Change is hard. Take, for example, seasonal change—especially the change from summer to autumn. Where I live, summer doesn't gently fade into fall, it jumps; one day I'm wearing sandals and tank tops, and the next day I'm digging in my closet for boots and sweaters. One day it's too hot in the house to sleep without the air conditioner, the next day I'm turning on the furnace.
I love cooking. I really do. But when it's summertime, I find myself much less inclined to spend time in the kitchen—summer is so short and fleeting in my part of the world, I feel like I must carpe diem the hell out of it and spend every possible minute outside.
It's hard for a foodie to be inside when these beauties are in bloom!
Last month, when it was minus thirty outside and it felt like winter would never, ever end, I went grocery shopping and saw in the produce aisle asparagus on sale. Signs of spring! My husband grew up in a place where asparagus grew wild and to him, springtime was ushered in by the sight of asparagus poking through the soil. I'm happy enough to see it in the produce section.
Thanksgiving is right around the corner, and all the meat eaters in my family are rejoicing; turkey dinner, hurrah! I, on the other hand, have never enjoyed turkey dinners, even back in my non-vegetarian days. On such occasions I would ignore the turkey and go to town on the meatless side dishes, and that is still what I do to this day.
I love vegetables — obviously — but cauliflower is not one of my favourites. I don’t dislike it; I simply don’t choose to eat it. It’s the vegetable that goes unnoticed on the platter of veggies and dip; it’s the vegetable that goes unseen in the produce section, what with all the other brightly coloured options waving their rainbow flags at me. Poor, under-appreciated cauliflower.