Moodular Cooking

I'm a pretty random person.  I readily admit that.  I go from one concept to another without a seeming segway.  But it's cool.  I use my forces for good.

You might have noticed that I haven't been posting in a while.  Guilty as charged.  Life got really busy.  The boyfriend had work stuffs, it was cold, I had my birthday (got a new microplane, cutting board and vinaigrette bottle, among other things) and I frankly wasn't in the mood to cook.  We have been eating out a lot and I've ended up simply making pasta or something equally simple just to put some foods in my belly.

But I feel a swell of inspiration coming about.

My birthday graced me with lovely weather, sunny in the 60s.  In case you haven't noticed, my birthday is in February and I've lived in the northern part of the US for the bulk of my life.  60 degree weather simply doesn't happen normally for my birthday, even down here in the Mid-Atlantic states.  I got to sit on my balcony, knitting and enjoying the nice weather.

Today I was greeted with a snow day, which was equally pleasant.  Especially since all the bad weather happened last night and it's nice and sunny, if cold, right now.  Then I turned on the TV to watch some Barefoot Contessa and the two episodes were all about France and simple French food, something I'm not too familiar with but love the romanticism of.

But I always seem to start with basics when I'm resetting, which I need to do occasionally.  One of my first posts was about a farmer's lunch- bread, cheese, fruit, etc.  That was my planned menu for tonight but with a bit of a twist.

The Trader Joe's Fearless Flyer came out on Friday and I found an interesting gem- frozen mini croissants.  You proof them overnight (they puff up quite a bit) and then you bake them.  So far they look and smell lovely.  I am substituting them for the bread in my lunch equation.

Pair that up with my boyfriend and a move and it looks like I'm in for a pleasant evening... if I can pull the man away from his horror movies in his studio with one of his friends.  :)

From this inspiration, who knows?  Sandra Lee had an interesting recipe this past weekend that I'm going to try out for my traditional Friday casserole night.  I might get back on that Middle Eastern kick.  I might try a curry, even though I pretty much dislike curries across the board.

The point is that I like to learn and grow as a cook and as a person simply based on environmental factors.  "Hey, it's really nice outside!  I think I'm going to make an asparagus risotto!"  "Hey, it's really cold outside!  I think it's time for some onion soup!"  "I've been watching ___ recently!  I think I'm going to make ___!"  Taking inspiration and just running with it I think is an amazing way to live, grow and escape the doldrums of our regular lives.

And if a simple plate of bread and cheese can make me feel like I'm in a meadow on a nice spring day when I'm actually in my apartment in the middle of winter, I'll take it.