cooking away

While spring is my favorite season (blooming flowers, first signs of local produce, and the hope of warm sunny days after months of snow), fall is my favorite cooking season.  Flush with veggies and starting to crave jeans & sweatshirts, I can't think of anything I want to do more than cook.

Beyond that, cooking is also my way of decompressing and dealing with my over-active brain.  The mindless chopping and peeling and fussing are the perfect balm for my anxiety.  Plus, I'm not so bad at it so the results tend to be as enjoyable as the process.

This weekend, full of summer and the fair and weddings and otherwise over-committed days, I found myself longing for my kitchen.  So I've spent the better part of the past 24 hours in full-on cooking, baking and exercising my kitchen modes.  Thankfully my better half is an avid and enthusiastic cleaner upper and is the organized, recovery to my cook-and-destroy.  So he's been a great partner in my maniacal cooking fest.  Plus, he loves food and loves to cook himself so he's a truly willing participant.

Other benefits of my weekend onslaught included inspiration for our Christmas gift planning (we're doing all-homemade gifts this year - together) and making productive use of the abundant farmer's market. But mostly it tweaked the creative side of my brain which, quite frankly, feels as if it's been dormant for a few weeks.  Rushing through life headlong gives me that "just subsisting" vibe.  And that makes me even more anxious.  Riff on this recipe.  Tweak that spice mix.  Dream up a delicious cocktail.  And enjoy it all with the one I love.  Cooking is just good therapy all around.

I'll be posting recipes as I get a few moments here (I actually wrote them down for a change!) and taking a break here and there to, well, eat.  Therapy you can devour.  Delicious.