August 12, 2010

Waiting

Tonight I was not in the mood to cook. In fact, by the time Thursday comes along I am usually not in the mood to cook.  I'm just tired and focused on there being one more workday until the weekend.  Actually tonight I was pretty psyched up to make that Caramelized Pear Ice Cream that I have been thinking about all week, but those darn pears are still hard as rocks.  I keep dwelling on the expectation of creamy caramel melting in my mouth, and I just couldn't get motivated to create anything else this evening, so we had some Trader Joe's Orange Chicken for dinner and called it a night.

I briefly considered trying David Lebovitz's Vanilla ice cream, which was recommended by a reader.  I mean, I even happen to have a vanilla bean on hand right now, but no, I really just wanted to snuggle my kids and get them to bed early and maybe get to bed a little early myself!

My mother brought over more peaches this evening. I must have fifteen pounds.  I could make a large batch of chutney this weekend if I want to, but right now the motivation escapes me.  Maybe after some good rest, I might tackle that project.  The last few summers I've made Peach Chutney, canning it in a water bath canner, to give as Christmas gifts.  And I'd like to do it again, but there's something daunting about getting out that huge canning kettle for the first canning job of the summer.  I'm afraid this summer, I just might not get to it.

Being a successful home cook requires a good portion of waiting and planning ahead-waiting for fruit to ripen or for bread dough to rise. Soaking beans, sprouting grains, waiting for canned goods to process and then ripen.  And sometimes I'm just not in the mood to wait and I've failed to plan ahead.

So while I wait impatiently for those pears and while those peaches are waiting impatiently for me, I think I'll go read a good book and get to bed a little early.

Molly Wizenberg is the creator of Orangette, a food blog.  A Homemade Life is a food memoir.  It is a beautiful tribute to her father, and, as a celebration of home cooking, each chapter ends in a recipe.  Last night I got to read all about her father's delicious french toast.  I haven't made french toast in quite a while, but suddenly it sounds so appealing...

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