Why I Cook, the First in an Unnumbered Series
Five pounds of romas from the garden...made into sauce, of course! I saw that movie "Julie/Julia" the other night, and I've been thinking a lot about it. Or, more accurately, about what some of it's messages might be/are. The obvious one is that both Julia Child and Julie Powell are "saved" through their kitchen experiences--for Julia Child, it begins as a way for her to spend time while her husband is on a diplomatic mission in Paris, for Julie Powell, it gives purpose to her dream of becoming a writer and an escape from life in an office cubicle. For me, my first foray into "real" cooking came when I was maybe 10 or 11 years old, and had little to do with keeping myself occupied, or finding myself. One day, while running errands with our mom, my younger sister and I accompanied her to Pier 1 Imports--a great store for everything you want, but not a whole lot that you actually need. For some reason, we were drawn to a shelf of little enameled/...