I haven’t been blogging much, and for one basic reason: SJ is here! My dear roommates Nathan and Rebecca gave birth to their first beautiful child Samuel John. I’ve also been out of town for the past three weekends, and in the few spare moments I have, the choice between talking to a non-existant audience (yes, I’m talking about you) and holding just about the cutest baby I’ve ever seen is a surprisingly easy one to make. See photos for yourself here.
In the meantime, I had the worst St. Patrick’s Day Guinness experience imaginable. No, I didn’t get drunk. Rather, I tried this recipe, which was never good, but became terrible with time (and by time, I mean, just a couple hours).
So between work and a new house-mate, I’ve been busy. Nathan’s been busy too, so getting photos isn’t the easiest thing in the world. I do intend to introduce you to a fantastic scone recipe soon (be excited!), as well as review some of what I consider to be the best restaurants in Durham. And then, before you know it, you’ll get tons of photos from my journey to Thailand (look for that in April).
One thing I have noticed with the arrival of Samuel is how thoughtful he makes me. It’s like nothing in his life is taken for granted. He feels his need for food, and the rest of us do too. Whether I’m actually bottle-feeding him (rare, if at all) or just talking to Rebecca about feeding or during feeding or while cleaning up after a feeding, you just can’t miss how a basic like food is an important part of his life. The way his parents love him is evident and challenging, and his complete dependence on others leaves me in awe. So in all this thoughtfulness, I have a bit to share…
I find it interesting (and sad) how much of my identity I place in my ability to cook, and without much reason to, either. I’m not even that particularly good at it. When I was 15, I was outstanding. Now, I’m 23 and haven’t progressed much despite learning that greasing a waffle iron is a wise move so long as you’re putting anything beyond waffles inside of it (and even then, it’s not a bad one). I’ve started a food blog, but for atypical reasons. I’m not blogging because I think you’re dying to hear my recipes. I’ve even stopped looking at my web analytics so obsessively as I used to. I’m not blogging because I think I’m a brilliant writer. I feel pretty confident that I am nothing more than “okay”.
Rather, I blog because I like talking about food, and if I said everything I have to say about food to my friends, they would never want to be around me. Writing is a much more listener (reader) friendly mode of communication than conversation. You can receive my thoughts if and when you want to. You don’t have to worry about hurting my feelings if you scrunch up your face in displeasure at any point in reading this. I won’t know.
So… despite the temporary lull, I believe pretty strongly that I will be back (and soon) because I know there is very little that could take away my love for food.