You Eat It and You Like It

Any one who knows me knows how insane I am about cooking. I am an utter control freak in the kitchen, I can't have any one else cooking with me, especially CrazyRoomie. Ask me to cook a meal and I launch into Kamikaze Chef mode, a state which puts the Swedish Chef to shame.



I have a set of extemely sharp and awesome knives that I don't want anyone to touch because their cutting technique may be inferior and will dull the knives. I hope to one day replace the pots and pans with professional-grade ones. I actually enjoy the act of cooking more than I enjoy eating, to tell the truth. I love the act of creating something new and wonderful, it's euphoric. Julia Child is my one of my heroes (the woman was a spy, I mean, how badass is that?)



Despite all my passion for the art, I know I could never again be a cook in a restaurant. All those people whining about the wait (It was just me and the other girl, for heavens sake!!) and asking for substitutions drove me into a hostile rage. I have but one rule : YOU EAT IT AND YOU LIKE IT. Now that you know how picky I am about cooking, let me tell you about a site that has blown my mind.

It's called Foodpairing, a site that maps out a food with similar flavor components, and also maps of interchangeble ingredients to supposedly come up with the a similar flavor. The purpose of which is to aid cooks in coming up with inspired new dishes, for example: Rhubarb-apple-mackarel. Although the Caviar-chocolate combo has every fiber of my being shouting NO NO NO, I am itching for the farmer's market to start again (and for me to become un-broke) so I can start expirimenting. The ideas it presents are like a Beck song: quirky, unexpected, often brushed off as crazy, but totally worth the listen.

Stunned

My favorite place in the world, Cafe Aeon, will be closing it's doors at the end of February. I just can't get over this. Cafe Aeon was my second home. After work, I would go all the way to McHenry and stay there until closing, reading and smoking and hanging out. I always stopped there for a cup of coffee on my way to Chicago, and Adam and myself planned many a devious scheme there. I met so many of my friends there: Dak, the Maggies, Dani, Kurt, James, Pam. Cafe Aeon was one of the main reasons I was going back home for the summer. Life just made a little less sense.

Back in the Northwoods

Life sucks.

Do Not Anger a Magician

He will pull a knife on you.



I never said my life was entirely normal.

Only Funny to Those Who Spend Excessive Amounts of Time in IHOPs.

Thanks to gift donkey for sharing this bit of wasted time.