Tag Archives: Challenges

Promises Made and Kept – To Others.

I am writing this because I promised Marielle I would. I am writing this because I promised Deb I would.

I’m writing this because I promised myself I would, and then I didn’t. Repeatedly. For months. And I still wouldn’t be, but Marielle and Deb aren’t me. Committing to them is, somehow, more imperative than committing to myself.

This, honestly, is how I’ve functioned for 90% of my life. Maybe more. Maybe a lot more. Commitments to others matter(ed) more, far more, than commitments to myself.

I have been trying to get motivated to update this here MetaCookbook for months. Even before I managed to publish Shafiqah’s wonderful beer origin story, and especially after. I had so many ideas after. I wanted to ask Liz and Russ and so many others.… Continue reading →

All of Me

This little blog has existed for almost seven years now. I’ll be honest, that kind of blows my mind. It’s had numerous lulls (most of 2011 comes to mind, as does one of my most recent posts), but I keep coming back to it and I keep going with it. There aren’t a lot of things in my life that I can say that about.

Lions and science in general, as referenced below. Beer? We’re not that far along yet, but I’m still entranced and I think we’re in it for the long haul. Bill? More than double that in time, at this point (if not romantically for about half of it).

I started this post almost two years ago. I’m not sure why or how it fell off my radar, but in looking through my drafts, I came upon it again.… Continue reading →

A Time for Everything

It’s a snow day here in Portland, Oregon. We got somewhere between six and nine inches of snow last night. Maybe even more, but given how bad I am at estimating sizes of things1, I won’t try harder to be sure.

It’s not the first snow day we’ve had, but somehow it feels more like a snow day than any other. Maybe it’s how damn much snow is out there, or maybe it’s how quiet it is inside. I’m not sure. Nor am I sure if I care to figure out the “why” rather than just experience things as they are. In this case, it’s a snow day kind of day. I have tea. I have an urge to write. My tea is in a new, fabulous mug from the fantastic Deb Cooperman, and it’s encouraging my tea-ing and writing.… Continue reading →

Soured on the Kitchen

Somehow, I had two lemon halves, plus a wedge, in the fridge. I knew about one of the halves, but when I went digging for it, I suddenly realized I had a second. That was kind of embarrassing, because it meant I’d cut open a whole new lemon when I needed a half and had a half ready to go.

A close up of two half lemons and a lemon wedge in a plastic container. To their left is a baggie of carrots.

This is kind of the story of my kitchen functioning right now. It’s low. Very low. Some of it is the recuperating I’ve previously mentioned and some is the fact that occasionally I sleep for more than 10 hours in a night. Unfortunately, some is just a complete lack of want to do things in the kitchen.

Bill and I both get this way sometimes.… Continue reading →

Travel Kitchens and Cooking Withdrawal.

Every time I eat an apple, I’m reminded how much I enjoy apples and how rarely I eat them. It’s kind of bizarre, honestly.

It occurs to me that the same is often true, for me, of cooking. As I’ve mentioned before, I really hated cooking as a kid & refused to let my mother teach me how. I’m sure that’s the root of this oddball behavior of forgetting how much I enjoy cooking.

Well, let’s be honest, that and the fact that sometimes my house after a cooking binge looks like these photos. Or worse.

And, in further honesty, everything in that post about really tasty food “out.”

But, it turns out, I get antsy with not enough time in the kitchen. I hadn’t really realized that before the last couple of days.… Continue reading →