Beginnings

Let’s get things straight: I love potato chips.  I know…that was not where you thought I was going with this.  I feel, though, that honesty from the beginning is for the best.  Hello readers, my name is Rachel, and I’m a Chip-o-Holic.

Ok, now that that is out of the way, let’s talk about good food.

I live for food.  Every single day I am excited about the possibilities before me.  What do I get to taste today!  There are so many flavours that thrill me.

Growing up, I had a family that explored all these flavours.  My ancestry may be British and Russian Mennonite, but my family meals included such things as homemade egg rolls, fresh made pasta baked into delicious mushroom and prosciutto lasagna, burritos with fresh salsa and guacamole, sticky cinnamon buns, wild blueberry pies, moussaka, beef bourguignon with thick gravy and egg noodles, homemade bread to sop up our coq au vin, fluffy spanikopita and many more.  My childhood was rich with flavour.  Both my parents are fantastic cooks, but I think most importantly, they let my siblings and I be involved with the prep and cooking of all those meals.  I have neither professional experience nor training, but I have been learning about food and flavour combinations since I could have memories.

Family meals were important, too.  There is camaraderie around food.  My family, and the revolving door of friends, both my parents’ and my siblings’, could sit around a table enjoying a meal for hours.  It is about enjoying conversation and each other.  There are, perhaps, many forums for this kind of camaraderie, but the joy found around a table and delicious meal is one of a kind.  I suppose, too, the wine helps.

Dining out has also had an impact on my love of food.  My parents did not take us on very many vacations.  The first one we ever really went on was when I was in grade 7 and, instead of going to Disney Land, we went to the south of France.  I continue to be in love with that beautiful land.  We ate so much!

Up until that trip, however, there were no family vacations, save trips to our family cottage in Georgian Bay and a weekend in Toronto every November.  My dad had reason to be in Toronto for meetings throughout the year, but there was always a big conference in November that we would use an excuse to get out of our smaller, near-northern Ontario town and head into the big city.  We would go to theatre productions, go Christmas shopping, visit museums and galleries.  And then, we would go out for dinner.  I have been so lucky to eat in some of the best restaurants Toronto has had to offer over the last 20 years.  They have taught me so much about flavour.  About ingredients.  About how beautiful food can be.

I have continued to be passionate about food as I have grown up and become an adult.  In fact, I’m more passionate about it. At university I studied Animal Biology and learned about food animal production.  It taught me so much about where my food comes from. 

I have always subscribed to the concept of fresh food and cooking from scratch.  I think it is an important human skill; one that has been being lost as convenience items and fast foods dominate our North American lives.  There is certainly a revival as the Local Food movement makes waves, but we continue to hear about the obesity epidemic we face in North America and, with no authority whatsoever, I feel part of the problem is a lack of respect for food and how to prepare it.  If I’m on my feet, moving, while I cook for thirty minutes to an hour, that is a lot more activity than it takes to get take out or throw some dried pasta in a pot and open a can of sauce.  Those things also take less thoughtfulness, creativity and learning, which can add so much to your day.  You might say you don’t have time…you do.  And if you really don’t think you do, make it.  Make time for food.

 Then I met Sean: the love of my life (along with our Rhodesian Ridgebacks Elsa and Abeo).  If you scroll back through some of those fantastic family meals I mentioned you might notice there is one thing that makes those meals what they are.  Gluten.  Delicious, delicious gluten.  Choosing a partner who happens to have Celiac Disease could have thrown a wrench in my food plans, but instead I have become a better cook for it.  It has challenged me to be more creative, to learn new techniques.

Before

Sean and I spend much of our life together enjoying food and wine with friends and family.  We bought a small home in downtown Kingston with a large yard three years ago.  We have spent the last three summers fixing up a yard that had little to offer into a bountiful garden full of food.  This past summer we had at least ten varieties of heirloom tomatoes, a few types of squash and zucchini, arugula, spinach, swiss chard, kale, beans, herbs, onions, carrots, kohlrabi, rapini, tomatillos, ground cherries, peppers, potatoes, and probably some other things I’m forgetting.  For me, there is nothing more romantic than cooking a meal with the person I love from food we have grown together.

After

I hope that readers will enjoy stories from my life that centre around moments of love, dinners with friends and family, and a general love of flavour.  And maybe even learn something about gluten free cooking from someone who can eat gluten, but for love, has chosen not too.

Home cooking is not hard.  Even gluten free home cooking is not hard.  I hope I can convince you of that and inspire you to cook.  To love food.  To grow food.  To enjoy life.

All you need are good ingredients.