Surprises in Store
Tuesday, October 17th, 2006Dear readers, I am sorry for my unexpectedly long absence. I know you are all tired of looking at those bunny cupcakes (as am I). Many real-life circumstances have conspired to keep me away from the kitchen and the computer, but I hope that I will be back to my regular blogging self shortly. In the meantime, I have a few suprises to share with you (at least one of which will partially explain my hiatus).
First, a surprise arrived on my doorstep yesterday! The very thoughtful and kind Mairead, who writes a blog called Fill Up on Bread, packed a box full of goodies from her homeland of Australia for this round of Blogging By Mail, a fabulous event where food bloggers are assigned the glorious task of sending a little slice of their culinary tradition by post to a fellow blogger. Mairead was assigned to me, and I know she thought her package would never arrive (she posted about it’s send-off over a month ago)!

But arrive it did, and how happy it made me. One of the things I particularly liked about this package is that Mairead attempted to represent the various parts of her culinary heritage: for her upbringing in Ireland, she sent the classic Twinings Breakfast Tea; to represent time she spent in India, three boxes of delicious-sounding masala mixes arrived; and then, of course, there’s Australia. Sweets from Down Under included chocolate biscuits called Tim Tams, which have made the perfect companion to an afternoon of Melbourne’s Vittoria coffee, and chocolate bars called Cherry Ripes, an interesting combination of tart cherry, coconut, and dark, rich chocolate.
One of the things I’m most excited about experimenting with is macadamia oil; I’ve never even heard of it, but I bet it makes a fabulous salad dressing. Next are two native Australian condiments: rosella jam and mango mint chutney. I’m thinking that the jam would be lovely on French bread with a slice of white cheddar cheese for breakfast. A Mexican dip mix sounds like the perfect thing to take to a party I have to go to this weekend, and last but not least, an array of fragrant Australian spices, for which I will have to do some research (fun!) to figure out what to do with them.
Mairead, thank you, thank you, for such a thoughtful and exciting array of flavors from around the world; I can’t wait to try them all.
But, it may take me a while to do so, due to my second surprise. You see, one of the reasons I have been away from the kitchen is because in the first trimester of pregnancy, one’s appetite tends to do bizarre things. That’s right, I’m going to have a baby, and so far, the baby has not wanted me to eat anything very interesting. In fact, opening the refrigerator door often sends me running in the other direction. I’ve been lucky to have avoided sickness, but the faint feeling of nausea, especially induced by smells, has been ever-present, so cooking has not been much fun. Nor have I really felt like standing in the kitchen: pregnancy makes you more tired than I could have imagined. My friend Betsy gave the best description I’ve heard so far: she said she felt like she’d been drugged. David has been a trooper–preparing meals and fetching snacks out of the fridge so I don’t have to open it. Everyone says that the second trimester–which is only a couple of weeks away–is much better, so I’m hoping to be back to blogging, and most of all to cooking. I miss it.
I hope this fall finds all of you out there cooking up wonderful things, and I hope to join you soon.
If you’re interested in what other folks have sent and received for Blogging By Mail, check out the running round-up over at Dispensing Happiness.
1. Fresh, raw oysters
2. Fresh figs
3. Real southern fried chicken
5. Boiled Louisiana crawfish (and the corn and potatoes too!)






For the eggs:

