Week 1: The Questionaire

So, here we are: finally able to spend an hour or so catching up. I'm afraid I've really nothing to say about fish.

Is there a chef/cook, real or fictional, whom you admire? If so, what's the appeal of this person?

I had a great deal to say about absolutely nothing to this question, but I seem to have lost it all when trying to post. Short answer: I see nothing, I know nothing, I say nothing.

Is there a chef/cook, real or fictional, whom you find annoying? If so, what's the offense by this person?

I'm sure there are some who are annoying. I've no idea.

Personal history

What's your earliest memory of cooking--or assisting with cooking--yourself?

Making brownies. I must have been about ten. I turned on a burner --who knows why--and a glass plate holding pieces of Baker's chocolate exploded all over the kitchen floor. I got my mother up out of bed to help me cope and she took a spatula (around here, I actually call it the "fry pan flipper" to distinguish it from a bona fide spatula which is a thing you use to get the last bit of mayonnaise out of the jar or to definitively remove the very last of the batter from the sides of the bowl.) and beat the pieces into the floor. We lived in a trailer. The burn marks were still on the floor when we moved from the trailer.

What do you consider to be comfort food?

Kraft Dinner.
My grandmother's apple pie. (And no one else's.)

What piece of cooking advice would you never take again?

oooh, interesting. If I'd ever been given any advice, I'm sure there is some I'd never take again.

What do you enjoy about cooking?

I love creating something. I really enjoy eating, too.

What do you dislike about cooking?

Dull knives.
It takes time.
My kids don't like complex flavours though I have decided to more or less ignore that and just make sure they come to the table really hungry.

What is cooking anyway?

What animal best summarizes your current cooking and/or eating habits?

Currently? I am eating extremely well.

A monkey, maybe? though I've no idea why. Perhaps because almost every time see one, it's eating something. Though, for the record, I don't eat nits.

Goals

What is bothering you about your current eating/cooking habits?

Since I have changed my diet to something sensible and I'm eating more fruits and veggies than I ever thought possible (and fewer starchy carbs) there really isn't anything bothering me. Lunch used to alternate between frozen battered fish prepared in the oven with some sort of frozen potato (not fries, I never could justify that--but tater tots made too many appearances) and Kraft Dinner. From that we graduated to frozen battered chicken and genuine potatoes (cut into eigths and brushed with olive oil and sprinkled with garlic. Roasted with the chicken at 400 degrees, the kids actually asked for them) and Kraft Dinner. I make wraps for myself for lunch now. Today I made the rest of the family grilled cheese. (Wich, zooza, doesn't involve the grill, neither Anglo nor American. It simply refers to a pan fried a cheese sandwich. Oh, so good but so full of fat it's off-limits at the moment.) Kraft Dinner has been banned from the house for about a month, now, as has the chicken. I have no idea what I've been feeding the kids.

What do you want to be able to say about your eating/cooking habits at the end of eight weeks?

That I've become a bit more courageous.
That I'm not afraid of batch cooking and making meals ahead of time for those nights when I just can't cook.
I'd like to make more cookies and pies and dessert type things for the family...but not until I've switched from losing mode to maintaining mode.