I honestly can’t believe how fast this year is flying by. A big reason is heading up north to ski and have family fun:
And I know a big, BIG part of the reason why is because this winter, every single chunk of time I can get I have been sneaking upstairs to my desk in my room and editing, expanding, polishing and loving up my FIRST NOVEL. I am hoping to send it out at the end of this month, give or take a few glorious sunshiny ski days that might beckon us up north first, but I can feel the day when I hit ‘SEND’ coming soon. (Of course, if my wildest dreams come true and the agent that liked it before Andrew was born does sell this book, it will mean more editing, polishing and rewriting. There is never ‘DONE’ there is only ‘SEND’.)
Why am I telling you all this on my food blog? One, because I am always interested in hearing about other people trying to reach a goal, whether it is to run a race, open a new business, learn how to paint, or learn how to cook. It’s why I started The Humble Onion, because I love learning something new, especially when it comes to food. On my ‘About’ page I have this picture of my cookbooks, and it was really the love of opening up a new cookbook, reading it cover to cover, and learning every gem it had to teach me in its pages that made me interesting in food writing and blogging.
I sort of had the same approach to novel writing – I read a ton of books on it, and I sat down and wrote every week like it was my job. And I loved every minute of it (What’s that they say? Do you what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life?). Whether or not I will publish this novel remains to be seen, but I will take what I learned and pour it into the next one. Either way, I hope to share the journey with you!
I recently saw this Ted talk by Thomas Keller, the well-know chef that started the restaurants French Laundry and Per Se and has dreamy cook books. In it, he talks about what he has learned in running successful restaurants, and how it is really about serving, about being a nurturer, and that led him to be a chef because making other people happy makes him happy. I loved this, because so often being a nurturer is viewed as a bad thing in our culture. I love cooking and sharing about it because I love to feed good food to the people I love. The other great nugget I got from this talk is how skill level is such an important ingredient in success. In his restaurants, he encourages everyone to get a little bit better, every day. To strive for excellence by being a little bit better then we were yesterday. This has become my focus of late, and whether I am skiing, mothering, writing, cooking, running or loving, I just want to get a little bit better every day.
The other reason why I am sharing my writing journey is because as soon as I hit SEND, I will have more time to for writing here and I will have more time for cooking. Cooking feels like a best friend that I haven’t had a lot of time with because of this busy work period, but I know that the days and nights of slowly stirring risotto and roasting chicken are right around the corner. So that is what I’ve been up to and why I haven’t been posting here as regularly. But I love this space, and I love sharing great food moments. So I will leave you with a fun post-skiing dinner I made recently. I hope it inspires you to make something you’ve never made before, and to feed the people you love.
Spaghetti Carbonara
I love this indulgent classic dish, and I made it using the bacon from Uncle Ben’s pig he grew for us last summer. I followed Emeril’s recipe, he doesn’t steer you wrong, though I may try a few more eggs next time.
Classic Spaghetti Carbonara
Recipe courtesy of Emeril Lagasse (for Printer Friendly version, click here)
Ingredients
1/2 pound bacon, chopped
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
Freshly ground black pepper
1 pound fresh spaghetti, cooked al dente
4 large eggs, beaten
Salt
1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsley leaves
Directions
In a large saute pan, over medium heat, cook the bacon until crispy, about 6 minutes. Remove the bacon and drain on paper towels. Pour off all of the oil except for 3 tablespoons. Add the garlic. Season with black pepper. Saute for 30 seconds. Add the crispy bacon and the pasta. Saute for 1 minute. Season the eggs with salt. Remove the pan from the heat and add the eggs, whisking quickly until the eggs thicken, but do not scramble. Add the cheese and re-season with salt and pepper. Mound into serving bowls and garnish with parsley.(From food network.com)