Recipe for a California Life

It started with cooking. Now, that I'm back in my house in California, I am gradually reclaiming a life I abandoned to spend time with my kids. And one of the things I love the most about California is our easy access to a variety of produce and ingredients to make interesting food.

Coming back to an almost empty pantry kind of challenged my imagination some. I essentially had to start over from scratch for even the most basic ingredients: salt, lemon pepper, garlic, ginger. As a rule I always have beans and rice in the house, but also pasta, pasta sauce, canned beans, tortillas, and the very essential basic vegetables for most recipes: celery, onions, carrots and tomatos.

But even having those weren't really enough to start getting creative with my cooking. Over a period of weeks I've stocked some meats, coconut milk, veggies good for curries, fruit and potatoes. Add in some modest amounts of cheese and breads, and now I can cook with gusto.

I pride myself on making non-boring food, that is attractive and tasty. So I cook. It's my first step back into a California life. And now, when I make something I'm particularly happy with I put it on Pinterest. It's a form of expression that I think actually says a lot about me if you look with a careful eye.

Some of my other expressions are starting to reappear as well, like this one. Being able to cook the way I like to has helped me reconnect with the writer I usually am. I find myself blogging again both personally and professionally which is always a good thing. There's still a lot of rebuilding in terms of my stateside existence, but these small steps are at least a start.