The First Thing I Cooked

Late last week, Shauna from Gluten Free Girl and the Chef  started the discussion (on Twitter) about a community project for Monday, June 14 (Yes, I realize today is Tuesday, June 15. I couldn't get it done yesterday and really wanted to participate!) challenging whoever was interested to describe the first food we ever cooked and how it made us feel.

I'm big on nostalgia. So much so that I was just looking through my junior high yearbook this morning (true story). This challenge immediately called my name.

Here's the thing: I have two pivotal cooking firsts. And because I like to be different (not difficult, as The Hubby has been known to describe me), I decided to write about both of them.

Ironically (given my now-gluten-free dietary situation), the very first thing I cooked on my own was a full batch of chocolate chip cookies, using the classic Nestle Toll House recipe that is still found on the back of every memory-inducing, crinkling yellow bag of chips. For years I had quietly taken my seat at the breakfast bar while curiously observing my Mom making everything from cookies to Christmas dinner, but for whatever reason (which quite possibly could have been my mother's exhaustion and/or her lack of will to argue my insistence) it was time for me to learn the ways of the kitchen.

I don't remember how old I was, but I know I still needed our pink folding stepladder to reach the ingredients in the pantry (always at the top, the same place I keep the baking stuff to this day) and the spot on the counter always used for prep. Mom cautiously took my seat at the bar while I assumed her role in the kitchen, armed with an electric hand mixer from the early 70s, a big shiny metal mixing bowl, a spatula, a cookie sheet, all my ingredients, and a soup spoon (for testing my dough to make sure it wasn't poisonous for the rest of the family, of course).

Mom let me do most everything completely by myself. She showed me how to preheat the oven, but everything else I did by myself. Even dealing with the oven. (Dangerous for a child? Maybe. But I remember her saying some form of "If you're old enough to cook, you're old enough to get used to the oven.")

I remember feeling incredibly independent while putting each ingredient into the bowl. Even more so when my little brother and sister marched in to find out what I was doing, only to be told that they weren't allowed to help but could sit next to her in the remaining bar stools and watch.

I remember turning purple with embarrassment after learning the valuable lesson about having the beaters down in the bowl before turning them on, not turning them on and then putting them in the bowl.

I remember falling in love with the sound of chocolate chips being poured into a metal bowl. Feeling proud as I put big scoops of dough on the cookie sheet, one by one. Feeling scared as I opened the hot oven and slid the cookies inside, and again when I carefully reached in and took them out. Feeling anxious and excited as I watched the balls of dough puff up and brown perfectly, just as I'd known they would do.

And then feeling disappointed when my cookies weren't perfect once they'd cooled.

A roller coaster of feelings, all from making some cookies.

That didn't stop me from falling in love with baking. I baked cookies, breads, and muffins for my family and friends consistently through school, then baked cookie bars and cakes and all kinds of goodies for my college roommates. It was soothing - both the process of preparing and baking and the act of consuming something straight out of the oven that I made myself.

Then came the Celiac diagnosis.

An entirely new food-related roller coaster of emotion followed. At first, relief that someone finally found what had been making me ill for years. Then came panic. As soon as the realization came that I wouldn't be able to bake (or cook) some of my favorite recipes, I felt as if the floor had dropped out from underneath me. For a while, I ate nothing but frozen gluten-free meals, salads, and sandwiches on horrifically bad rice bread, terrified to start over.

And then I got sick of eating cardboard-flavored bread and burning my hands on microwave meals.

I remember going to Central Market for the millionth time, only this time looking for gluten-free bread mix (playing it safe and easy) rather than frozen loaves. I remember feeling completely and utterly overwhelmed staring at the numerous mixes, trying to decide which one I wanted to take a chance on. Feeling excited once I made my purchase (Bob's Red Mill Hearty Whole Grain Bread Mix) and feeling thrilled when I pulled out the bread machine we registered for and finding out that it had a gluten-free cycle. Feeling exhilarated as the bread baked, and as I took the loaf out of the machine to find that it looked, smelled, and tasted like real bread. A feeling of hope.

That feeling still carries me through gluten-free baking experiments that turn out inedible and the frustration of undercooked pasta and entirely-too-crumbly-to-the-point-of-dissolving muffins. To keep trying new things until I figure out what I like the best and what works the best for me. It's what gets me through non-food-related frustrations. It's what made me start this blog.

Life lessons through cooking. A novel idea. I like it.

Catching up

Last week just got away from me! Work is starting to get hectic as we move into our busy time of the year, and my thesis deadline was today, so I've been working on that as well, and I helped throw a baby shower on Saturday, so that took up a big chunk of the day. Also trying like hell to spend any time I can with The Hubby - our schedules are so different with various commitments that we're like ships passing in the night these days. I miss our newlywed days when we came home from work, cooked dinner together, enjoyed a glass (or three) of wine, and retreated to the living room to watch TV and chat the rest of the evening. I'm definitely looking forward to returning to some version of that in the near future, if only a couple of nights a week.

Last weekend I went to Central Market for a few things, and ended up getting some great goodies. I'm pretty bad about not eating breakfast - at least not regularly - but while I was there I was craving cereal, so I  ended up buying a box of Nature's Path Organic Mesa Sunrise cereal. I tried this cereal once before after reading about it somewhere, but when I tried it the first time it tasted too "health food-y" to me. This time I liked it MUCH better.

Mmm. Once it warms up outside I'll eat cereal a lot more often - it's one of my favorite things, especially with some sort of fruit in it. 

I also picked up some freshly-made garlic chicken sausage while I was there. I've been wanting to try chicken sausage for some time, but never bought it because I wasn't sure how The Hubby would respond to it. He was all for it! You guys know I love my easy pasta, so I cooked it up, sliced it, and put it over spaghetti with Classico's Four Cheese Marinara, shredded parm, and goat cheese crumbles - it was tasty and so easy!

With spring (finally) on its way, the weather here has been inconsistent at best. Early last week it was cold and rainy, while later on in the week it was an absolutely beautiful and sunny 65 degrees. The Hubby has been craving chili, so early in the week while it was cold and rainy I got the treat of him cooking dinner! I'm not a huge chili fan and I definitely never crave it, but I do enjoy it when it's around.

I do like a lot of sour cream and cheese to offset the spiciness of the chili - plus I like the added creaminess...and hello - cheese is my favorite.

One night (I don't remember which one; I can barely remember my name these days) we had leftovers because I was feeling lazy. We had a leftover chicken breast from a meal the week before, so I built myself a chicken burger.

That monster of a sandwich is on an Ener-G Foods gluten-free english muffin, one of my favorite store-bought gluten-free baked goods. Cut this thing in half and pop it in the toaster, and it comes out amazingly soft and delicious. The flavor actually reminds me a lot of a sourdough roll, without the over-the-top chewiness. Anyway, on the sandwich is the chicken breast, a slice of havarti, dill pickle sandwich slices, a huge hunk of tomato, salt, pepper, and yellow mustard. Yes, plain yellow mustard. I love the combination of tomato, pickle, and yellow mustard. Call me crazy - The Hubby does. Top off the meal with some baked Alexia waffle fries, and...yum!

Finally, on Saturday I was one of six co-hostesses for a friend's baby shower. I was in charge of bringing cookies, and since I'm the only one that eats gluten-free, I opted to have a local bakery make them. They turned out precious!

And, after taking a big whiff of The Hubby's cookie that I saved for him and listening to him describe said cookie, I've decided that I'm going to attempt to make gluten-free sugar cookies. Should be interesing....

Hope your Mondays are going well and that your week is off to a good start!

Kelly