On my list of things to do this month: Stay Sane. Do some things that make you happy in the midst of the daily grind. So here goes...
I am doing a book club with a few friends. Yay! Motivation to actually read! We are starting with Brideshead Revisited- a book I've been meaning to read for years but have never quite gotten around to. So that's Sanity Project, assignment 1. And I got the book from the library today. Onward!
I am also reading 48 Days to the Work You Love, by Dan Miller. It's basically a 48 day project to help you figure out who you are and what your calling is so as to find the right work. As you may imagine, it's right up my alley right now and gives me some hope in what seems like an otherwise bleak situation. Sanity assignment 2. And I got the book. And read Ch. 1 yesterday. Onward!
Last but not least, I need to find a cookbook to read and cook through. I need some fresh inspiration and to just be committed to spending more time in the kitchen- Sanity assignment 3. Feel free to give me suggestions if you know of such a cookbook. Haven't quite gotten to the execution stage of this assignment yet, but I'm thinking about it.
4 comments:
I picked up Alton Brown's "I'm just here for the food" and I'm really enjoying his explanations of the mechanics and principles of different cooking methods. The recipes look good too. One of those books that gives one the desire to branch out more and enough understanding to be able to wing it a bit.
I hope you enjoy Bridehead! It's my favorite novel. The underlying theme is about vocation which I think would make for good book club discussion.
Just don't watch the movie when you're done with Brideshead! It's awful.
On to cookbooks, for Christmas one year Heidi gave me a copy of "The New Best Recipe" By Cook's Illustrated: http://www.amazon.com/New-Best-Recipe-All-New/dp/0936184744
I LOVE IT! They basically go about trying to make the best version of each dish by testing 10s-100s of variations and then writing a short summary of the things they did. Dork that I am, I read it for fun and I've learned sooo much. And if you feel like skipping the "why," you can go straight to the recipe (but reading through it has really made me a better cook). It's my fav cookbook of all time! ...and it gives me confidence that the recipe will actually turn out tasty, unlike some other cookbooks I have which make me wonder.
You know, I was positive I read this book within the last couple years, but when I read the plot outline on wikipedia it didn't ring ANY bells...just vague sense that the characters were familiar. I checked my Goodreads list too, apparently if I did read it it was before 2008 when I started keeping better track, or at least online track. Maybe I'll grab it from the library and refresh my memory.
Anyhow: in aid of Project Sanity, I recommend focusing on the '30 things that make me happy' list for the month, and make the '30 things that bug me' list secondary...you will be AMAZED. Seriously. [It's only possible to squash that nagging sense of guilt about all the 'shoulds' for so long, though...but try it for a month]
Earlier this year, I picked up Rachael Ray's 365: No Repeats (http://www.amazon.com/Rachael-Ray-365-Repeats-Deliciously/dp/1400082544) and started cooking through it, only skipping things that looked really unappealing or weird or whatever. It was actually a lot of fun! But then I had a baby, so I stopped. It was a fun project, though!
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