cook pot stories

I made chili tonight. Good, basic chili. And I blew it. I'm not sure what went wrong, but something in the seasoning was off, or maybe the meat was just too long in the freezer, but it was just boring. It wasn't inedible, but it wasn't the warm, comforting creation I was hoping for. I was frustrated. I've made chili tens if not hundreds of times before, used all different kinds of ingredients and never use a recipe. It's usually really good. But this time? Not so much. I kept tweaking it until finally there were enough spices to cover the blandness and we could at least eat dinner, but it wasn't what I had hoped for. At first I was embarrassed. I take pride in my cooking and consider a meal well prepared a little love letter to my friends and family. But then a friend reminded me that he knows I'm a good cook there is no endpoint in becoming a better cook, one is always learning and part of learning is sometimes failing.  The whole point is to learn ...

This past weekend I rode my bike in the Pan Mass Challenge , a fund raising ride for the Dana Farber Cancer Center. It was a long ride and truthfully, I wasn't prepared. You can read about the ride on my other blog . What was interesting and relevant to this blog was trying to figure out how to feed myself during the ride. Endurance sports have specific nutritional requirements - carbs, lots of hydration, some protein. And I had no appetite before the ride, so I was riding on very little fuel. I made myself eat the best I could, but nothing, and I mean nothing, tasted good. For those of you who know me, you know how odd that is. Midway through the only thing that tasted good was cantaloupe. Sweet, wet, orange and exactly what my body wanted. It occured to me that I might be able to eat and thus finish the ride if I just shut up and listened. I generally try to listen to what my body tells me it wants. Sweet, salty, savory, crunchy, soft, etc. It can be hard to really hear what my ...