17th August 2009

I intend for this site to be mostly a professional sort of site but dedicated to artistic pursuits. I am starting on a new project, one that may or may not be of interest to anyone but myself. But what is a personal blog for if not self-involvement?

I generally suck at cooking. I have actually forgotten to stir Kraft Mac & Cheese before and ruined it. But, I am sick of eating Ramen noodles and then suffering for it. So, I am going to learn to not suck at cooking. My first guide on this subject is Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything, which bills itself as a “more hip” Joy of Cooking. So far, I’m impressed. He makes me feel like I can manage.

My first attempt was Coconut Rice, which seemed straightforward but tasty. After about ten minutes of waiting for the rice to boil on medium heat however, it occurred to me that the phrase “bring to a boil” might mean that I should increase the heat instead of staring at a tepid bath of coconut milk, hoping. The final product tasted like coconut but felt like, well, not entirely cooked rice. Mostly but not entirely.

So to salvage the effort I am trying to turn it into rice pudding by adding milk and 1/2 a cup of sugar and some cinnamon to the leftovers. Wish me luck.