Week of Eating In Days Four and Five: To Travel and Not Eat Out

That is the question. It is quite possibly the most perplexing thing about not eating out. We live in a culture that travels a lot -- whether it's just a twenty-minute commute to work each day in a car or perpetually being "between" two coasts, or countries, by plane. I wonder about our wandering if it isn't the reason why take-out or fast food was created in the first place. Eric Schlosser certainly makes a causality seem logical in his tour of interstate highway development in Fast Food Nation: the more we hit the road, the more we press the brakes on preparing meals ourselves.

What Else Is Cooking This Week Of Eating In?

photo courtesy of Goldilocks Finds Manhattan I just love peeking into other people's kitchens, see how they chop and dice and scurry about. This time my voyeurism has a very particular angle: to see how they cope with a Week of Eating In. And what I've seen from other folks doing that, at the blogs The Eaten Path, No Recipes, Relish Austin, Goldilocks Finds Manhattan and eating-sf, makes me want to come pounding at their door.

Week of Eating In Day Three: Making Time for Lunch

Getting into the midst of the Week of Eating In, I figured it was time for a good gathering over (homemade) grub again. As I discussed in The Art of Eating In, everyone can use some time in the middle of their day to relax, sit down and eat. Especially with your friends, fellow workers or family. Just like we all need to sleep, this communal time is restorative and constructive in many ways, even if it's not a business or "power lunch."

Week of Eating In Day Two: Preparation Is Everything

Let me confess: my first day of the Week of Eating In was actually Sunday, one day before it officially began. On that day, I managed to leaven two loaves of bread, which would later be baked, roast two trays full of root vegetables, which could be snacked on like popcorn or put into more formal preparations with a little warming up, simmer some tomato sauce from a can of whole plum, and make a pot of stock and some soup with most of it. And I went shopping, too, though the brunt of it was on Saturday, picking up bulk plastic bags of produce like apple and turnips at the Greenmarket. I did about enough to keep me going for two weeks of eating in, over the weekend. I'm still thinking that some of this bread may end up for the birds, or at least, as breadcrumbs.

Hungry Filmmakers II Is Tonight

flyer by Chow Ciao design We're pleased to roll out the green carpet at Anthology Film Archives tonight, for the second installment of Hungry Filmmakers! The food documentary screening and discussion event is back, thanks to the enormous response we received to the first one. In all his years of hosting and having fun at food events, Jimmy Carbone, proprietor of Jimmy's No. 43 and Hungry Filmmakers co-host along with Tim Lynch, Shelley Rogers and myself, has said that he had never seen such enthusiasm for anything like we saw for the first event. That's saying something, but knowing the great films involved, we weren't surprised.

The Week Of Eating In Day One: Starting Off Slow

It's the first day of the Week of Eating In challenge, and I'm taking it easy like Sunday morning. Only it's Monday. You don't start skiing by tackling the super giant slalom, no, you keep to the bunny hill for a while (or in my case, never progress from that point, because you find that you don't like skiing much and have planted your face in the snow while getting on or off the ski left one too many times). So for a possibly frenzied week of cooking, in the midst of my book's release no less, I wanted to start off real simple.

Essential Arsenal For Eating In: Pantry Staples

The Week of Eating In is upon us! Cooks, budgeters, eco-foodies, and anyone looking to join in on this one for the fun, grab your utensils and get ready to not eat out (wherever you are) all week! Last week I listed some essential cookware I couldn't live without; this time, it's all about the food. Here's a list of basic pantry and refrigerator staples to stock up one, the kinds that'll keep giving, and giving. It's a minimal list and keep in mind to adapt some items to your own liking (pick one favorite dried bean and call it a day). And I hope that even if you're not gung-ho about cooking for a week straight, you'll find something useful to your cooking routine, too.

Steamed Turbot Fillets with Potatoes and Turnips

All too often, I hear the same question from home cooks: what do I do with fish? Not terribly much, is usually my answer. And as soon as you bring your catch home. But while most of us know that fresh fish is best at its freshest, the simple feat of cooking it deliciously has evaded some. So I'm going to share my latest favorite preparation, an unlikely hybrid of hearty winter vegetables and summery lightness.

Honey Butternut Squash Soup

There's squash soup, and then there's squash soup without milk or cream. You could say I'm making an exaggeration by placing such a disparity between the two sister soups, but then I've never had a dairy-less version of squash soup until I made it at home. That is, if you don't count the "butter" inherent in the squash's name.

Essential Arsenal for Eating In: Cookware

So, you think you can eat in for a week? Let me tell you, after two years of doing so, you can! Plus, you'll have the support of many others doing so at the same time. The Week of Eating In challenge, hosted by Huffington Post Green, will take place from February 22-28. If you sign up to join, it'll be a test of your will and home cooking know-how, but most importantly, it should be an interesting way of discovering what resources you might save besides your own money from cooking instead of taking out, and to become a lot more aware of your food.

Bulgur and Freekeh Pilaf with Roasted Butternut Squash

I've gone grain crazy as of lately. There are so many different types of them to explore. It started with a pack of bulgur, coarse grinds of whole wheat with a muddy tan color and toothsome, chewy texture. If you like wild rice, you'll find some similarities here. Then I went freaky for smoky roasted spelt, also known as freekeh. Now I can't get Missy Elliot out of my head.

Compete with Crostini at my Book Launch Party! (and everyone wins books)

Guys, I'm almost due. On February 18th, this blog will give birth to numerous identical hardcover books, each named The Art of Eating In: How I Learned to Stop Spending and Love the Stove. Published by Gotham/Penguin, it's my first book, a memoir of the two years I spent eating in, solely, all the while trying to keep a somewhat normal life, a paying, nine-to-five job, a boyfriend, social engagements, etc. It didn't turn out being so normal in the end, but what I ended up losing (jobs, boyfriends) over those years was miniscule compared to what I gained from learning to appreciate everything about making meals from scratch, on a daily basis. It's my requiem to an unconventional urban lifestyle, and all the characters and experiences I encountered while not eating out and blogging about it. The book has nothing rehashed from this blog, but let's just say that it shares the same genes.

Tuscan Kale Salad with Honey Mustard Vinaigrette and Pomegranate

You know how salads in restaurants tend to have eight things in them, at least? Or else, it's not really a salad, it seems. One of those ingredients is usually cheese; another is usually nuts (and it's usually crusted with something sweet). There's often meat, grilled and served hot in contrast with the cool greens. It gets more complicated, too. Dried or fresh fruit, oily crusts of bread or croutons, dressings that are an army of ingredients in themselves, and so many types of mixed lettuces when you couldn't identify one by name.