The Winter I Survived & Thrived

The past several months have been a time of momentous change for me. An extremely intense relationship was ended for me, I moved three times, and I took steps to make a serious change in my career path. I also changed my relationship with food, cooking in particular. My relationship with food may seem a trivial thing in the grand scheme of things, but I believe my perspective on cooking is really a metaphor for all that has been shifting in my life the past few months. I love to cook and I view it as my meditation and my time to reflect. But, I realize that for a long time that is not the way I was treating it. Rather, I spent much of the past two years frantically cooking, trying to shore up resources in readiness for future turmoil. If I can just stock the chest freezer, I will be prepared for whatever comes my way – conflict with my partner, stress in graduate school, poor health. I used cooking as a distraction from dealing with larger problems. I moved away from the true essence of what cooking is for me – freedom, creativity, exploration, intimacy. Now, I reclaim it.

That is what this blog is about. It is about rediscovering what food means to me and how I interact with it. I invite you to join me on the journey!

Garden Mac & Cheese

Tools:
Large saucepan
Medium, heavy-bottomed saucepan
Wooden spoon
Whisk
Cheese knife
Cutting board

Sauce:
2 TB butter
3 TB flour
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1-2 cups cheese
2 cups pasta sauce

Pasta:
4 cups pasta - whatever variety suits you!
Water

Putting it all together:

Add plenty of water to the large saucepan and set over high heat. While waiting for the water to boil, you can begin the cheese sauce below. Once water is boiling, add the pasta and cook until desired tenderness.

In a medium-sized sauce pan, melt butter over low heat. Blend in the flour, cooking slowly until the butter and flour begin to softly bubble and turn golden. Pour in the milk, turn the heat up to medium or medium-high, and beat vigorously with the whisk. Continue to whisk until the sauce softly boils and begins to thicken - it should easily coat the back of the wooden spoon. Turn the heat down to medium-low and stir in the cheese. Once the cheese has melted, stir in the pasta sauce.

Once the pasta has finished cooking, drain and add to the cheese sauce. Mix pasta and cheese well, serve, and enjoy!