A little background: I’m a housewife.  I love to cook, garden and eat.  My hobby is food.  I think about it.  A lot.  I love seasons and the variety of food each season can produce.  I enjoy reading cookbooks, researching cuisines and coming up with new recipes.  A lot of people wonder how I have so much time to cook.  I don’t actually have a hidden stash of time.  I usually have 30 minutes to an hour to pull dinner together, just like a lot of folks.

I’m a mom (you may have read that Persephone was barren, turns out I wasn’t).  Our three year old likes to cook.  A butter knife and a cutting board with some vegetables that need chopping is a good activity to keep her occupied.  But I will admit to flipping on the TV or letting her play on the computer (that’s located in the kitchen) while I cook dinner, if she’s not interested.

I will further admit that while we love local food, we don’t always, always, always buy everything local.  We’re a fairly normal family.  But we love food, enjoy our time together and think sharing a good meal together is really important.  Does the three year old sometimes not want what we eat?  Yes.  Do we sometimes sub a grilled cheese for the spicy Indian dish?  Yes.  But only sometimes.  We really want our daughter to grow up having experienced a variety of foods.  As a result, already at three, she’s a pretty adventurous eater.  Her favorite night of the week is risotto night, no matter the flavor.

If I had one tip to offer someone new to cooking or who doesn’t like to cook it would be to make sure you do all of your prep before you start cooking.  That means chopping up all your ingredients, measuring all your spices and even cleaning up before you turn on the pan.  I would also like to say having a glass of wine or a cold drink while you cook is a great way to relax and make it fun instead of a chore.  I love to cook, and I think you can, too!