Some people I know do not like Giada too much, and that is fine, but I quite adore her. I think it has to do more with her ties to Italy (a place I am itching to visit), the calmness of her kitchen, and the flavors she uses in her food (especially lemon). I do own a cookbook of Giada's. I bought it on a whim last Christmas break when I was just wasting time at Barnes & Noble. I purchased it because it had a recipe that I had seen her make on one of her shows and thought it looked AMAZING. So I bought the cookbook with aspirations of making this recipe. The recipe is called "Eggplant Timbale". It is almost like a pot pie, but the outside is grilled eggplant (yum!) and this inside filling is pasta, sausage, beef, italian cheeses, tomato sauce, marsala wine and peas. Needless to say, when I saw her cooking it on TV, it sparked my interest because I had never eaten, let alone cooked, something like this EVER. So when I saw the cookbook, I decided I should try it out.
Well, in order to embark on this cooking adventure, I had to buy a grill pan and a springform pan, plus all of the ingredients, which all added up to be quite a bit of money (oops!). After I got everything home, I was feeling very intimidated, very afraid to try to cook something so unfamiliar to me, maybe having a tad bit of the same feeling that Julie had as she cooked the lobsters or "boned" a duck in the movie. Anyway, the cooking process took me forever, I made a HUGE mess in my kitchen, and when it was all said and done, the timbale turned out very similar to Giada's, however, I didn't like it. I should have realized that I don't even like sausage that much, and therefore probably wouldn't like the timbale, since it has a sausage flavor...
The point of my ramblings this morning, as I again am procrastinating (my goal was to be at school an hour and a half ago, and here I am, still in my PJ's, watching a Gilmore re-run I have seen at least 4 times, and writing this entry...) is that I adored Julie & Julia last night, and identified with Julie very much, especially with her desire to write a blog in the beginning of the movie, her love of cooking, and her Anthro style (by the way-saw LOTS of Anthro items in the movie). Blogging and cooking were a stress relief for her, and she had the desire to accomplish something when she was feeling a little lost. I don't think I would say I feel lost right now, but I do have the desire to start something, and actually finish it (outside of work), and I do also think that blogging will help me do that-somehow, getting my own thoughts out there is helping to keep me accountable.
Here are a few things on my list of things to accomplish:
1. Finish painting and decorating my new home
2. Follow the Maker's Diet (I started it, loved it, but have been bad about staying on top of it)
3. Along with the diet, a more disciplined workout plan
4. Knitting and making baby gifts for some friends who are expecting
5. In all of these things, and before all of these things, my number one goal to accomplish is to have Jesus become more in me while I become less, as I abide in Him, let Him take over me, for His purpose and glory (which is funny, I don't think this task will ever be "done", for there is always room to for this to happen...)
There are more goals, I am sure, and as I think of them, I will share them with you. And, as I accomplish some of my goals, step by step, I will share those things with you too. Can I do it? I hope so! For now, back to real life, off to school...where I know little things are accomplished every minute of every day, but I may not see the final product from my new kindergartners until June 1, 2010, when this year's class will graduate...
No comments:
Post a Comment