Top 10 Signs You're Becoming a Better Cook + What I Served at My Thesis Defense & recipes I want to make

Top Ten Signs You're Becoming a Better Cook, via Cheap Heathy Good:

1. You eyeball ingredient measurements.
   
2. You substitute ably and with abandon.
   
3. You regularly improve on recipes written by professionals.
   
4. You search for physical indications (browning, thickness, scent, etc.) that a recipe is done, rather than use times.
   
5. You have an ever-expanding repertoire of dishes you know by heart, and can easily go a week without consulting a recipe.
   
6. You bring lunch to work not because you want to save money or watch your waistline, but because your leftovers are fantastic.
   
7. You don’t choose certain restaurant dishes because you can make it just as well – or even better – by yourself at home.
   
8. Your pickiest friend will eat your food without complaint.
   
9. Your foodie-est friend will eat your food with glee.
   
10. Your parents entrust you with Thanksgiving.

According to this, I think I am definitely on my way to becoming an actual good cook. I almost always eyeball ingredients, I substitute all the time, and I think I improve written recipes pretty regularly, too. How about you?

Here are a few recipes I'm hoping to make over spring break, which is all this week:

Potato and Artichoke Tortilla
Miso Soup with Poached Egg
Lime Soda Hangover Cure
Yogurt Cake

I served coffee, banana bread and fruit salad at my thesis defense last Thursday. This banana bread recipe was recommended to me by a fellow MFA student and it was delicious. I substituted applesauce for the oil, and the cake was incredibly moist, even after I left it out all day and overnight after my defense (it was St. Patrick's Day! I was celebrating passing my defense...)

MFA Controversies, Food Links, What Should I Cook For Workshop?

Recently there has been quite a bit of controversy in the lit-blog world about the value and necessity of MFA programs. If you're interested, check out some of the links:

-The MFA Question Mark on the Poetry Foundation's Harriet blog
-The Rumpus' take
-Montevidayo on Seth Abramson's MFA rankings, and then Montevidayo's MFA controversy roundup


Un-MFA related:

-Seven tips to stop wasting food.
-Got a food related question? Tweet it to Foodpickle.
-My question about how to eat more protein at breakfast was featured on one of my favorite food blogs, The Kitchn!
-I failed horribly TWICE when making this seemingly easy dessert. I will try again.


MFA-related again, but also related to me:

I am now blogging at the NMSU Creative Writing program blog; check it out if you're a prospective MFA student, or if you just want to know more about what we're doing and writing here in southern NM.

Also, I'm cooking for workshop again this Tuesday. Any suggestions on what might be good?

I Cook To Trick Myself Into Thinking I'm Productive

I feel a really large (probably outsize) sense of accomplishment when I make a good meal, even when I haven't accomplished much else that day. I have been ostensibly working on my MFA thesis for the past few weeks, but after a few hours of writing (and websurfing...) at the coffeeshop, a nap, and various errands, it's hard to look back at the day and feel like I've gotten much of anything done, you know? I'm unemployed this summer and don't really have anywhere to be or anyone to hold me accountable for how I spend my time, which is something I'm quickly realizing is not the most productive way for me to work. So I've been trying to least create decent dinners, so that the pile of dishes in my kitchen sink is a concrete reminder that I've done something each day, at least as opposed to the myriad of Microsoft Word windows I've had open for the past 5 days.

Two dinners I made this week to convince myself of my productivity:

- Chili, Lemon and Basil Shrimp---quick, easy, spicy, good. I didn't bother with the lemon zest, just substituted a splash of lemon juice. I also used couscous from a box. I think it would also be good with white or brown rice.

- Five-Minute Tomato Pasta--- an awesome way to utilize fresh summer tomatoes, literally takes 5 minutes, ridiculously easy for the deliciousness it produces, lasts well in the fridge, and very cheap. I used quinoa pasta for more protein, but you can easily use dollar-store spaghetti, if that's all you've got; I also used spinach instead of arugula. And the recipe is written in a mildly amusing way, at least by recipe-writing standards.

Anyone else use cooking to convince themselves they've accomplished something? I know it's pathetic; I also know I'm going to be missing these long, hot, lazy(ish) days when I'm trying to frantically grade 27 student papers, complete my reading for my own classes, revise upwards of forty poems and eat something other than frozen taquitos once the semester gets going.

this doesn't really have anything to do with this post, other than it's the gorgeous new mexican sky
 I attempt to work under every day

On a different note, we've just been added to the Foodie Blogroll, check out the widget to the right!

Weekend Links

Here are some food and/or writing-related links I've recently found interesting:

Very extensive tips on becoming a more frugal food shopper/cook from the Kitchn. I definitely need to follow some of these.

How food gets gendered.

Maddie Oatman's food and writing blog.

Not so new, but a crazy-long, crazy-good collaborative poem.

I really would like to make this. I have made these and they're delicious.