these guys look really cool!

in recent months my casual own-kitchen interest in food stuffs has expanded. i can easily spend hours looking at recipes, reading about food in cookbooks and online, thinking about things to try or experiment with and most of all how to be able to afford it. it's got to the point that my bhg (beloved husband geoffrey) has teasingly said that i should really be planning to become a chef rather than doing environmental stuff (though i think there are easily ways to combine the two...). i actually took a look at some cooking schools back in the states and thought about it a bit...until i looked at tuition fees. that put a damper on things, as did the thought of the high strees levels usually found in resturant kitchens...
nope, if i'm gonna cook, i'll have to figure it out by myself. but no worries, i'm more than happy messing around in the kitchen on my own time. but i'd like to share with you. now whether that takes the form of pics, or recipes or (what's most likely) links to places i think look fun, i've not yet figured out. we'll see where the muse leads...

last week i developed an whole new level of respect for those who engage in the art of cookery as a profession. i filled in full time for the chef at work while she was on holiday last week. she'd prep'd the "important" meals before the dumped them into the deep freeze so i didn't have worry about getting those right (or messing them up too badly). so in addition to my regular duties of stocking the break rooms on three floors i took care of baking and making sandwich lunches.

simple right?

i finished every day with my back aching and by the end of the week my whole body was sore. i've done 12 miles of hiking with fewer aches at the end. from 6.45am (when i left for work) until 5pm (when i got home) i found myself on my feet and needing to do something. whether it was washing dishes, or making a batch of scones for a last minute morning tea, or making sandwiches, or chopping fruit. there just doesn't seem to be time to sit down. even breakfast and lunch are eaten standing up so that recipes can be read over or the oven can be set or stove turned on.
all in all, the week went off well. everyone got fed and nothing disasterous happened. i think my favorite happening of the week was discovering a youghurt pound cake recipe on this site. i served it with a fresh kiwi sauce. it was very good.

i have been very happy to leave work after my two hours this week though. making a batch of lemon curd is enough excitement for me...

my beloved has returned to our bed, curled as much as a 6'2" frame will allow. the day has been chill, precipitation of various forms keeping us indoors. every break in the clouds gave rise to a modified plan to go out and hunt items on our short list of things of homey things.
when we finished breaking our evening fast we'd planned to go find a fan and a tuner and perhaps some fish for supper. but then it started to rain.
about an hour later the sun broke through and we said we'd go out to get the tuner and something for supper. but then it started to rain, again.
so i read and Geoffrey played with pictures. the album finished we looked out the window, only to see the sky darker than it's been all day. and it is raining, drips pattering against the pane and windscreen hidden behind the curtain that is keeping out some of the cold wind blowing up from the motorway.
oh well. Geoffrey has lots of new pictures up from my family's brief visit. be sure to take a look.


i wonder what i can put together for supper if we don't go out...