Not So Fast…
I have always said that you can tell whether or not you have made the right decision about something when you let it “rest” for a time and then go back and see how it feels. I recently wrote that I had decided that I did not want to be anything more than a home chef.
And then Melissa (aka “the stay-at-home-mom contestant”) won “The Next Food Network Star” and I thought about how I identified with her story of working hard at a corporate job, then choosing to stay home to raise her children, and how she maintained a passion for cooking great food throughout it all…
And then my sister procured a stand at the South Pasadena farmer’s market (selling flowers) and I realized that I was jealous that she was getting involved in local, sustainable agriculture and I wasn’t…
And then I spent this past week canning peaches, cooking Pad Thai, making chocolate ice cream, and baking cookies and feeling happier than I have in weeks…
And the I read “How to Cook Everything Vegetarian” and realized that I had independently invented many very similar recipes all on my own…
And now I am not so sure that a “home chef” is still all I want to be when it comes to food. I still don’t think I ever want to work a restaurant line or wake up before the sun rises to make bread for my bakery. But the truth is I wouldn’t really mind getting judged on my food – it would usually get an “A” and I thrive on feedback. It is the constructive criticism that makes me a better chef and it is the satisfied smiles and compliments that make me want to go back to the kitchen again and again. And if there was a market for midnight muffins I just might be inclined to open a bakery. So where does this leave me? I don’t know, but I think that food will have a larger role to play in my life than simply cooking for my family and friends. Perhaps I’ll write a cookbook focused on cooking local, organic, sustainable foods with kids underfoot? Perhaps I’ll start a bread CSA? Perhaps I will come into a huge sum of money, quit my job, and go to culinary school? Stay tuned to find out the answer…I would sure like to know how this will all turn out.
August 7th, 2009 at 4:31 am
I vote cookbook with kids underfoot–it would be a nice resource to have one place to find recipes with sustainability/local foods in mind that not only taste good but have been eaten by and prepared with small children. Something like the Farmer John’s Cookbook but specific for parents? I’d buy it in a minute!
Of course, I love the bread CSA idea too
August 7th, 2009 at 11:57 am
I’ve always thought you should try some of those cooking competitions you see on the food network all the time. Not the ones made just for TV, but the big competitions that food network just covers.
August 10th, 2009 at 11:17 am
You know our friend Paul, of Catherine and Paul, just self published so there is a resource. Both on how to get it published and how to market it.
August 11th, 2009 at 10:54 pm
Have you seen Julie and Julia yet? As a fellow foodie, you’ll LOVE it, I think