Blogging about cooking

This morning I awoke with an unexplainable urge to visit Williams Sonoma. I haven’t the faintest idea what brought this on, but I really wanted to browse the store, admire the various utensils, and craft a long list of items I want but wouldn’t have bought. However, my day was already looking to be rather full, and besides, who wants to go by yourself anyway? So, I didn’t go. I did, however, see Julie and Julia again with my parents and that left me with an urge to do some serious cooking. Unfortunately, there was a problem here too. It was already 7:00, and the thought of finding a recipe (from Julia’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking, of course!), shopping for ingredients, and then actually preparing the dish was a little exhausting to think about. It is Sunday night after all, aka the day before Monday and going back to work. Not to mention, I don’t like to eat late at night and guaranteed this would have been a very, very pre-midnight “snack.” What to do? Within a few minutes I hit upon a fabulous idea…why not bake chocolate chip cookies. I know, I know. They aren’t exactly what you call French cuisine, but this evening actually felt like fall and somehow baking cookies with a brisk breeze coming in the windows seemed rather appropriate. So, I baked 15 deliciously perfect (if I do say so myself) cookies using a recipe from the Joy of Cooking. I felt a little guilty using this particular cookbook since, as the movie pointed out, the author didn’t even test all her recipes for heaven’s sake! My one consolation was it originated from their wartime edition, and since I’m a sucker for all things WWII it seemed appropriate. Even though I may not have felt brave enough to tackle Julia’s Beef Bourguignon or Raspberry Soufflé, I decided that one day I will…I just have to buy the cookbook first…

Inspirational

Courage does not always roar. Sometime courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day that says, 'I will try again tomorrow.'

-Unknown

The purpose is what exactly?

Meetings. Why do we have them? What is their purpose and do they ever accomplish anything? I spent 3.75 hours in back-to-back meetings this afternoon, and the only thing that came out of them was to show the complete lack of organization present within the participating entities. I mean, we already know that the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing and spending half the time fleshing out logistics that really should be dealt with in (dare I say it?) another meeting is extremely unproductive to the other attendees. I am so bored hearing, "Oh, I need to talk to you about this," or "I should have told you." So tell them already! I can honestly say I came out more confused than when I went in, and despite overtures to bring various projects together in a cohesive relationship, everyone continues to operate within their own little orbit. Planning meetings that are supposed to actually solve problems only serve to raise more questions. And don't get me started on egotistical men who just want to hear themselves talk...suffice it to say today I have a very low tolerance for gatherings that end with absolutely zero resolution.