Outside the box

This blog thing has been more fun than I expected. I've enjoyed the chance to write about something besides the financial world, and it has kept me motivated as far as cooking. But I've also enjoyed the interaction with my friends and readers through comments, conversations or emails.

But sometimes in this world of instant online communication, I forget how great snail mail is. I recently got an unexpected card from my dad, encouraging me in everything I'm doing, including this blog/cooking thing.

It reminded me that a few months back, I also got a card from my aunt commenting on my blog but also reminding me of a great vacation I took with her and my uncle. She included a photo that reminded me I did occasionally try new things as a kid.

Yes, this is when I discovered I liked lobster (apparently I wasn't fazed by putting the live ones in to cook and then eating them).

We were spending the week in Maine, staying in a cabin on a lake in a small town. I was about 9, and my aunt and uncle who lived in Connecticut at the time also came up with their kids.

Most of the time I was floating in an inner tube in the lake, fishing or canoeing. In the evenings we'd go for ice cream and then sit on the dock and practice our loon calls. (I'm thinking this is a vacation I need to repeat as an adult.)

I distinctly remember being hesitant to try the lobster, but by the end of the week, I couldn't get it cracked to reach the meat fast enough.

My uncle was always telling me, "Just try it once." This applied to both food and waterslides. And most of the time, I was willing to try it again, it's just finding the nerve to step outside my comfort zone.

In his card, my dad told me he was proud of me for stepping outside my box (i.e. comfort zone) over the last year, both food-wise and in life.

I think in some ways I needed a physical move and a chance to start fresh in order to do that, and I was intentional about changes I wanted to make in my life when I moved here a little over a year ago.

In the midst of these changes, I've found a more relaxed attitude. I seem to have loosened my grip on life (or at least some parts of it). I used to be such a control freak, I wouldn't even ride places with people, and if I was going to be in a situation where I didn't have some control over what was happening, I wouldn't even participate. But I'm having more fun and more of those unexpected, amazing experiences now that I'm willing to let go of this need for control and live without always having a plan.

And that's a lot of what God has been trying to show me over the last year. My plans are not His, and I should actually be grateful for that. Instead of grieving over my failed plan, I should be celebrating the road I'm on and relaxing in the passenger seat.

Not sure how I managed to go from lobster to God's plan for me or if it even makes sense, but that's what I've got today!

The thing about cooking for one is that you don’t really have choices. Yes, you can decide to make something on Monday rather than Tuesday or vice versa but at the end of the week you have to eat the meals you planned for at the grocery store. The leftovers will continue to stare at you from the refrigerator if you pass them up one night. There is no one else to finish off those things.

When I first lived by myself, I think this is what I struggled with the most. At my parents’ house I never doubt that there will be several options awaiting me in their refrigerator. But there’s also no guarantee that what I passed up the first time will still be around the next time I am looking for a meal or snack.

But now I’ve grown accustomed to a life without choices, so I actually struggled this week on vacation when the refrigerator was literally exploding with options.

Let me explain a little bit about where we vacation. We go to an island on the Atlantic Coast that is only accessible by ferry and once you are on the island, there is one grocery store and one main restaurant. This means the best approach is to grocery shop in advance and transport the food by ferry. You can still get whatever you need at the grocery store on the island, but it’s a little more economical to do the major shopping beforehand. This is what my mom did, and I contributed my produce share for the week. In addition, my mom prepared several dishes in advance, including two types of already cooked chicken (grilled and buffalo-style), a breakfast casserole (which didn’t actually travel as well as planned), and chocolate pies. Needless to say, even at the beginning of the week we had plenty of food.

Over the course of the week, we accumulated more choices as we prepared fresh seafood for a variety of dishes. My mom served as the main chef, but I promised to give the other participants credit. Note that for all of the dishes mentioned, I substituted shrimp when it was not the main seafood.

Shrimp and grits
Mahi-Mahi with risotto
Pasta with seasoned scallops (prepared by my sister)
Shrimp boil (prepared by my brother)
Steak and potatoes (steaks grilled by my dad)
Homemade pizza

These dishes were complemented with my fresh produce as sides. We roasted asparagus, sautéed zucchini and squash, sautéed mustard greens and fried zucchini.  I of course enjoyed the asparagus and liked both ways the zucchini was prepared. However, I was glad that I shared the mustard greens with four other people. We (well, my dad) sautéed them in olive oil with garlic and some bacon, but they were extremely peppery. I ate my serving as did everyone else, but no one asked for seconds. I’m hoping the next time those show up for me, I’ll be able to swap them out!

I also introduced my family to some of my new favorite recipes and proved to myself that it’s not just me who likes them. I made foccacia bread since I had more spring onions, but I still haven’t mastered the yeast thing. I served Pioneer Woman’s pancakes on one of our last mornings with maple syrup. I also successfully popped my popcorn on the stove and might have just converted my family to that approach over microwave bags, but then again, probably not.

They also got to enjoy the Bibb lettuce that I have come to love, and they seemed impressed by the strawberries that I considered a little subpar compared to the ones I had a few weeks ago. But maybe picking them straight from the farm raises my standards a little too high.

Needless to say, we ate very well all week, and I enjoyed a week of making choices about my meals once I got over my initial indecisiveness.