Jan 02 2008
About
Foodie. Gourmet. Cook. Gastronome. Epicure. Gourmand. Bon Viv. And in 2007: Locavore.
These are all terms I identify with and/or have been j’accused of at various points in my life. My sister likes to remind me that when I was 3, while my my grandparents were visiting from out of state, my mother found me rocking in a chair lost in thought. When she asked, “What are you thinking about, Amy?” I replied, “I’m just trying to figure out where to take Grandma and Grandpa for dinner.” I remember making Vichyssoise at the age of 8, from a recipe that most likely came from Graham Kerr (though optimistically, I hope it came from: Julia Child or James Beard). At age 10, the key Girl Scout badge for me was Cooking, for which I vividly remember planning elaborate luncheon and apres-school menus from the Betty Crocker’s New Boys and Girls Cookbook. The finale was typically cupcakes baked in ice-cream cones.
In the 80s, my family moved to Texas where tomatillos and jalapenos expanded my palate. Credit goes to my Mom, who also took us on vacations to Hill Country herb farms, dehydrated her own fruits and vegetables, grew loofah vines, and regaled us with Pesto Lasagne long before anyone in mainstream media thought to do these things.
In my 20s, I discovered wine, and fell in love with a Rioja Reserva, and just kept going. During college, I waited tables at the best restaurants in town to learn more and to eat well.
Throughout my adulthood, I have traveled as much to experience different cultures as I have to cook and to eat. I have hunted white truffles with Lagotto Romagnolos in Tuscany, baked cherry clafouti with the original owners of the French Laundry, and sampled just about every version of foie gras you can think of in the Dordogne.
I have lived in Seattle for a decade and a half, where I love to cook and experiment as much as I can. The Northwest is a fantastic place to eat and to cook, and this blog is about that. It’s also about my particular biases, caveat emptors, and recommendations. It may end with a cupcake in the form of an ice-cream cone. Or it may end with Gourmet’s 1993 recipe for Boston Cream Pie. Time will tell.