Mastering the Art of...?

So, I'm pretty much the worst blogger ever, but several books I've read recently have inspired me to pick this back up again.

I'm like the last person on earth to read Julie & Julia, by Julie Powell, who, for a year, cooked every recipe in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking...I always prided myself on being pretty fearless in the kitchen, (i.e., I'm not afraid to touch raw meat...although I screamed just a little bit recently, after unwrapping raw salmon and seeing that it was covered with SCALES on the other side, and is only that pretty, healthy pink color on the top) but, my god...I read on the Metro this morning about cooking the feet of young calves...I'm from Texas, and will never be a vegetarian, but, even I have to say, that almost turned ME! However, I'm excited to discover that this lovely book is being turned into a movie for release next year.

I've been doing quite a bit of cooking myself lately, and recently ordered a Moroccan tagine, in which I'm planning to make tagine kefta, or Moroccan Meatballs, which I ate, very authentically, straight out of the tagine under the starry sky in a rural village in the Rif Mountains. I don't expect to master Moroccan bread making anytime soon, mainly because I'm not planning to even make an attempt! My kefta will taste just as delicious on a baguette from Whole Foods!

A major theme in Julie & Julia is the "healing" quality of cooking. She takes on this project in order to distract herself from her dead-end job, looming thirtieth birthday, and the fact that she might not be able to have a baby. Basically, her story is a reminder that having a successful relationship is not always the key to happiness, which is something I feel I've been forgetting just recently. The best advice I've ever taken is in Elizabeth Wurtzel's The Secret of Life, which talks about the importance of having hobbies and interests, no. matter. what. I've recently discovered that work, dating, shopping and going drinking with friends (although absolutely fabulous) are NOT hobbies! There needs to be "more," and I'm absolutely devastated over the fact that I've hardly touched my camera since I moved out here...which is sort of why this is going to become a blog of all things, rather than just food and nomming!