How the Blog came to Be

Dear Readers,

(I have bolded and underlined and italicized to make the eye grab on to things for the lack of photos..this is also kind of how I talk in person too. With emphasis and italics!)

I have a confession to make. I am not all that you think I am.

Do you know how this blog all started?

Well... I cooked for my for friends a lot in Toronto, and I got requests or nostalgic comments saying, "oh that was so good" or "what's the recipe?". As a visual learner myself... I always had a hard time following a recipe only because, it never tells you all the steps to take, in what order and specifically when to add the spices, and how it should look before you deglaze the pan and all that. No one would put all that in a recipe! That’s what I wanted!  Also as a control freak and perfectionist (both things I have come to accept)... I never allowed my friends to help me in the kitchen. There are a lot of critical moments in the cooking process... and if something isn't ready on time, I didn't want to blame anyone else but myself for screwing up a meal. SO. I got my friends to stand there, by me but not in my way and watch what I did. This is the way I learned how to cook...and I figured it would be the best way to teach someone. As I would sauté something I would often verbalize when to turn the heat down and when, and why, and say… oh if this happens, you just need to do this… Literally a verbal running commentary on all that I thought. This was only if the other person showed the incentive to learn. Some friends just sat in the kitchen with me to keep me company while preparing a meal.

Unfortunately. now that I've moved back to Vancouver... the same friends that wanted to know how I cook can't stand in my kitchen and learn. So I decided that for all the people that say "Oh, I don't know how to cook..but I want to learn!" on a regular basis... I would dedicate my blog to those people. To show them the ropes and show them that cooking isn't a frightening thing!!! I screw up all the time. Cooks in general screw up a lot! It's just whether you know how to fix that situation or not…. that's the difference in a good cook and a bad cook. Actually. A great cook should never be afraid to screw up and try things that they have never tried before, so therefore. You shouldn’t be afraid.

I am not calling myself a great cook by any means. Only because, I feel like there is SO MUCH to learn. I have never had culinary training (unfortunately)… and I am totally new to cooking. All that I know is from watching the Food Network and absorbing all the tips and hints my mom says as she cooks and watching my friends’ parents cook growing up. Actually, I only started to really cook and experiment when I had to move away to Toronto and live on my own (4 years ago) That’s when I started to compile hand written journals of recipes to remind myself how to make the basics and so that I could write in the margins, my notes and tricks.

I don’t know if you are a Harry Potter fan, but you know in “The Half Blood Prince” where Harry finds the spell book with the handwritten notes in it? Well, that’s kind of how my journal is. I write down a recipe verbatim of how I found it, and then I make notes and changes to proportions based on what I have changed during the cooking process.

ANYWAY… I ramble a lot don’t I?

I was hesitant at doing the blog thing, because... my friend had just expressed not so long ago, “Oh I hate bloggers, what do that have to say that I want to know anyway? What’s the whole point? Who doesn't have a food blog now days?” (essentially this is what they said) and.... I had expressed that I kind of felt inclined to NOT do a blog for this reason…. to the people that told me to start one. My good friend Yara told me that it doesn't matter what others have as a food blog. “No one else can do it the way you do and make it your own!”  And so. That gave me hope and the incentive to start one up. 

This is also the response I got when I posted an album of baked things on Facebook. (I know…lame, but this is the beauty of Facebook. Yeah… people can stalk you, but you can also keep in touch long distance with your friends!)

So basically due to popular demand a few days before the launching of the site on September 10th, 2010… People told me to do it, so I did.

Thank you Yara for talking me into it!!! 

I had a lot of self doubt and confidence issues and thoughts of, oh but do I want to spend time on a blog when I should be looking for a job? Well… in the end. I came to realize that food and cooking is something else I am passionate about, and if I have to divide my attention between food and architecture…then so be it. I can’t choose what I love just like people say you can’t choose who you love. So I learned to accept that and carry that forward!

You should know, as my readers… that most of the recipes that I have on here are ones that I have cooked only for the first time. I know I haven’t been entirely truthful and I make it seem like I’m a seasoned pro at this… but here are the truths.

1. This is basically a blog of my experiments. The experiments that I take in order to make it right in my opinion.

2. I do a lot of research before I make anything. I look at other blogs, I ask friends, I look at videos, I watch the food network, I read forums on other people’s experiences so that I can gain their experience and make it better.

3. I was inspired to try what I have never tried before from watching “Glutton for Punishment” the Food Network show with Bob Blumer where he has 4 days to master a specific dish or skill and goes out to compete against seasoned pros. He baked pie for the first time, and almost won a pie contest! He made ice cream for the first time and ended up winning an ice cream contest amongst other people that take their craft very very seriously! I mean… I would be pissed off as the other people that have been doing it their whole life, as some punk celebrity with obscene cameras show you up…but all the more power to him! This was inspiring!

In the same sense. I baked pie before, sure…but I always thought the crust was too tough and not flaky enough. So within days before the Granville Island Pie Contest, I researched all that there is to know about pie baking… I read blogs, I read forums, I asked my friends, and I tried it. I did a test pie before the contest, and made sure the pie crust recipe was good after all my tweaking. I had only heard of using Vodka a couple days before the contest and the Vodka Pie Dough recipe was born! Now after reading and experimenting with pie crust… if anyone asked me now, how to make it, I could tell you all that there is to know about pie crusts. (all that there is to know by my meagre knowledge. Who knows what I don’t know?)

4. The first time I ever baked a cake. I mean a real cake, was for Alvin’s Co.ERASGA 10th anniversary and fundraiser. This was actually the 2nd time I had ever baked a cake actually! The first time was for a staff birthday thing where the person who has the birthday before you bakes a cake for you, and so on. It was a box cake from Betty Crocker. I also admit that it was store bought icing. All I did was add a ton I mean a TON of fresh blueberries in the middle to try and mask the store bought cake flavour.

This was the first time I had made vegan fondant and I went crazy researching for two days straight and bugging my friends to gain their experience and borrow their equipment and fondant rolling pin and smoother and cake turner and all that to make that cake for Alvin.

This was the first time I had ever made vegan anything on purpose! I had never made vegan dumplings before… I always used to add an egg because I thought it was required to use as a binder. One day before the gala.. it clicked, you don’t need the egg! Why not just put the filling in without egg or dairy and just put the filling in the dumpling? I also had never put yam in a dumpling before either. Nor TVP. Yeah I’m baring it all right now. I am telling you everything!!!

5. Other first times:

Mutter Paneer with Eggplant

Spelt Parathas

Cumin Fennel Paneer

Raita

Chicken Tikka Masala (inspired from watching an episode of Bobby Flay’s Throwdown)

Quinoa Banana Almond Bread (I had just gotten into the detox/gluten free vegan eating thing and I really wanted sugar! this is also my very first blog post so didn’t have the step by step picture approach that I started later)

Yam Chipotle Coconut Soup (My friend told me this recipe a day or two before I made it)

Spicy Coriander Chickpea Pancakes (I borrowed Meena Pathak’s Flavours of India cook book from a friend and I changed two recipes and blended the two together to make a mashed up different version of Onion Bhajias and Steamed Chickpea Flour Pancakes)

If I tell you what else I had never done before… you may not believe me in anything I say from now on, and question my credibility. So I have to say that the only reason I put my experiments on here, is because I thought the results were good and I would like you to try it too. I just thought as a disclaimer… I need to say: Don’t trust what I say or show you entirely, because I’m a newbie at this myself. I would say question my methods as much as you want because my way of doing things may not necessarily be the right way according to culinary chef standards. Just like in the Cream of Asparagus Soup I didn’t realize you needed to peel the asparagus until after I made it, and I added the IMPORTANT NOTE on the blog post.

It’s not like I don’t screw up either. I screw up a lot. I just don’t like to admit that I screwed up, so I don’t post the ones that I didn’t think were so good.

My cooking Fuck Ups:

Sure it looks good… but I added way too much mustard seed and tasted like mustard. This was supposed to be Lemon Cashew Rice.

This was supposed to be Spicy Fish and Crab Cakes with Panko Breading. I added too much tamarind paste and this tasted…albeit a little odd… Until I make it again and change the proportions… I won’t post this one up.

The Vegan Chocolate “Butter cream”. I added too little of shortening or ran out of one thing or another. I don’t know what it was but it wasn’t stiff enough to pipe on, so we just smeared it onto the tops of cupcakes and hoped that the coconut would hide it.

This was my attempt at making Chocolate Rye Apricot Bread with Coconut on top. I under baked it or the Rye starter was too sour, or something. Maybe it was the apricots… it just tasted a little strange. At least I tried it!

Just yesterday, I tried to do my Christmas baking to give to a friend that’s leaving soon to go see family for the holidays. Good thing I didn’t procrastinate and do what turned out as a trial run later because this is what happened when I tried to make Earl Grey Shortbread cookies and Linzer cookies. They melted while they were baking and I am thinking that I should have followed the recipe and not used Sorghum, Tapioca and Spelt flour to bake them. I will bake them again, and I will get it right. And I will post it as a success story! I also put them in at 350 degrees, not 300 degrees without knowing.

One of the better experiments: I was testing out different flavour combinations with bread. I came up with Rosemary and Garlic, Feta and Olives, Roasted Red Pepper and Parmesan.

  

Please don’t take this the wrong way. I’m not saying, “oh look at me, aren’t I so great? This is the first time I ever did anything and look how great it turned out!” I’m not…. being egotistic here, or at least that isn’t my motive. I thought I would say that I am just like you. I have never made pasta from scratch before, but I know how from research and watching other people do it. I have never made BBQ pork ribs or BBQ sauce for that matter, but I knew how from watching the food network and doing research on the best BBQ Sauce recipe ever!

Actually, I do that a lot. Type into Google: The Best _____ Ever! and see what I get. I take that recipe, critique it, tweak it, then try it. If it doesn’t turn out, I try it again, and again and again until I make it right.

So that’s the truth in the matter. This is how the blog came about and how it’s being run.

So now you know. Take me or leave me.

-K