Well, 2009 ended with some big plans and ambitions for the website. I had a special project in the works and a new independent study to take the website in a new direction, then suddenly I was taken in a new direction myself.

It started New Year’s Eve, when I turned to James shortly after the ball had dropped and said I had a headache and was going to bed. Three days later we made our first trip to the ER. Three days after that we made our second trip to the ER. It would be two weeks of doctor’s appointments and countless neurological exams before I went back to work. It would be three more weeks until I stepped foot back in the kitchen to make more than instant oatmeal. About two months went by before I began cooking again, and only recently have I been making new things in the kitchen.

Without going into terrible detail, I was diagnosed with a neurological disorder that causes severe headaches and visual disturbances (blind spots). The medication initially caused a wide range of side effects, including extreme bouts of fatigue. My recovery was further derailed by a stomach flu and sinus infection along the way, both of which took exceedingly longer to bounce back from than usual. Within the past two weeks, most all of my side effects and symptoms have subsided, and I have been able to live something resembling my normal life again.

Throughout it all, James and I have been attempting to balance life as I still need to work and help take care of the dogs and the house. Some days are good and some days are not, but more and more the good days are outnumbering the bad ones. While I am not completely recovered, I am hopeful that will come soon given more time.

In the meantime, cooking and food has helped aid the recovery. Being back in the kitchen has helped immensely, even at first when all I could muster was a simple pasta dinner. More recently, my ventures have been more complex and I have been anxious to return to the website. You may notice some posts are dated after December 31, which is because I had a small queue of post-dated entries and they continued to publish (it wasn’t until weeks later that it even occurred to me that some items had posted).

Tentatively, I am hoping to have some new recipes posted next week. As for special projects and the independent study, I cannot say at this point what will come of them. As I continue to do well, I am sure things on the website will progress as well. Please stay patient with me and I hope to be back soon!

For years, this site has been Jenn’s Cook Book. It started as a place for me to post recipes as I learned how to cook, with little commentary. In time, the posts have grown to encompass more information about the recipes and my experiences with food in and out of the kitchen. Last year, the Bitter/Sweet blog was born and allowed me to expand on topics not necessarily relate to food. One of the topics I posted in Bitter/Sweet was titled The Misunderstood Eggplant, based on the title of an article that ran in the New York Times.

To summarize the article, and the reason why I chose to write about it, the eggplant is a beautiful yet seriously unappreciated food. Eggplant is versatile and can be quite tasty, but the key is in the preparation. The article struck a cord with me because James and I had often quarreled, in jest, over my cooking and serving eggplant. The first time I made eggplant, I steamed it according to the recipe and the results where similar in taste and texture to a dry sponge. James was not quick to forget that experience.

Since then, I have prepared eggplant in a variety of ways that have been delightful. James no longer puts up a protest when I mention eggplant, but he still likes to recount the story of eggplant gone horribly wrong. It has almost become a legend, a cooking story we both tell over and over again. The Misunderstood Eggplant has come to represent my journey in the kitchen, a culmination of my experiences and successes (or failures) in cooking.

For these reasons, along with my own cruel whimsy and fondness for the name, I have decided to rename this site to The Misunderstood Eggplant (http://misunderstoodeggplant.com/). The old content is all still here, just in a prettier purple package.

The time to “Spring Forward” is upon us, along with that groan most of us mutter for losing an hour of time as the early morning plunges back into darkness. In Michigan, this change is particularly noticeable. Michigan is both one of the most western and northern points of Eastern Standard Time. Sunrise in Grand Rapids occurs significantly later then in New York City or Washington DC.  

In recent years, Congress has extended Daylight Saving Time to encompass early March through early November (in 2009, DST ends on November 1st). In conversation with co-workers, I mentioned a vague recollection that perhaps this was done for economic issues related to energy costs. No one could confirm or deny, so I decided to do a little research.

As it turns out, DST was intended as a frugal venture by design. By extending daylight hours in the afternoon and evening, energy costs are reduced. The original concept was that morning daylight was “wasted” and evening daylight provided more time for outdoor activities. This is the basis for increasing the number of weeks DST is observed.

A large number of lobbyists supported the extension of DST, however, representing sporting goods and merchandising associations, which benefit from extra daylight hours. People are more likely to shop and engage in outdoor sporting activities during the extra daylight hours.

Some initial studies conclude that DST may actually increase energy consumption due to extra afternoon cooling. Primary studies also show an increase in gasoline use.

Numerous studies also indicate that the time change can interrupt the body’s nature rhythm, including disrupting sleep-wake cycles, often with negative side effects. DST can produce both negative and positive effects on Seasonal Affective Disorder and depression. The stress from losing an hour of sleep can also cause an increase in other conditions, such as heart attacks.

DST has been presented as a means for reducing energy costs, but its origin and implementation appears to be ridden with political trappings. While decreasing energy consumption is certainly important, it appears DST also stimulates retail spending. The health implications are also concerning, especially considering the costs associated with mental and physical health care.

Here is an article from US News on 13 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Daylight Saving Time that outlines some of the implications of DST on health and public safety.

My first attempt at cake decoration, not too shabby? Okay, my icing skills need some work, but it was delicious.

A candy-covered computer motherboard:

As we celebrate the New Year, I find myself reflecting on my journey through cooking. I started cooking not long after I met James, as we grew sick of eating out constantly. At the time, I served one of the few things I knew how to make: tacos. No, not my fancy tacos with homemade spice mixture, but straight-out-of-the packet tacos with pre-shredded cheese, lettuce, and instant rice. Since I had to buy most all of the ingredients the day before, it wasn’t any less expensive than dining out and certainly wasn’t more sophisticated. It was, however, heartfelt (I even bought little umbrellas for the lemonade).

Above: A feast of “homemade” Mexican food.

Slowly, I moved on to more complicated dishes and even baking. After a few months, I started documenting my accomplishments on a “blog” of sorts. I couldn’t even post pictures on the site or use any kind of text formatting, but I kept cooking and posting about it (even my failed attempt at a Rachel Ray recipe). As time went on, I started having dinner guests and cooking for others in their homes. The experiences were both exhilarating and terrifying at times.

Soon, I moved in to more complex territory: the special projects. It started with Gingerama, inspired by the memoir Julie & Julia by Julie Powell. I moved through more special projects, seasonal cooking, and other food related topics. James helped me create the website Jenn’s Cook Book and continued to be my gastrointestinal guinea pig. I tried new recipes, new produce, and explored different cuisines from across the globe. A new lifestyle was born.

Now, new recipes are pretty common in my kitchen. James has grown accustom to what I refer to as “the cruel whimsy of Jenn,” which usually consists of me adjusting recipes to my own taste, budget, or pantry. I enjoy crafting new special projects, including Veganomics and my latest venture Soupified (for which I demanded a logo of our friend Ray, which is pretty snazzy). But throughout the course of discovering food, I have also discovered a part of myself and a cause worth campaigning for in my life.

As you will probably notice, I often dedicate posts to their frugality or to their minimizing effect on the environment. During projects like Veganomics and Econofest, I highlighted tips and tricks to save money while saving the planet. The environment has always been the closest I’ve had to a cause, and now with the world facing an economic crisis du jour, it seemed appropriate to combine the two and sound off my opinions on the declining state of civilization (a bit too dramatic? much apologies).

I hope to offer recipes that are at least somewhat healthy, for the body, the soul, and the greater world around us, as well as the pocket book. Something in my heritage makes me want to be a penny-scrimper, though I don’t always follow that path. I would like to think that most anyone could prepare the recipes on Jenn’s Cook Book, save for a few alterations.

My best piece of advice is to always adjust a recipe for what you have on hand. Do not, under any circumstances, go out to the store to purchase one item for a recipe (unless we are talking about baking, which is much more of an exact science, which requires the amount of butter called for least you find yourself with an end result you might want to consume). I advocate, support, endorse, and fully suggest that you take recipes and twist and turn them into your own creation. That, my friends, is how food comes from the heart.

Anyway, to make a long story less long, please browse my creations and enjoy my journey through the kitchen. I hope that the New Year brings you all that you are looking for, but I have found that if something delicious is cooking in your oven, you always have something wonderful to look forward to. After all, the best part of cooking is sharing that food with the ones that you love. If nothing else, please take that from this website….a little bit of warm and fuzzy in an otherwise vapid world of Internet ramblings. I will try to keep my ramblings to a minimum, as long as you promise to have a happy 2009 full of love, life, and this crazy thing I like to call cooking from the heart!

Cheers and Happy New Year!
~Jenn

PS – Look for more of the same in 2009: Special Projects, Bitter/Sweet rants and raves, and everything else you have come and known to love from Jenn’s Cook Book. Have a(nother) glass of wine for me!