the joys of cooking?

I think cooking is all about your approach. Approach defines everything.

For example, for my friend Rachel (whose post on cooking was "oh, the joys of cooking!" - note the exclamation point, whereas my post shows a question mark...) cooking is an art form. Her spice racks are meticulously kept up and well-stocked. Her favorite pasttime is reading cookbooks. Her house always smells of something fresh from the oven. When her kids are sleeping, how will you find her spending her time? Making some yummy treat in the kitchen. Yes, for that Rachel, cooking is an art.

Then we get to this Rachel. For me, cooking is purely functional. I like to eat, so therefore I cook. I keep spices in my spice rack because I like to eat cookies and muffins (as evidenced by my yet-to-be-shrinking waistline). My mealtime planning consists of "hmmm...what is in the freezer that I could mix together in just a few minutes?" My favorite recipes are those that are labeled "quick and easy" or "mealtime in minutes" or "how to serve a delectable dinner with the leftovers in your fridge" or something along those lines. The smells coming from my kitchen are usually the evidences of my most recent cooking disaster. When my kids are sleeping, I'm usually...oh wait,my kids never sleep. Well, at least not at the same time.

But every so often, I forget this about myself. I forget that I have no business buying things like springform pans (to make light and fluffy cheesecakes). I forget that adding a "pinch of this" and a "dash of that" is for experienced chefs only and can be hazardous to a meal. Last Saturday was one of those forgetful days.

Spurred on by the fact that Emma loves bagels - and so sweetly asks "Gabelck...wheeeeeeze!" almost every morning (she got used to a breakfast of bagels in the States - and the supporting fact that josh also loves bagels and the final fact that Rachel so casually mentioned one day how she whipped up a batch of bagels like it was something she could do in her sleep, I began my first foray into bagelmaking.

Disaster upon disaster.

I guess I never realized all the trouble that Sara Lee and those dudes at Panera go through to get me that perfect chocolate-chip bagel. Yeah, it's a lot of work. Trust me.

The memory is hazy for me now (I tend to block out bad memories) but it had something to do with mixing some stuff together, letting it rise, mixing it again with some other stuff, rolling, shaping, boiling it (who knew bagels were boiled?) and baking...or something like that. Anyway, I cannot describe to you exactly what went wrong, but what came out of my oven that day were not bagels. I think I shall not try again.

So the reason I post this tonight is because I was on the verge of having another forgetful day. Zucchini Quiche was on the menu for tonight - but instead of being scared away, my friends at quick-and-easy meals said it was a cinch. Hmmmmm.

One problem with the recipe, however, is that it called for 2 cups of cottage cheese. Actually, I hate cottage cheese, but I think I like quiche (or at least I like the idea of quiche; it just sounds so parisian and chic) so I was willing to make an exception. BUT, you cannot get cottage cheese where I live.

Enter the vegetarians. Some very helpful and enthusiastic vegetarians online said that tofu substituted nicely for cottage cheese. I can get tofu. Lots and lots of tofu.

I crumbled up 2 cups of tofu and added it to my other ingredients: eggs, cheese (aaah, cheese...), zucchini, flour and salt...and in the oven it went.

One hour later, I cautiously served my family the tofu-zucchini quiche. My husband made a face. Emma threw hers on the floor and asked for grapes instead. We managed to eat almost the entire thing. Then we decided we'd probably not make that dish again.

I won't forget next time.