Playing with my new Christmas toys

Well, I should really be sleeping right now because I have to get up in 4 1/2 hours. I hate early morning shifts when I am used to working til eleven at night. But I was just very excited about making salsa tonight!

I love to cook. I really love to cook. I am not that talented at it, but I can follow a recipe when I try... unfortunately I usually just make it up as I go, and that can turn out in any number of ways. But I live in the tiniest teeniest apartment with the teeniest kitchen that has a lizard in it. (yes, our lizard is in the kitchen... it is the most humid place in the apartment and also it just won't fit anywhere.) Obviously I hate this, but it is a compromise, and I have grown to love the little guy. But this means no counter space. We have about a two by two foot area of counter space where, normally, my coffee pot sits and the dishes dry. This makes cooking difficult. But now, I have a food processor!!!! All the chopping and mushing and blending can be done in there and not on my nonexistent counter!

I tried it out at my parents house, making lentil soup, MMM :) and baba ganoush MMM MMM :) And that was very fun. Since I have been home, though, I have not really had time or energy to do the whole cooking thing. I have felt pretty sick for about the last week. Not horribly ill, but still no appetite. W

Well, today, I was hungry! I wanted food. So food I made. (now, I am still poor, so I won't be creating any magnificent entrees any time soon) I made some salsa, which I accidentally blended a bit too long so it's mush, and I only had two tomatoes, but three jalapenos, and so it's a little green. Green mush. I'm really glad that my boyfriend isn't scared to try new things, as long as they don't have meat in them! It tasted just fine. A little too spicy for me to eat just with chips, but Jonathan liked it. I made a little cheese and bean dip with salsa on top for dinner. That was the part that I liked :)
Tomorrow I am going to make a pizza. Dough, sauce, and everything :) I work in the AM and Jonathan doesn't work tomorrow night, so hopefully we will get a little time together.

I recently watched that Julia and Julia (?) movie, about a woman who blogs about cooking everything in Julia Childes cook book... I think I want to do something like that. Not from one specific cook book, but just to start cooking my own meals. Simple or complex. I just want to cook more, and eat healthier. I think I may do that, so watch out for some food posts comin up!
This could also be inspired by the large amount of wine that I just purchased. I try to only buy wine once every few months, and just stalk up on it. And this time, I got suckered into buying some really nice ones. These wines themselves deserve a dinner to be made for them.

I am curious, though, as to how to pair red wines to vegetarian dishes. Whites are always recommended, but I just don't really like most whites, and all of this cooking will be vegetarian. hmmm...

I don't know if I have mentioned before; my boyfriend is a vegetarian. And while I do not follow a strict practice of not eating meat or animal products, I have become very aware of why one might be. Even before him I was picky with what kind of meat that I eat, and even more picky about how it is cooked. I generally will not eat meat if I do not know where it came from. This is why I love eating my parents venison. I have become a bit more lax on this since I found out that I have a vitamin b12 deficiency and taking vitamin supplements did nothing. So I had to eat a little bit more meat. Mostly though, I only eat it when I am at my parents house. I could never resist BBQ ribs the way they make them, or a nice juicy steak... so I never could be a vegetarian, but I don't find it hard to live with one. The only real problem that we have ever had was when I found out that I can't tolerate soy. :( sad story

I made a vegan key lime pie at Jonathan's request, since all the other regular key lime pies tended to have gelatin in them, which he won't eat. Anyway, it turned out great, and tasted delicious! for about ten minutes. Then I was sick the rest of the day.... totally explained why I would get stomach pains after using his soy milk in my cereal. Now we just buy separate milk and cheese.

Well, after that little ramble, I will just say that you can be expecting to hear more about my vegetarian cooking, and I may also post recipes that I like! And of course pair a wine with it. Lets see how long this lasts....