Alchemy

(Exhibit A: tofu omelette thing with way too many spices and ingredients than you'd want to know about)

My sister has said that I cook like an alchemist. Look at my spice rack (and all the little bags and jars around my kitchen) and you'll see. I like to sneak a little of this and that into almost everything I cook. I was talking to my friend Eliza about how I wanted to eat injera at home, and I wanted to know where I could buy it readymade (I still need the answer to this question, btw). She suggested I just try to make it, but then when I started to get hesitant, she guessed what I was already about to say, which is that I don't really consider myself a baker. Or an overly good one.

Yeah, I know. I just posted last week about making four different batches of cookies (and your sweet and encouraging comments were most excellent and well received thankyouthankyou!), but trust me, any kind of dough or bread? Not so good.

I think Aaron is a better baker than me (of breadmaker bread, definitely), and he said it's because he follows directions. And then I was thinking about how in cooking I don't ever fully follow a recipe; I keep the book out and use it as a possible guide to ingredients or methods, but then I often close the book and go out on my own. I like it that way.

So what am I getting at? At least two things.

One, my sister was asking me why I have never attempted to make socks or mittens and the reason why is that I can't get my head around or conceptualize how they are made. She said you don't really need to conceptualize, you just follow the pattern. Hmm.


(Exhibit B: one armed off-the-shoulder thingy that I knit in the very beginning before I understood how to decrease. I was actually going to base my whole blog around the idea of what you could make out of a rectangle. Actually, both that idea and this knitted thing are still conceptually interesting to me on some level, though I've never gotten around to actually wearing this out.)

Two, after all my thoughts lately about blog tropes and cliches (and not just in blogs but in all kinds of writing, art, etc.), I find myself wanting to blatantly imitate someone else. I'll shamelessly admit that I want to do exactly what other people are doing and do it exactly the same way. Or close.

Who is doing it and what are they doing? Two people: Madhur Jaffrey (author of one of my favorite cookbooks, World of the East -- a book I bought almost a decade ago) and Stacey of World Vegetarian. Madhur Jaffrey writes the recipes and Stacey cooks from the book and posts her pictures. She created the blog as something for those "playing along at home." If you have the book, turn to the recipe page and see what recipe she's talking about. I got mine out of the library a few days ago, and I've already made tons of stuff. Observe...


Red Lentils with Zucchini (p. 70) and Carrot "Raita" (p. 547)

Split Urad Beans in the Delhi Style (p. 113)

Sri Lankan Sweet Potatoes with Cardamom and Chiles (p. 285)

Hulled and Split Mung Beans with Cumin and Asafetida (p. 77)

Lemon Rice (p. 380)

Except for a couple of what for me are small changes, I've followed these recipes as is. This is new for me, and while I won't change entirely, I'm definitely learning something new.

And whether I figure out how they are made or just figure out how to make them, I will be knitting socks and mittens this month.

Now regular readers of the blog know that I've been cooking more and crafting less. There are reasons for this which I've just begin to realize recently. Cooking IS crafty for me in many ways, but it's also something I can do without guilt, knowing that food needs to be eaten. March will be the month of more food, yes, but it will also be a month of crafting without guilt. So you'll get to see more knitting, sewing, embroidery, and other crafty stuff. I know you want to see Michelle Knit, right?

This week is about taking care of myself and doing things that make me happy as last week was a really doozy. So far, so good for this one. I hope to work on a new short-sleeve sweater I started at the beginning of last week but then completely put aside once I started feeling low. Though I might end up ripping it and starting it with new needles or a new yarn or making it all rib or doing it with a different stitch pattern (yes, I realize the inconsistency these statements propose). It's called BOB. No really, it's called Bob!

p.s. What's most funny to me about this long post is that it came out of the idea of wanting to share the pictures of what I'd made with Stacey, but I guess I had a lot more on my mind than that.