I first set this site up more than three years ago, without being sure what I would do with it. At the time I was cooking for a friend going through some medical issues. I wanted to collect some of the recipes I adapted for her, like lemongrass tea as a healthy alternative to high-sugar drinks. The problem is I don’t really cook by recipes. I cook by feel and taste, and the format wasn’t really inspiring me.
I pivoted to doing large-scale cooking for environmental groups, and this site seemed less relevant. My notes went into google documents to share with other organizers. I started the outline of a book for activists who like to cook. (I do have ADHD, why do you ask?) Once in a while I’d toss a recipe here so I wouldn’t lose it.
Then COVID-19 hit, my large cooking projects ended overnight, and I started watching every season of Master Chef. My family began challenging me to reproduce their favorite dishes, from Frapucinos to Pho. My friends started posting about learning to cook at home more. Sourdough briefly had a moment, to my horror. (Sourdough is one of the hardest types of bread — if you started there and gave up, please try baking bread again, using yeast.)
One day I offered to answer cooking puzzles for friends on Facebook, and a group came out of that. That meant a place to collect recipes — but I’m back to the original problem. I still don’t think in recipes, so I’ll use this blog to organize groups of information and ideas, and talk about the recipes. The recipes themselves will include alternatives and ways to adapt, and they won’t always be precise. That’s not the kind of cooking I do.
Artists become creative as they develop skills that allow them to invent. The same thing is true of cooking. Sure you’ll make some terrible things — I still do sometimes, but cooking should be a delight and a creative endeavor, and I want to help you find inspiration.