Recycle In The Kitchen

Most of the recycling that we do from the kitchen ends up out here in our Dirt Mixer. All those scraps and bits and pieces get put in the Dirt Mixer and after a few months they emerge as beautiful dirt ready for the flower pots or the vegetable garden.

What doesn't end up in the Dirt Mixer gets tossed into one of these:

All those boxes, newspapers, metal cans, recyclable plastics, and glass jars go into one of  these handy bins. From these colorful containers the fancy contents get dumped into the special roller bin that goes out to the curbside once a week for pickup. Just like this:

We do our best to make sure everything that can go to the curbside actually makes it out there. Other things go to the Salvation Army, The Goodwill Center, or to a friend's garage sale. 

There are, however, the Kitchen Recyclables that start and end in the kitchen. These are the real treasures!

The best of the Kitchen Recyclables are the recipes that have been handed down through the generations, sometimes in the script of the original cook, but more often scribbled on a piece of paper as the cook shows and tells us how to make that special dish in that very special way. 

My Mom sent me off into the world well prepared to face just about anything. Before my husband and I left for the hills of Utah as newly weds, my Mom gifted me with The Joy of Cooking, one of her family's cast iron skillets, and the belief that I could do anything if I put my mind to the task. I still use that skillet, have passed on the cookbook to my youngest daughter, and still firmly believe that I can cook just about anything. I know that I can do it if I put mind to it and just keep trying till I get it right! An example of that is in the photo below. I have been trying for three months to make the perfect poor-boy bread. It has to have a thin, crackly crust and be airy and holey inside. This is what it looks like right now:

One of the other great gifts my Mom gave me was sharing her recipes . She would write to me in Salt Lake City almost every week to give me more ideas of what to cook. She had a lot riding on these letters - I was the daughter who never really cooked much, or at all, actually. After about the seventh grade I just concentrated on the eating part and left the cooking to someone else. By sending me recipes each week she kept me in touch with the daily life and customs of my home place, New Orleans. Not only that, but she also instilled in me the curiosity about the local foods wherever I was. I also learned to ask those local cooks to share their recipes and show me how to make the wonderful things that they cooked.

This is what my collection of recycled recipes looks like on an ordinary day, although it usually is NOT all over the floor like it is here:

 I make the resolution every year to put them into some sort of order, but as soon as I start cooking all of that organization flies out the window! I made that same resolution this year - want to work with me on this? Let me know how you organize your recipes.

Why We Cook

First things first. Before we get into the actual mechanics of cooking and take a whirl around the kitchen spaces, let's talk a bit about why we cook. There are many reasons why a cook gets herself (or himself) into a kitchen and starts flinging things around.

Probably the first reason that anyone ventures into the arena of food and cooking is that they are hungry and there is no one else around to do the deed for them. Hunger trumps it all. And if we are hungry and there are others living with us, they are most likely just as hungry. And more than likely, they are all waiting for someone else ( YOU) to get in there and come up with something really terrific. Or whatever.

And after we get into the process, some of us discover that we actually enjoy cooking and all that it entails. Well, almost all. And some of us enjoy it so much that we actually can be caught dancing around the kitchen humming loudly as we get sucked into the rhythm of the pots and pans as they burble on the stove.

The kitchen is a place of constant action. If we are not cooking or washing dishes or chasing pets and kids around the counters, we are probably thinking about what to cook. There is never a dull moment in my kitchen and I would bet that there isn't in yours either. The kitchen is a place that you can clean in one minute and the next minute you have undone it all. Now, that might not be true for you "real" cooks. You know who you are! Your counters are cleared off, your pantry is in perfect order, your cookbooks are alphabetized, and you know what you are having for dinner - tonight.

For The Distracted Cook it doesn't quite work that way as our process seems to be just a bit off the beaten path.  I am usually found searching the pantry for something, well - really, just about anything that looks good enough to eat. No menu, no plan, no ideas, and about an hour till the dinner bell is supposed to be ringing. BUT - that is the fun of it all. What a challenge. Life is never dull. The creative skills are put to the test and it is always a great test. Just don't ask "Honey, what's for dinner?" because you will always get the same answer. And that answer is inevitably "I don't know - but it'll be really great and you will love it!" Well, what choice do they have after all? It's not like anyone is fighting you for the ladle or oven timer!

Really and seriously though, why do we cook? Why do you cook? Hunger for food is a fundamental need that is  fulfilled and that is the first good reason. But when we get beyond that, we venture into the area of creative genius, pride of dominance over pots and pans, interior design (that one is a reach,  I admit,) display of skill, and oftentimes just plain comic relief. No matter what your reason might be, I know that we will have one grand time exploring kitchen mechanics as well as the skills and talents that go into making it one of the rooms we love to live in! And let's be honest, there are just so many really interesting and weird looking things that live in my kitchen that The Distracted Cook can't resist spending a few hours hanging out in here. I hope you'll join me and share the fun.

And Your Time Starts Now!

"What did I do with that recipe card? Or was it in a magazine? Or is it one of those recipes that I am testing this weekend?” I cannot imagine remembering all the things I need to have at hand in order to make a dish, much less knowing how I am supposed to be cooking it. It seems it is always a contest in my kitchen. As a cook with a diagnosis of Attention Deficit Disorder all kinds of challenges pop up, and usually in quick succession. Using the terminology of Top Chef, There’s usually not much hope for immunity and it’s almost always a Quickfire round.

My family was full of really good cooks. I never thought it one bit strange that my Mom and I both loved to read cookbooks as if they were beach novels. My pantry has two completely stuffed shelves overflowing with cookbooks. I’ve scratched notes on the margins of pages. Folders overflow with pages ripped from magazines. What I do with them is always a kitchen adventure. Results are almost never guaranteed, and general mayhem is just another kitchen procedure in my book. This mayhem consists of my scrambling for ingredients, the timer, the proper utensils or whichever ones I can find all while trying to get the oven turned on to preheat. And where did I put that recipe?

You would never guess that someone like me tests recipes for widely read blogs and cookbook authors. I bet that in your mind’s eye a recipe tester is working in a very organized and controlled environment with all the right tools and machines. Ha!  I am very lucky that I am a member of large and varied tester pools. One of the groups consists of professional chefs, instructors, advanced cooks and a few (I hope I am not the only one!) happy cooks who really have no clue.  Well, maybe a clue or two.

I certainly have few great accomplishments under my belt when it comes to cuisine. But I’ve fed children, pets, a husband, extended family, and those brave souls who still venture over here for dinner. They do seem to be weathering the storm rather well, despite being fed by a raging ADD cook.  The calm that my guests see in the dining room and kitchen belies the frantic activity and energy that are its prelude. They know that  there is a method in all this kitchen madness. I have found a way to bring about good results that usually involve an end run or two. The ends justifies the means in most cases and it is the “means” that we will be studying. This is what defines The Distracted Cook. The “means” is my way of thinking about and executing any job that involves the kitchen and food. I have taught myself many compensatory skills that are the bedrock for The Distracted Cook. Opening a cookbook and following a recipe are just not the way I do it! Now, where IS that recipe?

The next time we meet, I will walk you through my kitchen. You will see how I get ready to cook and just exactly who this cook really is! Now where did I put that new recipe we are going to try? Ah well, I’ll just smile and worry about that tomorrow…because I’ll be ready when I hear the judges announce, “ Your time starts right now!”

I love the excitement, the drama, and the food on TV cooking show challenges. I can just imagine what the contestants are thinking as they stare into the camera. In my mind’s eye, I am that contestant and it’s an elimination challenge every time I stand in front of the stove.