Archive for September, 2009

Today’s guest post comes from Kelly of Eat Make Read, a blog I’ve been loving for more than a year now! In addition to her clean layout and beautifully photographed posts, Kelly has a knack for picking recipes I want to try (case in point: apple chips, orange coconut silver dollar pancakes, homemade ketchup). I am so happy to be able to feature her here today!

Hi there! I’m kelly of eatmakeread. I’m thrilled to be guest posting for Shannalee. I’m also pretty excited about this recipe for arepas. One of my favorite weekly activities is going to my local farmers market and seeing all the lovely fruits and vegetables local farmers have grown. I am constantly amazed at how incredible and varied produce can be. Lately I’ve been really into corn… cornbread, corn cakes, corn pudding, you name it, I want it. So when Mark Bittman wrote about arepas a few weeks ago, you can bet I got busy whipping up a batch.

These arepas are a great recipe to make after a long day at work because they’re easy to make, super fresh and oh-so-delicious, plus chances are you’ll have leftovers for the next days lunch. Simply make the batter, let it sit for about 15 minutes (may I recommend sitting down with a glass of wine and relaxing), and then you’re ready to go. Read more…

You are in for such a treat with this beautifully written post from Kendra of My First Kitchen! I don’t even remember how I first found Kendra’s blog last year, but I have read every post since, both because the recipes are so approachable and because she is a true kindred spirit. She shares a passion for the important stuff—you know, like back-and-forth e-mails discussing LOST episodes, of which we have traded many. Side note: if you are in the North Carolina area, she teaches cooking classes (!), and I envy everyone of you who goes. Kendra, come to Chicago!

I used to take myself way too seriously. Like waaaaay too seriously. I made lists about everything. I made lists about what I should make lists about. I documented how well I did on sticking with my list and berated myself if I didn’t completely follow through. Everything was quantified and justified and rationalized. Then the guilt started.

In all honesty, it’s not terribly calming to live life where you experience some measure of guilt everyday from self-inflicted tasks and self-inflicted consequences. It’s pretty exhausting actually. I got tired of being the drill sergeant to myself… and yelling in my own face proved to be quite difficult. I lived most of my life that way, and it’s a tough habit to break. I didn’t leave myself any room to fail, and anything close to not doing what I arbitrarily intended equaled failure.

The one place where I seemed to allow myself freedom to fail was in my kitchen. When I cook, I can’t go wrong. Sure, I make food that doesn’t taste as good as I had hoped, but I don’t beat myself up over it. I laugh, eat it anyway, and think about the next thing I get to cook. Why do I give myself such freedom with food? For a long time, I didn’t experience that anywhere else, but I knew that was the feeling I wanted to permeate my life.
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