Fretting about food

I’ve been a vegetarian for one week now and so far, so good. It’s not that big of a change really seeing as I didn’t eat a lot of meat to begin with. The only hard part is deciding what to put in my sandwiches every day. I only like Gouda, so eating a variety of cheeses isn’t really an option plus it’s kinda depressing to have cheese sandwiches everyday for the rest of my life. I’m trying out loads of alternatives from tofu pastes to vegetarian salami which is really weird. I never thought I’d eat something out of a tube or something that looks and tastes like rubber. I obviously still have a long way to go. The only downside to my new “lifestyle” is that I can no longer use 75% of my cook books seeing as you can substitute everything with quorn but I’m working on it.

This morning I made hummus and baked whole-wheat bread or tried anyway. For some inexplicable reason my bread never doubles in size and become one hard lump of dough you could easily bash someone’s head in with. I don’t know how people get their loaves light and fluffy. Just one more reason to get a cranberry Kitchen Aid, right? Although I am starting to have some doubts seeing as a Kitchen Aid is only useful for dough and batter. I don’t have a food processor and when I was making my hummus this morning, a good helping ended up on the walls so a food processor would come in handy as well. Enter the Kenwood Chef which is basically a titanium Kitchen Aid with liquidizer and food processor and at the modest price of €500, it’s also cheaper than the Kitchen Aid aka every domestic goddess’s dream. Quite a pickle isn’t it?

I’m actually stunned because I would never have thought that being a home maker would bring me such joy, especially seeing as I couldn’t even cook for dear life five years ago. Cooking was never something they encouraged back home. My grandmother used to cook when I was little and then my grandfather took over when her soaps started playing back to back. When he died, we ended up in a grey zone that consisted of microwaving and eating out. Luckily things changed when I met the pumpkin and I slowly but surely started getting into my own. My mother and grandmother sadly, remain in the grey zone.

Anyway I’m in full blown Martha Stewart mode these days: cooking, baking, spring cleaning and tending to my ever expanding “rainforest”. I’m even considering getting a greenhouse this spring for our terrace and cultivating my own little herb garden. I’d love to have a herb and vegetable patch plus a few chickens running around but the options are slightly limited when you live in an apartment but mark my words, there’ll be chickens one day! Not necessarily in our apartment.

I’ve probably been watching too much Nigel Slater the past few weeks on BBC. I just love his cute urban garden where he can just pop out and return with lovely fresh goodness. Damn you Slater! I also got one of his books this Christmas: The Kitchen Diaries which is as the title suggests a year full of lovely recipes and loads of Slateresque banter making it a joy to read. I’m also considering getting his autobiography Toast after watching the BBC adaptation over the holidays staring Helena Bonham Carter. He sure is a colorful character.