It (cooking) Is Not That Hard

I am a musician.  I was recently at a gig talking amongst a group of friends and was amazed by the FEAR of cooking.  I'm here to say IT'S NOT THAT HARD.  I was also appalled by the gender divide.  Far and away women were the chefs and guys knew one or two signature dishes that usually involved something pre-made and a bbq grill.  Well, unfortunately it's not healthy to eat brats on the grill everyday.

My goal with this blog is to show my love of cooking and eating and hopefully a little will rub off.

Oh, and guys.  Chicks dig guys that can cook.  'Nuff said.

One of the trends that I find truly horrifying in America is the idea that eating is an inconvenience.  Something we have to do to stay alive.  This leads to unhealthy bodies and minds.  The most fun I've had eating is in Spain.  Italian and France have it right too.  Eating is a social event that is never rushed and always savored and enjoyed.

My food manifesto:

I believe that truly yummy food has to have love and care from the moment it is in the ground through harvest, prep, cooking, and eating.  I also believe that planting, harvest, prep, cooking, and eating are social events.  There is so much evidence that having dinner together is part of a strong and healthy family.  I'll go one further and extend it all the way back to putting the seed in the ground.  Gardening with your family is really fun... but that is for another post.

First let's consider the source of our food.  Of course not everyone has the land or even the desire to grow their own food.  That's fine.  It takes time and work.  But consider this.  The food we get in the grocery store, particularly produce, is shipped from all around the globe.  The upside to this is we can get most anything anytime.  The downside is far worse in my opinion.  In order to get it to your grocery store there is a huge carbon footprint.  I live in Illinois and if I am getting a tomato from Florida or even South America in has to come thousands of miles on a truck.  Lots of pollution.  Also consider that when that tomato is loaded on the truck it is green.  Unripe.  It is ripened upon arrival with ethylene gas.  The ripening process is not harmful but in the end we get a pretty tasteless tomato.  So the first step is to try to get as much as you can locally.  Grow it yourself, go to a farmers market, check out one of the Community Supported Agriculture programs in you area, and some of the farmers markets and things even have meat.  You'll be amazed.

I have LOTS more to rant about but lets get to some cooking here and I'll rant more later.