or any less magical--than cooking in an oven or on a stovetop?  To me it feels more magical, more in touch with nature.  Besides, we witches have a long history of challenging the status quo of what is or isn't a "ladies' thing."

It would take some planning... but maybe one of these days I'll even have an opportunity to cook something outside under a Full Moon.

Musings on Muses

I think every witch, and indeed, every Pagan, has their muses.  I think that often they take the form of the Gods or Goddesses that we revere--from Cerridwen and Morrighan and Oona of the Fey to Astarte to Isis, Ra, and Osiris.  Maybe it's not even restricted to Pagans; I mean, in today's time, isn't Jesus first and foremost an avatar of what we aspire to be like?

For myself, I do feel connected to the Celtic and British deities, especially the Fey, but then I think I have some other, less deified, muses that might be specific to the kitchen witch.  My first muse, even before I found the Pagan path, had to be Betty Crocker.  When I was first learning to be on my own and finding my place in the kitchen, my most prized possession was an antique copy of Betty Crocker's Cookbook* that my mother gave me, unique among all my cookbooks in that it taught the basics I needed--how to boil eggs, how long to cook things like steaks, roasts, and turkeys, and so much more.  And so I accepted Betty as my muse, with the full understanding that she never actually walked the earth, and is merely a fictional character, created by the imaginations of people to be the perfect 'everywoman' who can unfailingly and unflappably work magic in the kitchen day after day.

Now that I have mastered all the basics, I may have at least partly outgrown what Betty Crocker and her sacred texts can show me (though I still consult the old red Cookbook from time to time).  The next leg of my journey, and my next set of muses, come from the pages of Food Network Magazine.**  I consistently find the recipes in this magazine, especially the ones from the "Weeknight Cooking" section, to be some of the most well-balanced and delicious dishes I have ever experienced, let alone created.  Just tonight, I made some Turkey-Pepperoni Burgers that my sweetie told me had the best flavor of anything she had ever eaten. And while the muses of Food Network differ from Lady Crocker in that they are based on real people, who live and breathe even today, they are also the same in that the images we receive are edited and shaped to transform these everyday people--from Ina Garten, Giada DeLaurentis, and Paula Deen to Bobby Flay and Alton Brown--into unfailing, unflappable avatars of what all of us kitchen folk aspire to be.

I have to wonder, then... could these fictional, or semi-fictional, characters be a type of modern-day mythology, not so far removed from those ancient stories of gods and goddesses, larger-than-life heroes or heroines meant to inspire us to greater things?

*Copyright date 1969!  Not that long before I was born, but still clearly from an earlier, simpler time.

**I am not affiliated with Food Network in any way, and sadly am receiving no compensation for my endorsement.

Accidental Butter

It's possible that an immersion blender may not be the best tool for making whipped cream with.



On the plus side, I now know what to do if I ever want to make homemade sweet-cream butter....

Athame

Today's New Moon crept up on me a bit; I think my mind has been elsewhere a bit recently.  Actually, I think I ended up taking the entire Storm Moon "off" a bit, even despite receiving a gift that is certain to be one of my most valued possessions I will ever own:

My sweetie gave to me a very high-quality set of forged German knives from the Wüsthof "Classic" series, including the first proper cook's knife I have ever owned.  I had actually thought my old knives were fairly sharp, until I used one of these for the first time--I'm still finding myself amazed at how easy food preparation is with these.  I've been vigilant about keeping the blades clean, dry, and protected in the block, and have been using the knife steel religiously to make sure they stay in perfect condition--I want these to still be my special knives decades from now.

As it turns out, the gift came at a good time; my sweetie and I received some unhappy health news recently, so something that will help me stay passionate about cooking healthy meals for us is a blessing.  Not that I ever mind cooking--I love to cook--but sometimes I forget to sit down and plan things well enough to have proper ingredients (and proper inspiration for what to cook) on hand.  Fortunately, a New Moon is also the perfect time for planning, so despite the less-than-perfect bills of health, it does seem like everything is coming together at an auspicious time.

Now if only Wüsthof made something that could help me enjoy the cleanup as much as I enjoy the cooking... ;)

It's In the Shoes

I feel good about what I got accomplished in the house today!  My sweetie had the car today so I could stay home and take delivery of our new freezer.  Now I have plenty of room to store leftovers and stock up during sales.  We wanted the freezer to go where our microwave had been, so I got the microwave stand moved to its new home and everything all swept up and dusted in time for the delivery man to arrive.  I also got a bunch of laundry taken care of, and made some good progress in cleaning the living room.

I actually think that part of the reason I feel good about what I did today was that I didn't seem to have to sit down and take breaks to rest my back nearly as often.  I ended up wearing my purple walking shoes today since I wasn't going anywhere; they're really comfortable, but a bit too casual to wear to work or to go out.  I'm honestly not that sure I really got more done than I would have on a typical day, but I felt more capable of doing it.

It makes me realize that on those days where I think I'm feeling dissatisfied with my work in the house, instead it might be that I'm unhappy from feeling impaired--I don't like that things aren't always as easy as they used to be before my back was injured.  So when things come up to remind me that I have an "impairment" that can limit my activity, I think it can make me frustrated with my body, and by extension with myself.

So, it seems like the lesson for today is to wear comfortable and supportive shoes to do housework from now on. :)

New Year's Resolve

No, I know it isn't January 1st.  Yes, that means my "resolutions" post is roughly a week later than everyone else's.  I think I rather prefer it that way; path less traveled and all that, yes?  To me it makes more sense to get past all the holidays and time off and get-togethers and then set things back into some semblance of order, and then take stock of where I am and where I want to be going.

So the 'resolutions' this year, if we're calling them that, are the typical ones that practically everyone does:  We want to be healthier, I want to be more organized, keep the house better, and so on.  (Also, try to write in my blog more than once a quarter this year.)  My sweetie has given me Mondays off from my part-time job at her office for doing errands and stuff or just having extra time in the house, which should help.  Today I used my freedom to take a shopping trip to Bellevue where I went to Uwajimaya--I do love asian cooking.  I stocked up quite a bit, even though I realize I could easily go more often now.

Then I went next door to the new Total Wine and Spirits store, and I was a terribly bad witch while I was in there.  I can't help it, it's kind of a hobby of mine.  The silly part is, we had 'resolved' to partake less, so it sort of feels like I dragged a whole bunch of temptation home with me.  I am hoping to make it last a while, though; I do want to get things back to where a spirited drink feels like something special, maybe even spiritual (please ignore the pun).  And to keep from feeling deprived, I plan to enjoy teas more.  I think we can do it, and my idea was that if we had a selection of nice things to have when we do partake, then it shouldn't feel like we really gave up anything, just maybe traded some quantity for quality.

Well, I'm not going to ramble on; I should get back into the kitchen.  I have rice that needs to start cooking, and laundry that needs put into the dryer.  A kitchen witch's work is never done!