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!

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.

A candy-covered computer motherboard:

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!

Introducing Bitter/Sweet: The Blog, where I shall rant and rave about all things bitter and sweet. After each rambling, I will deliver a verdict of bitter or sweet, but if you disagree please feel free to comment otherwise. You can leave comments by clicking on the subject heading.

Why Bitter/Sweet? The idea actually came from James, who was throwing various names out as ideas. Bitter will include that which angers, annoys or frustrates, while Sweet will encompass the cool, awesome, or just plain neat items I find while roaming the Internet.

The posts for Bitter/Sweet will not appear on the main page, to view please click the link above in the menu bar. Bitter/Sweet is also listed as a category to the right.

The Cool Food Blogroll has been updated. You can look up archives on Fallen Souffle here.

While I am tinkering with new recipes in the kitchen, please continue to enjoy Econofest Quickies: quick items to help save money while still eating and living well. Look for other updates coming soon…I cannot give all the details away, but we may have a different look and feel by the end of the year.

In the meantime, please enjoy Chocolate Cake in 5 Minutes from Dizzy Dee (disclosure: I haven’t tried it yet, so please let me know if it works!).

fraught with all the wild extremes
of tango and of tribal rush
to borrow from such frantic dreams
as of death’s violence robbing blush

nursing hands and healing touch
she poured her soul into their lives
giving grace when they could not
and thirty years went coursing by

after a while, her daily pace
had taken an unforgiving turn
as the dancing from bed and face
brought grief and a crushing yearning

for something soft, without demand
as restoration for the years
of dying children, and blood-stained
gauze, and wives’ and mothers’ tears  

her deliverance didn’t come from
an expected source, as such,
just a need for solitude, some
might criticize the redeeming batch

of bread when first she built with brick
her own oven, and began to mix
recipes to steal the senses, quick
aromas to fill the dimly lit kitchen  

at first each loaf became a story
as the luscious, tender flavors
melted away people’s horrors
bringing nearly divine pleasure  

then, increasingly, as her own heart
was being healed by hours
left alone with grains and starch
and spices rich with yesteryear  

she found a patron here, then there
and bit by bit she came to see
as local farmers supplied their wares
she’d started her own bakery  

a new pace set from rush to waltz
forsaking wealth for just enough
she left behind her three decades
for the joy of a fire-crackled crust  

~L. Page

Jenn’s Holiday Season Manifesto:  

Let’s be honest, the current state of affairs is not once conducive to festivities and holiday cheer. In this uncertain economy, many people are approaching the holiday season with trepidation and fear. At a time normally marked with lavish spending and (dare I say) gluttony, people are facing budget crisis and tenuous resources.

This paradox is likely to result in more stress than usual in the coming weeks, as “news” pundits throw out words and phrases no one wants to hear: global recession, Great Depression, economic crisis, credit collapse, bankruptcy, plummeting stocks, downsizing, job losses, bailouts, selloffs, and more.

While one could argue this could be a welcome diversion to the normal over commercialization and waste that is the holiday season, most others will see it as a deprivation of the joy and merriment reserved for this time of year. In times of crisis, I often turn to the wise words of my friend Molli: When in doubt, food is the answer. Yes, food! Food is a source of comfort, a product of love, and a means of sustenance. Food is nourishing, soothing, and satisfying. Food is indeed the answer, found in the nostalgic smell of baking cookies, the warming taste of hot cocoa, and the contentment of soup on a cold day.

Rather than breaking the bank by purchasing a truckload of gifts, instead I encourage you to celebrate the holiday season by sharing the ultimate gift with your loved ones: comfort food from the heart.