i’ve been a little out of touch. and sometimes when i haven’t been posting, i have still been cooking. not in this case, though. it’s been a seriously long dry spell. i’ve been working a lot, and my job involves getting up very early, spending a lot of time in meetings, and doing a lot of analytical writing, so when i get home, i’m just fried. i just want to eat whatever is easy, ready to put in my mouth, and easy to clean up. 

but some good friends came over for dinner this weekend, and i put forth a little effort. i slow-roasted some pork, which even meant i set an alarm for 6 am and dragged myself out of bed to throw it in the oven. (i did crawl back in bed, though). and i made something that used more than one pot.

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so, happy new year, everyone. i don’t know about you, but i have never been so glad to kiss a year goodbye. 

i will admit there were a few bright spots. getting a new job was a major highlight, and has had a huge impact on my happiness. there are quite a few people i miss from my old job (and i miss all of my employees) but being in a well-organized environment surrounded by people who respect you and you respect in return — i couldn’t ask for much more from them.

i also reconnected with an old friend, went to NY with some friends i adore, met two of my close friends’ children shortly after they were born, and got to see my sister several times.

i also went home to see my family, and hung out with my cats. they like to wake me up by sitting on my chest and staring at me, almost close enough to touch their nose to mine. happened several mornings in a row.

when i initally moved to CA 5 1/2 years ago, i meant to only leave them temporarily with my family. i thought i’d only be gone a year or two, but they have settled into my parents’ house (and their hearts) and there is just no way in hell i’m getting those kitties back.

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i don’t know about you guys, but this year’s daylight savings time is kicking my ass. there’s something about getting up for work when it’s still dark and leaving work when it’s dark that is just depressing. i had about one day in the last few weeks where i caught the sunset on my drive home, but at least it was a glorious one. 

i have not been cooking. i’ve been throwing things together, eating take out, and coming up with weird concoctions of found items in my refrigerator that i will definitely not share with you. but sometimes you do want to cook (probably those of you with families, especially) and with the colder weather and the early night sky, comforting food is tempting.

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it’s crazy, after having such a stressful year, to realize that this year more than most i also feel extremely appreciative. maybe it takes losing and almost losing people to know how lucky you are. or maybe it’s just that when shit gets real, you find out what really matters, and who you matter to.

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hi, it’s me again. the photographer who now only uses a cell phone camera. 

if you can believe this (and most people who’ve lived with me over the years probably can’t) my fridge has been pretty empty lately. sure, i still have a decently full cupboard, but i had very few vegetables and was unsure what on earth i was going to eat the last couple of weeks. so when i went to the store recently i wanted to buy a few things that were versatile and i knew i could do a lot with. 

enter the roasted chicken.

now that i’ve tried michael ruhlman’s method, i’m no longer terrified of roasting a whole chicken. it always comes out perfect, and i can make multiple meals out of it. obviously, if you’re cooking for say, a family of four, this might not be the case. (so roast two!) but for one of two, not a problem. 

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hey, so i quit my job. my old one, where i had access to cameras? thus the phone pictures again. sorry. i should probably buy a camera, considering i have a degree in photography and all, and that i’ve worked in two different depts in two different art schools over the year and i have yet to ever purchase a digital camera. 

i haven’t been cooking very much lately. adjustment to a new job, i suppose. it’s pretty much as far away as you can get from what i was previously doing, and it involves getting up a lot earlier, being seriously focused at my desk all day, etc. i’m kinda tired. but i’m liking it a lot — it’s been a welcome and wonderful change. 

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i think one of the only things my mother really didn’t like that i made was mussels. she likes most seafood, and i’m not sure what it is about them that she finds to be such a turn off. i doubt it’s texture, since she likes squid, clams, shrimp and scallops. my dad, however, was all about them, and he and i polished off a big pile of them no problem. 

i made these last weekend, but as i type this, i’m puppy sitting for the weekend for some friends of mine, and i’ve tuckered the dogs out at the dog park, and we spent a good hour all together on the bed napping. it’s nice to have a little animal tucked up against you. i grew up my whole life with pets, and finally find myself without any, and it’s such a nice little reassuring warmth to have by your side. 

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i don’t make cookies very often, and i’ll admit that usually when i do, i follow the recipe on the back of the package of chocolate chips. yes, me. i follow the recipe on the bag. every once in a while i’d throw in something a little extra, like cinnamon or something, but for the most part they were just plain old chocolate chip cookies from nestle or something.

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do you ever do that thing where you are really into a certain dish for awhile, and you eat it regularly and then something happens and you just… forget about it? because for the life of me, i can’t remember why i stopped making shakshuka.

shakshuka is a traditional breakfast item in libya. it’s also popular in morocco, israel and tunisia, and means “all mixed up” in hebrew. and it’s compiled of a lot of my favorite things: poached eggs, tomatoes, chili peppers and cumin. 

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at the beginning of the year, i mentioned being home at christmas, and how my sister taught my to make gnocchi. when i got back to sf, i ordered a potato ricer to give it a shot myself, but then beth got sick and work got crazy and the whole idea just kind of got away from me. recently, when digging through the kitchen cupboards for something, i found the little doo-dad and told myself i was going to give it a shot sans ella. 

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