a recipe for something

Some of the best things I pick up from blogs are new recipes. Just last week, Rachel described what she did with Brussels sprouts, so I went to the grocery and got a butternut squash and tried it for myself -- yum! Other bloggers have turned me on to other ways to cook Brussells sprouts, cookies, fruit... but it was while reading yarnstorm that the name Nigella Lawson first came to my attention.

Just the names of her books made me laugh: How to Eat, and How To Be A Domestic Goddess. Ooh, I could use help with that, although some of my graduate school colleagues seemed to be in awe of how I could throw a few things together and make a meal, or how I managed to whip up a dazzling vegetarian lasagne for a deparment party (the secret was, I followed a recipe). I used to be better in the kitchen before I started working full-time year round and then got married.

But then, Nigella Lawson slipped into my world, through the back door. While we were in England, I caught an episode of her television series Nigella Express. This gorgeous woman deftly put together a beautiful meal in nothing flat, and I found myself writing down the recipe for her corn chowder before I knew what I was doing. My last night in England, I sought out and found a bookstore and bought one of her books -- Nigella Express, the one to go with the television show. I haven't looked back since, and have tried more of her recipes in the intervening weeks since our return from overseas, than I have tried from any of my other cookbooks. And I plan to try more of them! Better yet, Nigella's book has nudged my cooking bone and made me think about meals a little differently -- to be more creative in the stuff I usually do.

The Emperor's loving it. Last night I made him Nigella's "Pea and Pesto Soup," which is basically a blendered soup made with frozen peas, a little pesto, and a squirt of lime juice. Well, it't not quite that simple, but almost. We've also tried her lentil salad, goat cheese medallions, and her New Orleans coleslaw (which is great). Oh, and of course the corn chowder. I'm about to make her Nutella Crepes for one of our Saturday nights at One Horse Popsicle Stand.

Blogs have rocked my cooking world. Nigella rocked it, too. Pass the Nutella.

ps) you don't spread Nutella on bread as thickly as the pictures show... although you'll want to.