I have an idea. (Or 3) I’m interested to hear your feedback.
You’ve heard of Julie/Julia project? Julie Powell cooked every recipe in Julia Child’s “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” book. Every recipe. She did it in a year. She’s much braver than I am, and I refuse to eat sweetbreads. Because…pancreas…eeeeew. Or liver. Because liver = filter and when you eat a filter, you’re eating the stuff that was BAD to begin with, that the body of that animal didn’t even want to digest. And something I heard once but cannot confirm about boiling liver making urine and GAG!
My less noble cause is that I want to try everything in the produce department at my grocery store. I realize that it’s a changing canvas, but I thought if I went through now and wrote everything down that they have now, I could work my way through all of that, then when I finish, I’ll go through again and pick up items that weren’t in season before, lather, rinse, repeat, until I’ve tried everything.
That’s the gist of it. Although some other things to consider:
- I don’t intend to try organic cucumbers and regular cucumbers, just one or the other. Or maybe that’s another experiment – does organic taste better or is it just more expensive?
- I’m not suggesting that I need separate dishes for everything, nor am I suggesting that the item in question would always be the main focus of the dish. I mean, habanero peppers…I could make something with them in it, but a person does not generally ask for a side of habanero peppers.
- I’m not saying that once I eat spinach I won’t eat spinach again until the list is exhausted.
- I don’t know how long a timeline this should be. A year? That gives me all 4 seasons…but what if I miss something? 2 years? No timeline, just until I’m done? However long it takes dedicating at least one or two days a week to depleting the list? Would it depend on the length of the list?
That’s great, Kristine, but what’s the frickin’ point?
- To eat better – I’ll be making stuff from scratch that I might not have normally done.
- To better my cooking skills – I hope.
- To expand my horizons – I’ve never even had Brussel Sprouts.
I thought you had 3 ideas?
Idea 2 – organic vs. regular produce smackdown.
Idea 3 – chronicle the side of beef cooking…except, we’re like half done with that, so I might bring this back up again when/if we buy the pig.
Why are they all cooking ideas?
I don't know.
HAHAHAHAHA, what was Clint's reaction?
Me:So, I was thinking I might want to do an experiment...
Him:What kind of experiment? [Squinty un-trusting look.]
Me:I want to try everything in the produce department.
Him:...[Silent stare]
Me: Well?
Him:...[Silent stare]
Me: Maybe I didn't explain it well. It's not like you would eat a side of habanero peppers or anything, I would make something that has them as an ingredient and that would count as having tasted them.
Him: [Silent stare as he pretends to watch TV and maybe me and my idea will just vanish into thin air]...I don't think I like this experiment.
Me: Why not?
Him:You know I don't like all those vegetables and stuff.
Me: What if prickly pear cactus is your favorite food and you just don't know it because you haven't tried it before?
Him:...[Dirty look]
8 comments:
I love this idea! Especially if every time you try a new produce, you describe Clint's reaction. With visual aids. Btw, I loved Julie/Julia. Good luck!
Clint's reactions will be awesome! I just thought of another experiment. I could just tell him every hare-brained idea I come up with and give his reactions to those.
He'd be pretty tired of me if he knew all my ideas.
HA HA HA! Love Clint's reaction. N's would be much the same, I'm sure. Although, he is more tolerant of vegetables than me so maybe our roles would be reversed...
Good luck, by the way. Sounds like too massive of an undertaking for lazy ol' me!!
I think it is a great idea! Remember that pomegranates came into your life as an experiment. You could start with the stuff in Grandma's refrigerator!
MoM
Out of Grandma's fridge...
How old would THAT be!
EEW!
Kelly
great idea, sometimes I feel like we're doing that trying to find vegetables that I can make and Kevin will eat. we actually found a spinach recipe and a green bean recipe he likes :) I'll be interested to hear what you do with it, some stuff I look at and really don't know who uses it or for what, and some of it I realize I'm missing out on great stuff...
i have never in my life cooked an acutal meal that wasnt frozen or from a box.
my personal experimentation is to see if i can make it through my entire life without cooking a meal.
i only have like 55 more years or so go (or less if i can find someone to give me a bunch of percoset to begin my addiction to prescription pain pills that will eventually result in my early death).
Pomegranates actually came from my 4th grade teacher. I think we were learning about mythology. There's a story about someone eating 6 seeds and causing winter. I clearly remember someone saying they looked like retarded apples and getting in trouble for it, you know - hurting the pomegranates feelings and all.
I don't even want to know what's in Grandma's fridge. That's a different kind of experiment all together.
I put a list together from online lists, now I just have to go through and check off the ones that my grocery store actually carries.
Oh and Clint, while not totally open to this experiment, was okay when I said if I finish this one, I plan to tackle the fancy cheese section. He also tried chicken and apple sausage for the first time this weekend and actually liked it! He also has his own experiment idea, where he wants to build a water balloon sling shot to see if he can reach our realtor's house (not out of malice, but because she's about 1/4 mile from our house.)
I do cook a lot of stuff from frozen, not so much out of boxes anymore. But frozen is my friend.
Post a Comment