Recently my father moved in with us. He is a diabetic, my hubby is gluten and lactose intolerant with a stomach ulcer and I have some food sensitivities of my own. I went to culinary school a few years ago not to become a renowned chef, but to learn how to cook for groups of people and to adapt recipes.
Today I made, for the third time, my own pork sausage. I want a tasty, gluten free alternative to what you get in the stores. I start with lean ground organic pork and have been experimenting with herbs and spices. This last batch got sage, thyme and an Italian herb mixture, plus salt and only a sprinkle of white pepper so that it will be ulcer friendly. This time I made a sausage ragout for spaghetti, and made the rest into 3.5 ounce patties - they are great for putting on an English muffin (or GF bread) with an egg and some cheese (any resemblance to a major fast food outlet is open to interpretation!).
The ragout turned out very nice. I used crushed tomatoes (again organic), onions, the sausage and some organic chicken broth.
Oh, so while I am talking about all this organic and home made foods, my hubby comes in at lunch from walking the dogs through the park and says "it is baseball season at the park and I walked by the concession stand so can we have hot dogs and french fries"? Well, at least I made home made fries, and the hot dogs were all meat, no filler. It made Dad and hubby happy so I guess I can't always cook healthy!
But I am doing the best I can to get back to making home made instead of canned, frozen, packaged, etc. If I can manage one meal a day I should be happy with that.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
The Day After the Week Before
Well, today started like a normal day. Well, normal where there are no smells of baking wafting through the house and a long list of "to do's" on the fridge white board.
Don't get me wrong. I love baking, specially for others, and I find it very healing to mix up a big batch of batter and have it turn into something wonderful for all the senses to enjoy. It has just been awhile since I had my last marathon - August, I believe, when I made 200 plus cupcakes to get 150 good ones for a "wedding cake".
This past week it was a total labour of love - loaves and muffins for a ladies tea at the church. It was so good to be back in the groove and a wonderful practice for this summer's wedding marathon. But more on that in the days to come!
For the tea, I made 6 dozen each of three kinds of muffins (chunky monkey, oatmeal ginger and cranberry orange) and 3 large loaves of a butter pecan quick bread. Two other ladies each took one type of bread (lemon loaf and pear bread) and we spent two hours yesterday morning cutting and plating it all. As usual, I forgot to take pictures, but in this case I think that was okay because it wasn't about ME and my catering - it was about the 60 and more ladies that came to the tea.
It was actually quite nice to just sit back in the corner and watch everyone eat, checking out the menu on each platter trying to figure out what was what and what they wanted to try next, without being (or needing to be) the center of attention because I made it. Food is about friendship, joy and, of course, filling a hunger. But I don't think it is always a physical hunger - I think food goes deeper than that. It does sustain us; however it also nourishes the brain, emotions and senses. In this day and age of fast food and faster lives, we forget that fact.
For me, doing this baking helped wash away the pain (physical and emotional) of the last year or so while I had and recovered from knee replacement surgery. I honestly thought I wouldn't be able to batch cook, let alone cater, again. Yesterday was the culmination of a week of proving that theory wrong. I am back and ready to share the gift I have been given of feeding people.
This brings me to the title of my blog. I call it "Thought for Food" rather than the more common other way around because I think sometimes we don't give it enough thought. And yet food has been part of humanity.....well since the beginning of humanity. It has fed us, addicted us and even got us into trouble (remember that first apple that was eaten in the garden of Eden?). Food is taken for granted by many and become a luxury for others. The purpose of this blog is to recount my own food adventures and to discuss it in general. I don't want to make it your average food blog for cataloging my recipes, but more of a journey to share, as you would a good meal. It will be scattered with stories, recipes and pictures (when I remember to take them).
Don't get me wrong. I love baking, specially for others, and I find it very healing to mix up a big batch of batter and have it turn into something wonderful for all the senses to enjoy. It has just been awhile since I had my last marathon - August, I believe, when I made 200 plus cupcakes to get 150 good ones for a "wedding cake".
This past week it was a total labour of love - loaves and muffins for a ladies tea at the church. It was so good to be back in the groove and a wonderful practice for this summer's wedding marathon. But more on that in the days to come!
For the tea, I made 6 dozen each of three kinds of muffins (chunky monkey, oatmeal ginger and cranberry orange) and 3 large loaves of a butter pecan quick bread. Two other ladies each took one type of bread (lemon loaf and pear bread) and we spent two hours yesterday morning cutting and plating it all. As usual, I forgot to take pictures, but in this case I think that was okay because it wasn't about ME and my catering - it was about the 60 and more ladies that came to the tea.
It was actually quite nice to just sit back in the corner and watch everyone eat, checking out the menu on each platter trying to figure out what was what and what they wanted to try next, without being (or needing to be) the center of attention because I made it. Food is about friendship, joy and, of course, filling a hunger. But I don't think it is always a physical hunger - I think food goes deeper than that. It does sustain us; however it also nourishes the brain, emotions and senses. In this day and age of fast food and faster lives, we forget that fact.
For me, doing this baking helped wash away the pain (physical and emotional) of the last year or so while I had and recovered from knee replacement surgery. I honestly thought I wouldn't be able to batch cook, let alone cater, again. Yesterday was the culmination of a week of proving that theory wrong. I am back and ready to share the gift I have been given of feeding people.
This brings me to the title of my blog. I call it "Thought for Food" rather than the more common other way around because I think sometimes we don't give it enough thought. And yet food has been part of humanity.....well since the beginning of humanity. It has fed us, addicted us and even got us into trouble (remember that first apple that was eaten in the garden of Eden?). Food is taken for granted by many and become a luxury for others. The purpose of this blog is to recount my own food adventures and to discuss it in general. I don't want to make it your average food blog for cataloging my recipes, but more of a journey to share, as you would a good meal. It will be scattered with stories, recipes and pictures (when I remember to take them).
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