Welcome to my blog

Over the past few months, I've taken to making occasional food posts on another blog or on facebook, and I'm often surprised at how much attention they get. I frequently get requests for recipes, or comments from my friends that suggest that what I do is something mysterious to them, a bit of alchemy, if you would.

It's interesting to me, because I don't consider myself a gourmet cook. Far from it; the food I cook is mostly homey comfort food, simple, with an emphasis on healthy ingredients and straightforward cooking techniques. You're unlikely to find me "boning a duck", and if I make spanakopita, I'll be using store-bough filo. I also won't hesitate to use canned beans or frozen vegetables, especially at those times of the year when fresh ones are likely to be imported or of lower quality.

The other irony is that most of these posts have been made during very lean economic times for me. I've been unemployed for the past few months, and I'm on a very tight food budget, sometimes as little as a dollar a meal. In order to get there, I've had to make every bite count, and to make sure that nothing goes to waste. A lot of what I've been doing involves transforming leftovers into other things, finding ways to stretch a roast, or to use up odds and ends before they spoil. The title of the blog, and the focus of my posts, will be on eating well without spending a lot.

Am I an "epicure"? Sure, but of the gourmand rather than the gourmet variety. Thefreedictionary says an epicure is, "A person with refined taste, especially in food and wine. 2. A person devoted to sensuous pleasure and luxurious living." Wikipedia says a gourmand is "a person who takes great pleasure in food." Quite honestly, my preference would have been something more along the lines of "thrifty gourmand" or "alchemy on a shoestring", but after a few dozen tries for a name that wasn't taken, here we are.

Although I'll be posting recipes, there aren't likely to be hard and fast ingredients lists. A lot of things I make involve a quick inventory of the fridge or a browse through the produce or meat aisle before I'm inspired. Salt, sugar, etc. should always be to your own taste, not mine. If I use tarragon and you don't like it, you should always feel free to use other herbs that you prefer. I also recognize that while I'm without a paying job, I have more time than funds on my hands. So, I might be making my own stock, for instance, but that doesn't mean that store-bought wouldn't work just fine.

I'm fairly dedicated to cooking with a healthy approach but I'm not absolute about these things. If a piece of bacon is all you need to elevate a dish from good to sublime, I'll use it, but you're not going to find me making high fat dishes, sauces laden with cream, or decadent desserts. I don't eat that way, nor do I cook that way. There are plenty of those to be found elsewhere.

Comments are encouraged. If you have success or failure with something, or if you try a variation of something I suggest, I'd like to hear about it.