How I Became a Mormon Foodie

The story of my transformation from a mild mannered Mormon kid, into a raving food maniac, is a long and sordid one. I like to blame it on my mom, because she's such a good cook. Truth be told, she just sowed the seeds of my ... well, not really destruction but, you get the idea.

The Mormon part of the equation is pretty simple. Or rather it's complex. No, wait. It's simple. No . . . never mind. I was born into the LDS Church. I grew up in what used to be a suburb of Salt Lake City, and lived a pretty mundane life. Years later, as all rational thinking people do, I began questioning my actions and beliefs. I tried out various philosophies and religions ranging from Zen Buddhism to Scientology. In the end, I came back to my LDS roots. Even though I was born in the LDS Church, I still feel like there was a time in my mid-twenties when I was actually "converted."

So much for the 'Mormon' part of being a Mormon Foodie.

The Foodie part is a little stranger. I think it started with food as a source of comfort. It's very easy for parents to try and "fix" their children's problems by offering them a treat. As an adult I've begun to realize that it's more like a bribe. "Please quit screaming and I'll give you a cookie." For me it wasn't cookies, it was cold cereal.

"It's time for bed, John." my mother would say.

"But I'm hungry!" I would whine.

Rinse and repeat.

After a while, my Mom got tired of it, I'm sure, and just gave in.

"Fine. Pour yourself a bowl of cereal and then go to bed."

So, I grew up doing one of the things they tell you never to do (and to this day I still do way too often): eating just before bedtime.

Later, in fourth of fifth grade I think, I had another dose of food love. Through a school book program, I bought my first cookbook: "A Peanut's Cookbook." I loved the comic strip, so how could I pass this up? There were actually some pretty cool recipes in there (I still love the simplicity of 'Red Baron Rootbeer'), and I got a little weird about them. There was even a recipe for dog food (which my mother never let me make).

There was one recipe I remember called 'Sally's Scrambled Eggs." One day I got a little weird. I was too young for my mom to feel comfortable with me at the stove. I egged her on (pun intended) to make me eggs according to this recipe, and none other. She warned me they were going to be too salty (she was right), but the texture was light and fluffy. I'd never had scrambled eggs like that before.

Score one for cookbooks.

The Relief Society had something to do with me being a Foodie, too. Many ward Relief Societies are obsessed with doing various home craft projects from time to time, including, but not limited to, making cookbooks. Growing up, my home ward was no exception. At some point in my early teens, they combed the ladies in the ward and compiled a book of favorite recipes. I remember going through it and finding all kinds of weird dishes I'd never heard of. I'd seen them on TV and in magazines, but I'd never actually eaten them. My father's tastes in food stretched only so far, and so our typical family fair was, well ... pretty meat and potatoes based, with limited seasoning. Anything beyond salt and pepper was suspect.

For some unknown reason, I decided I was going to learn to cook. I already knew how to make toast and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, so I was good to go. How hard could it be? So I decided to start trying some of the recipes. Much to my parent's chagrin, I decided to make a cheese soufflé.

Okay, that probably wasn't the best choice, but it turned out alright. I thought it tasted good. It was light and fluffy, and vaguely cheesy. My parents ate it without making sour faces, so that was a good sign.

One odd thing I remember about it, though, was that my Parent's weren't at home at the time. Maybe I was trying to avoid them subconsciously, I don't know. My Dad was at work, and I don't remember where my Mom was. What I do remember, though, was calling my neighbor, Mrs. Sloane. I didn't know how to separate egg yolks from egg whites, and the recipe said I needed to. She thought I'd gone mad, but she was nice enough to come over and show me how.

Later on I used that same cookbook to get dates, or rather to entertain them. There was a recipe for a slow-cooked marinara sauce that I still think is the best I've ever had. On more than one occasion I cooked this up for the girls I was courting, including the one who became my wife.

But, you'll have to wait until later for rest of the story.

Do You Relax in Your Kitchen?

I found a great article (and video) over at Mercola.com. Dr. Mercola is a naturopathic physician (N.D.) and has a pretty cool a website. This article was written by one of his associates, Lucy Lock.

Lucy asks us, "Who's Inhabiting Your Kitchen?" It starts by talking about how much time we spend in our kitchens, vs. the rest of our house. What it really brings up though, is the idea of cooking as a form of relaxation.

Cooking to relax is an interesting idea to me. My friend, Mark Hansen, says that's why he likes cooking in his Dutch oven. It's a way to unwind a bit and get away from the pressures of work and family. I'd always nodded my head and, to a degree, understood it. I mean, I like cooking as much as I like eating. But I've never thought of it as relaxing. I always feel like I'm a little pressured when preparing a meal for my family, to get everything timed just right and on the table at the same time.

What this article proposes - and I think it's a good proposal - is to treat cooking as a relaxing activity. We should take the time to get into the process, and experience it fully.

For just one meal a week, take the time to really enjoy cooking it. Go slowly. Enjoy putting the ingredients in. Enjoy the smell and flavor of each one. I promise you, after a while, you will find it very relaxing, and it will really help you get rid of some pent-up stress. And don't we all need to do that?

I know I certainly need that. So, trying to more fully understand my friend's experience, I'm going to try this suggestion. I'm going to try and slow down a bit in the kitchen, fully inhabit it, and turn my love of cooking into a time of relaxation, as well as recreation.

The Secret Life of Wooden Spoons

My friend and fellow Foodie, Mark Hansen (of the Black Pot), commenting on my last entry about kitchen tools, told me that he liked wooden utensils for stirring things. I have to agree. I've always liked wooden spoons for dealing with cookie dough and certain stages of bread making.

Wooden spoons have been around since time began, it seems. The earliest ones I've found information on date back to 250 B.C. with the Iron Age Celts. They're not just used for cooking and eating, either. For over 200 years the Russians have been painting them, in some pretty amazing ways, as decorations (and now as tourist kitsch).

Before electric mixers came along, wooden spoons were used for to cream butter and sugar. Today they are used stirring all kinds of things from beverages, to casseroles, to risotto.

Wooden spoons offer several advantages over metal ones. First, they don't scratch up your non-stick pans like metal does. They also don't transfer heat very well, so they're great for dishes where heat is a concern. Top it all off with the fact that most wooden spoons are incredibly inexpensive to buy, and you've got a great product.

Of course they also tend to absorb strong odors, so be prepared to have them smell like onions and garlic (or worse) if you use them for that sort of thing.

As nice as all this sounds, wooden spoons lead a secret life that's made me wonder if I should keep using them or not. This secret life is literally that, life. They can be a safe haven for germs.

Washing wooden spoons in really hot water, certainly at the temperatures needed to kill harmful bacteria, can damage the spoon, hastening your need to replace it. If you don't wash it in really hot water, though, some of the bacteria may decide it wants to take up residence.

With the cost of new ones being so cheap, it's not like it's a big deal, but it's still given me pause. My kids broke my last set of wooden spoons, and I've not replaced them yet for that very reason. I'm considering some plastic ones, but I've not found any I really like, yet.

Maybe some of you know of some plastic spoons that can replace my good ol' wooden ones.