Melissa Francis : Bitchin' Fiction!: fog and food

Thursday, November 13, 2008
fog and food

It was foggy outside today. But not in my head! I believe I have beaten this stupid cold into submission. I may even go running again today for the first time in a week. Whoot!

Last night, Fishdog and I were chatting away while watching Top Chef (3 cheers for Tom Colicchio!) Fishdog thinks it would be a great idea if we prepared a new dish from a different country each week to expand our palates and our cooking skills.

You know, in theory, this is a great damn idea. In reality, I am not Louisa Edwards. She and Stinger are chef-like entities. I'm closer to Ronald McDonald to their Gordon Ramsay.

Don't get me wrong, I can cook. I enjoy baking pies and roasting turkeys, and cooking big meals for dinner parties. Hell, I volunteer to host Thanksgiving every year. You don't do that if you can't cook. I have the skill, but it's not a bone-deep love like it is for Louisa and I'm not sure if I'm dedicated enough to trying something new every week because frankly, it just sounds like work. Cooking relaxes Louisa...but it wears me the hell out.

I also enjoy trying new things--especially if I'm the one who prepared the food (that way I know what I'm trying.) But if I'm going to go through the effort of fixing some new cuisine, I want everyone in the family to eat it. And where Rader is pretty much willing to try anything--Nemo? Meat and potatoes. Bacon and eggs. Spaghetti and meatballs. <--see a pattern? So I feel like my effort would be wasted because I have a kid who really won't give anything unknown a chance.

What do you think? Should I throw caution to the wind and start trying out simple dishes from other countries for something new? Or should I save that for special occasions and dinner parties? What do you suggest we try first?

ETA: stop by FatChicksRunning! today. I'm talking about how Size Does Matter...

Labels: cooking, fatchicks, food, louisa, opinions

posted by Mel Francis @ 8:14 AM |

5 Comments:

At 11/13/2008 09:45:00 AM, Louisa Edwards said...: There are great dishes from all over the world that anyone would like. Every cuisine has a gateway dish. For Thai food, it's Pad Thai, stir-fried noodles in a peanut sauce. Most grocery stores have boxes of the noodles and sauce in packets, and the back of the box tells you what else to add. Lots of fun and definitely worth trying if you've never had it. I'd be willing to bet the boys would like it, too...
At 11/13/2008 09:50:00 AM, MissPride said...: Try it, you'll like it!
At 11/13/2008 10:37:00 AM, Cinde said...: it can get expensive, maybe try one a week? i think its a great idea.
At 11/13/2008 03:37:00 PM, Kwana said...: I say step out of the box.
At 11/13/2008 10:35:00 PM, Arkansas Cyndi said...: So glad you're feeling better.

Dishes from around the world? very adventurous!