The Joys of Blogging

Well I'm finally back. I can't believe it's been 12 days since my last post. In the last 5 months I don't think I've missed more than a day or two. Blogging is truly addictive. Not just in the writing, but in following my favorite bloggers and trying out their recipes as well.

Blogging gives me a chance to experiment with ideas outside my normal frame of reference as well as to be spontaneous - which is my usual style of cooking. Doing the testing and editing of my cookbook Every Kitchen Tells Its Stories, has me doing the same recipes over and over to clarify the instructions. Particularly important since the book is targeted to those who need the details, I need to really pay attention when cooking from it. That said, my normal mode of cooking is to just use books, blogs and magazines to give me an idea, a starting point, so it is really challenging for me to actually closely follow what I've written (especially since these recipes are ones I've been making for years and are my family's favorites).

Blogging also adds another bonus I never even considered before. The ability to not only try a recipe from one of the latest magazine, fellow bloggers or cookbook acquisition, but to find it again a month or so later. Case in point....my baby - well okay, she's NOT a baby, just MY baby is moving to Chile in a couple of weeks. She’s planning on living there for at least a year, maybe two teaching English as a Second Language– and YES it’s wonderful that she wants to travel and experience living in a completely different environment, and YES we will chat on Instant Messenger often (I already do that with her sister Joanna who lives in Halifax), and YES she’s traveled far afield for long periods of time before (they both have) and YES we will visit each other during her stay there. But MY fantasy world has both of my daughters living in the same city as I do. I can dream, can’t I?

Anyway, I digress as usual. We're going to have the family over for brunch on Sunday and I've been thinking about the menu. I want something simple, because I'm still feeling under the weather, so it will probably include a frittata, some smoked salmon, salads and delicious breads and cheeses. Of course I want each dish to be a favorite of Sharron's. So naturally I started thinking about options and remembered a roasted potato salad I made this summer and couldn't remember where I found it. Normally I wouldn't mind sitting in my living room flipping through magazines and books, but as I said, I'm still feeling crummy. So I had the brilliant idea and held my breath while checking to see if I had written a post about it. Just a simple google search and there it was - the recipe from one of my new favorite magazines Waitrose Food Illustrated.

So here's the menu plans so far:

Frittata I can't decide if I should do the Flora leftover one which was really delicious or try something different using roasted vegetables as the stars.
Tuna Salad
Chickpea Salad
Mediterranean Rice Salad with artichoke hearts and whatever wonderful produce and olives I find at St Lawrence market.
Greek-style Salad - who can resist feta cheese crumbled over chunks of tomatoes, cucumber, red onion slices and olives in a lemony dressing.
Jalapeno Corn Bread Muffins - one of Sharron's favorites
Bagels, lox & cream cheese - wouldn't be a Sunday brunch in my family without it.
Assorted breads & rolls
Cheese platter with some of my favorite cheese options - Spanish Manchego, soft goat cheese rolled in Italian herbs, to name a few.
Biscotti and fresh melons to round it out.

It will be interesting to see what I REALLY end up making. Come check it out next week.