Two Little Lifestyle Changes

During the month of May my family and I moved into a new apartment and this has led to two minor changes: we no longer have a microwave and we’ve just gotten cable t.v. again.

I realize now how much I’ve come to rely on microwaves in my ten years of having one. Now, I find myself stopping midway through a recipe and thinking about how to proceed. Which pan do I use? Is this oven safe? Should I use the stove top or the broiler to heat this? I actually find myself frozen in the middle of the kitchen totally unsure of how to do really simple things like melting butter or making a cup of tea. It makes me feel stupid and embarrassed even if no one is watching, but it also has another effect. In those pauses I’m given time to momentarily reflect on the absolute joy of working with food and I’m thankful for that. 

We’ve decided that we’ll hold off on buying or accepting a hand-me-down microwave until the fall. By then I’m sure the novelty of doing it slow will have worn off. Until then we’ll enjoy the adventure of reinventing the way we do things in our kitchen. 

The cable t.v. we had connected today means that we have the Food Network. We love the Food Network and I’ll admit that it inspires me. Cooking shows are wonderful for new recipes, inspiration in creating your own recipes, and instruction that you didn’t get from your mother and is difficult to learn from a book. New ingredients, new recipes, new methods–the bountiful offerings of cable t.v.! I’m looking forward to a few new things crossing our tables and infiltrating our palettes.

So, the message for today? CHANGE IS GOOD. A few breaches in routine have the effect of making everything new again. Change it up this month and fall in love with food again. (Or maybe your partner too??? Hmmm… there’s an idea!)