About

This site hatched after a long incubation period (2012-2016) during which I drew recipes and pondered what was the best thing to do with them. There are many cooking blogs out there, but I can see how most would discourage and frustrate those of us with no time, money or experience to keep up (I belonged to all three categories when I started cooking). Yet we want tasty, wholesome food as much as anyone! So I set up my own, in the hope of making it easier for folk to enjoy the pleasure and benefits of cooking.

Cooking is a primordial human activity. It is very grounding and relaxing, the perfect counterbalance to an increasingly virtual and fast-paced life. For a long time it was my best remedy against stress and anxiety (the heavy, war-derived type). Making your own food is both cheaper than eating out, and healthier than buying pre-made food (to which all sorts of preservatives and uncontrollable amounts of salt and sugar are added). You get to make a dish exactly as you like it. And while you can indulge in recipes that take hours to make, good food can also be quick —without turning into "fast food".

What you'll find here:
  • Visual recipes you're welcome to print. The labels across the top of the page allow you to browse according to your priority. "Quick food", in particular, is applied to dishes that take less than 30 minutes to make. For a full list of all recipes, grouped in traditional categories, see this page.
  • Basic skills. Because we're not born knowing how to cook rice, and many of us are not learning this at home anymore.
  • Information about basic ingredients, substitutions, and other random food-related topics. (Any excuse to draw food.)
What you won't find:
  • "Superfoods"or the latest exotic ingredient. Setting aside the expense, and my distrust of "information" found online, I have deep misgivings about food imported from halfway around the world, and I don't want to ask people to go look for rare ingredients. Such things can come up in the Lebanese* or World recipes, but overall I stick to common ones. Of course, what is common depends on where you live, no way around that.
  • Technology-dependent recipes. You can do so much with very little kitchen equipment.
  • Manipulative words like "guilt-free". These offend me. No talk of guilt here, or suggestions that you should eat this rather than that, or aspire to look like this rather than that. ENJOY whatever you choose to eat.
  • Health advice. Please don't look for that on the web, unless confirmed by a trained professional. There's an unbelievable amount of made-up stuff out there, and it gets re-posted until it looks like an established truth.
I hope this blog is of some use to you, and above all that you enjoy both the making and the food. Feedback is welcome. Bon appétit!

*In case that wasn't obvious, this category is singled out because I'm Lebanese myself!

No comments:

Post a Comment