I'm back!

And better late than never, right?

My, it has been awhile but I am awfully pleased to be here again. Culinary school shook me up. All of sudden I was dunked underwater and it was all I could do to shoot some bubbles out of my nose and stay afloat. No time for nothing. It did let up a bit, but by that point I must confess I plumb forgot about this space. No, I was busy hooting and hollering, jucking and jiving, enjoying Vancouver immensely. Then, wham, bam, as I was starting to get the hang of swimming it was into the deep end again. Until the end of the semester, the city, the 12-hour-long-work-days-week, the Christmas vacations. Until now.

What can I tell you about the last four months? Should I stick to culinary tales? In that case, I tried some magnificent new things (burrata, oh God yes burrata), learned far, far more than I expected (would you like me to tie a rabbit crown rib roast for you?) and met some amazingly inspiring people.

I did get a little sick of eating three or four full meals a day, none of my own choosing! When it came time to cook (at home that is) it happened far less frequently than I'd like to admit. In fact, it probably fell more under the rubric of assembling than cooking. A salad, a piece of cheese. Have I mentioned how very much I am into cheese right now? Well, we'll get there.

But still, I am oh so glad to have taken this course, even as I wonder and doubt and get excited about what is next. Perhaps the simplest but most rewarding result of this venture is that my boyfriend is now an absolute joy to cook with. Well, not that he ever wasn't. But me, I was a bit too uptight and by-the-book to be much fun - for myself, for others. I don't know what it is - understanding the fundamentals of cooking so you know why a recipe works and where you can bend it as you please, new confidence in my own abilities, acknowledgment of my creativity, laying to rest years of neuroses about food - but cooking is so easy now, so simple. It's a space for me to be whatever I choose to be - extravagant, homely, comforting, pleasurable, fun! It is a wonder.

And that is why I am so delighted to be where I am today, here. Let's raise a glass to the New Year ahead. It will be a wonder!