It would be fair to say that I still sometimes have that problem, though I have improved considerably since those first couple months. On occasion, I even wash dishes as I cook, although I usually leave the dirty work to my dutiful and wonderful husband. He is the one who often declared that I had “destroyed the kitchen.” Fortunately, this was usually after he had enjoyed a good meal, so he was most forgiving.

Today, as he and I celebrate the anniversary of the day we met, I feel it appropriate to illuminate why destroying the kitchen is actually a good thing. A destroyed kitchen, in our house, is a happy kitchen. In the months of my recovery from illness, it came to mean that I was well enough to cook, which was a good sign indeed. It also means the kitchen is well used and well loved. I only destroy the kitchen when I am caught up in the act of cooking, and it usually results in a fantastic meal.

Destroying the kitchen is, in my eyes, a form of art itself. Sometimes, even I am amazed at the mess I am able to create. It’s never intentional, but caught up in creating some culinary masterpiece (usually), it just happens. And I take it as a sign of a job well done: the messier the kitchen, the more delicious the meal.

Above: My pretty sink, before the destruction.

For about 3 months, the Misunderstood Eggplant lay dormant while I recovered from an unexpected illness. Once I started to see the end of my recovery, I debated how to return to posting. When I started the site as Jenn’s Cook Book, the content was pretty cut and dry: short intro or notes, ingredients, and instructions. As time went by the content progressed, with the introduction of Special Projects and the Bitter/Sweet blog. Throughout it all, however, I intentionally left distance between the content and my personal life.

When I was able to return to the kitchen, I was forced to address the issue and eventually relented and posted a message on the main page of the site. The explanation was fairly brief and to the point, and I owed the site that much. Though I was reluctant to begin posting again, I knew that I did not want to let the site go. It was a temporary band-aid solution for the issue.

In the meantime, I had referred a friend to a blog I enjoyed that had some content relevant to her own cooking and lifestyle. I mentioned that I had not been to the blog in some time, but was certain it was still up and running as it appeared to have a strong online following. A few days ago, I happened to be browsing online and decided to visit the blog and to my surprise the author had posted a farewell message.

At first, the message was remarkably similar to my own but as I read further, I realized the author was not dealing with a temporary issue or simply moving on in life. She revealed some deep psychological troubles, and with the help of a therapist, she had decided to leave her blog because it was a reminder of childhood trauma (though to the benefit of her readers, she is allowing the content to remain online and performing basic maintenance).

Reading her admissions certainly put my own hesitation into perspective. She did not just allow readers a peek behind the fourth wall; rather she had torn it down completely. While I admire her bravery, it is not the route I prefer to take. What I did realize was that I could continue on with the Misunderstood Eggplant, despite my misgivings, because the site does not stir up negative emotions for me. Rather, I am ready to return to it and will seize this as an opportunity to again work toward the evolution of the site…into what, I cannot be sure, but I am excited to find out.

One of the things you will notice about the recipes on this site is that the pictures are usually quite colorful. Aside from visual interest, I work hard to incorporate a variety of elements into each dish because I like to offer complete meals: protein, vegetables, herbs and spices, and a starch. Colorful food just seems more appealing, and it is a better balance of nutrients. It’s hard for me to imagine serving fried chicken with white rice and a side of cheesy potatoes, but for some people that is an everyday dinner.

Maybe it is the security of these foods, often referred to as comfort foods, that causes people to follow such a monochromatic diet. I am always a bit awestruck when eating over at someone’s house and the vegetable dish consists of a couple cans of limp vegetables heated in the microwave. The beigeness of American diets has actually gone under some serious scrutiny. Nutrition experts have chastised the lack of variety present in the American meal, full of carbs and empty calories. Just look at the typical fast food meal to illustrate the point: beef patty and bun, french fries, soda, and perhaps a deep fried pie or vanilla ice cream. Just thinking about the sodium content is enough to make me reach for a glass of water!

This is even the subject of some “healthy living” books and “diets” that focus on adding more colorful food to the plate. These are not necessarily weight loss diets, but suggestions on changing overall daily routines by adding more fruits, vegetables, fresh herbs and spices (and therefore reducing the amount of beige food consumed). One such book, What Color is Your Diet? focuses on replacing various beige foods like bread and potatoes with a range of colorful foods.

So here are some tips to help reduce the amount of beige in your diet (without feeling like you’re dieting):

• Swap your starch side dish for pureed vegetables, like sweet potatoes, butternut squash, or cauliflower.
• Add chopped and sauteed veggies to rice dishes.
• Serve pasta as a side or compliment rather than the main dish, like serving stir-fry over rice.
• Look for whole grain pastas, rice, and bread.
• Put a bowl of fresh cut fruit on the dinner table rater than serving dessert.
• Rather than serving food over rice or couscous, try fresh spinach or mixed greens.

The purpose of this project is to explore the intrinsic qualities of food and how this is expressed through cultural storytelling. If that sounds like a mouthful, it is. To break it down, there are qualities to food that exist outside of the simple need of eating food to live. We associate emotions and memories to certain foods, such as comfort from a bowl of soup or an image of grandma from the smell of baking cookies. The project will explore how we take these thoughts and create stories, similar to the barrage of cooking memoirs now available that combine recipes with personal stories.

The overall intent of this project is to define how food culture in developed and guided, particularly through the lens of American pop culture. My prelimary answer to the question “What is food?” is that “Food is everything.” I am also using this site as a vehicle for the project, including blog posts that will be considered “assignments” and potentially a resource page relating to food culture and/or storytelling.

Let’s cut to the chase: what does all this mean? Here’s the run down:

• Fewer new recipe posts. There are nearly 400 recipes already on this site and most of my current cooking has been various reincarnations of dishes I have already made, so this is not a detriment to the site.

• More Books for Cooks reviews. As the name suggests, an independent reading project consists of a fair amount of literature. This is exciting because the current Books for Cooks section is quite lacking in variety and substance.

• Regular Bitter/Sweet entries. Consistent project updates will be posted, with discussions ranging from the readings to current events and other related subjects. Not too dissimilar from the current blog, but with a bit more long-term focus.

• Possible design and format changes. There are always updates going on behind the scenes as software becomes out-dated, and there are usually talks of major overhauls on a semi-regular basis. This is not a dramatic departure from the standard mode of operation.

• New categories added. Depending on how I decide to structure this project on the site, there will be new categories on the Bitter/Sweet blog as well as the site in general. It is possible that I will also add additional pages for the information.

Now, one year later, CNN is again reporting on the struggles in the Arctic. This time around, the climate change is literally making the village of Shishmaref disappear. This tiny village sits on the edge of the Chukchi Sea in the Arctic Circle, where increasing global temperatures are thawing the permafrost and causing the coastline to erode and fall into the ocean.

Many other villages on the Alaskan coastline are facing tremendous problems due to global warming, including coastal erosion and flooding. Entire houses have slid away from the shore and fallen into the icy waters. This has caused entire villages to relocate, but some residents are not as quick to move as their neighbors.

For many people in these communities, the ground on which stand holds significant meaning for their cultures and families. By moving, some feel they are losing a piece of themselves. This reluctance to move seems almost crazy, as some houses perch dangerously close to the icy ocean waters.

The people of Shishmaref, known as Inupiat, have a history on this island dating back to the early 1900′s. Considered an indigenous “Indian” or “Eskimo” tribe, the Inupait people have a proud history like many other Native American tribes in the United States. Asking them to give up their land is asking them to give up their history.

The report from CNN, which is incredibly extensive, goes on to site a 2009 Government Accountability Office report that “found that 31 Alaskan villages face ‘imminent threats’ because of coastal erosion, flooding and climate change. At least 12 are at some stage in the relocation process.”

Now the finger pointing begins, blaming every thing from industrialized nations to government to the average person driving an automobile, and of course the talk from skeptics who state that global warming is a myth (see this report on “Climategate“). In the meantime, where are the estimated 150 climate change refugees suppose to go?

It is a complex issue and increasing problem without an easy solution. Rather than asking who is to blame, however, perhaps we should be asking who can and is willing to help?

One of the appetizers was called “Root Chips.” I asked the waitress, and she described them as homemade potato chips (normal), sweet potato chips (little less normal), and beet chips (not normal at all). To my knowledge, I have never eaten beet, so I decided to go for it. The trio of colorful chips came with a side of warm goat cheese for dipping. While the potato chips and even the sweet potato chips were a little run-of-the-mill, the beet chips were amazing. I was surprised by how sweet they were, and all of the chips were fabulous dipped in the warm goat cheese.

I have a new found interest in beets and I can’t wait to bake up some beet chips myself. These root chips (and goat cheese dip) were certainly the best thing I ate this week!

In this video from CNN explaining the bill, several “on the street” interviews reveal what a nuisance these loud commercials are. Fair enough, but as one commentator points out, doesn’t Congress have bigger issues to deal with?

Granted, another commentator remarks, those issues are big and messy. No one really knows how to fix the economy or implement a national health plan. No one has a nice, neat plan for the issues going on abroad. So, in a field of political land mines, this is a fairly straightforward piece of legislature that will be easy to pass and regulate. It probably will not change any one’s life, but it will relieve a minor annoyance during stressful times. A little bit of relief is better than none at all.

Interestingly, the video on CNN’s website was bookended by advertisements playing at a louder volume than the video itself. Perhaps CNN can learn a little something from this bill as well.

It was a heady thought, reading words from the great Proust on something as mundane as madeleines. I happen to mention this to a fellow baker and she offered me a madeleine pan to borrow over the holidays. I could not recall eating a madeleine, let alone making them. I had, however, recently read a post on Vanilla Garlic on Chocolate Lime Madeleines.

The recipe was simple enough: chocolate, butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, flour, salt, and lime zest. The results were delectable, light little cakes with a wonderful hint of lime. I was quite pleased, so I also whipped out a batch with white chocolate instead of dark. The results were slightly different in texture, much more moist than the dark chocolate (probably due to the high fat content in white chocolate).

The process of baking and serving the madeleines was wonderful, and it built up my confidence in the kitchen. The little cakes were also a perfect compliment to a cup of hot cocoa after a long walk in the snow with the dogs.

When we celebrate the holidays with James’ extended family, however, the food is a bit more exotic with a Mediterranean flair. We both look forward to the hummus, which in Detroit is as close to authentic as one can get without a passport. This year’s delight was hushweh (or hashweh, depending on your source), which is a Lebanese Lamb Dish. It is basically a stuffing with pine nuts, though sometimes made with rice.

And with the hummus and pitas? The best thing I ate this week!

Some of the big trends of 2009 included “recession vegetarianism” and food shortage scares (that never actually happened). “Recession vegetarianism” was the general term used as people scaled down their meat intake in the face of a recession in attempts to reduce food costs as prices steadily increased. While this trend did not have roots in a moral or environmental cause, it was nice to see people reducing their meat consumption and turn to alternative proteins like beans and lentils.

For the big food shortage scares, most of the predictions seemed to fall on deaf ears. Early in the year, farmers sounded the alarm that avocados would be scarce. It retrospect, it appears the farmers may have been wrapped up in the recession hysteria and exaggerated what was a smaller crop than usual. Same goes for pumpkins, as it was reported that the autumn staple would be hard to find, yet no one reported consumers fighting over the last orange gourd at Halloween or grandmothers wrestling for the last can of pumpkin puree before Thanksgiving (see also: The Great Canned Pumpkin Shortage of 2009: A Lame Marketing Strategy?).

What can we look forward to in 2010? Well, Foodchannel.com has a list of Top 10 Food Trends for 2010, including mainstreaming sustainability, food with benefits (such as orange juice with added calcium), experimentation and willingness to try new things, and the rise of individuality in food.  Their list of 10 are all fairly generic, and to some extend are already occurring. Not quite a forecast, it is more a review of the shift in food that has started to occur in America and where it might go next.

In general, it appears people have had enough of “recession” food and instead want to focus on food good for the body and the planet. Words like sustainability, organic, and “green” are continuing to dominate food reports and trends. Consumers are starting to look for merchants and products that are fair trade or independent, placing less of an emphasis on cost. People are also placing a higher value on health and healthy food, even though it is often more expensive that prepackaged foods.

Building on this trend were movies and  memoirs about food and food consciousness, which will continue to be popular in 2010. Food and pop culture are starting to merge in new and interesting ways, and it will be exciting to see where this leads the average consumer. 2010 might be a key year for the development of food as a pop culture item, which will hopefully bring home cooking into the limelight (and not just as “recession” cooking).

As for what 2010 will bring for this site and the Bitter/Sweet blog, you will just have to wait and see what happens!