Food, Self, and Society

Very few significant things happened this week as far as food goes. The one story I do this is blog worthy is my pesto story. This past Saturday my mom and I decided to make some pesto together. We went to the nearby farmers market on Roosevelt island and bought fresh basil, walnuts, and garlic. The parmesan cheese and the olive oil we already had. Since we didn’t have a food processor, we used the blender instead to mix everything together, which worked just as well surprisingly. We didn’t really have a recipe, just some show my mom saw on food network. After we made the pesto we let it cool in the fridge. That night we made pasta with pesto and it was amazing. I’ve had pasta with pesto before but the pesto was always store bought. Tasting the pesto that we made can easily exacerbate the different between homemade and not homemade. I have really began to appreciate home cooking more these past couple of weeks. Not only does it save money, but it also tastes so much better. I can attribute this change of diet in my schedule. I’ve had so much more free time lately that I don’t need to rush food. Sometimes it is important to collaborate with someone to make a meal. There’s nothing better than making food with someone else and eating it. Another dish I like to make form scratch with my girlfriend Sue is apple pie. What better way to learn how to make apple pie than by following the instructions in the Joy of Cooking cookbook. Since apple pie is traditionally an American dessert, a traditionally American cookbook is perfect. The process of making food and then eating it makes me appreciate the food that I’m eating even more. I find it funny how many people don’t realize that they tend to care about food more if they took part in making it. It comes as no surprise that someone would enjoy a slice of apple pie they themselves made as opposed to a restaurant. I don’t want to sound cheesy, but that whole “love is the missing ingredient” bologna is true to me!