"How do you think up this stuff?"

At dinner with my family yesterday, I showed my aunt my recent (raw) blog posts.  Especially the raw beet and citrus salad.  She looked at me quizzically and said, "How do you think up this stuff?"

She could have meant any number of things, from... "that is too weird for me"   OR  "I like my oatmeal for breakfast, thank you very much"     OR  "hmm - my neice is a creative genius".

Probably somewhere between the first and the second.

But it begs the question - where ideas come from.  I have wanted to teach regular people to cook for some time now - with lessons.  The way a piano teacher teaches music, or a hockey coach runs drills.  People have much more capacity for cooking and feeding themselves than they credit for.  But it does take some mental flexibility...

Instead of "weird", I prefer to consider myself "experimental".

Instead of traditional, I prefer "unconfined by convention".

Instead of genius, I prefer "opportunistic".

This morning's coleslaw is a combination of shredded napa cabbage, segmented grapefruit, macadamia / almond / pecans, and dressed with a puree of agave, grapefruit pulp, grapefruit juice and fresh mint from the garden.  Topped with hemp and chia seeds.

All of these ingredients are not just one big "idea", but many different influences and lessons.

Why breakfast coleslaw?  Because of too much wine watching the New Jersey / LA Game.  I need some detox from both wine and adrenaline!!!!!  AND there was napa cabbage in the fridge - with little else.

I never would have added chia to my salad unless I read a book called "Thrive Diet" by Brendan Brazier, recommended to me by one of my students AND saw Chia seeds in the bulk food section (without the clay pottery!).

I never would have added hemp seeds unless I browsed the natural section of my grocery store with some extra time on my hands AND been influenced by the chefs on "Chopped" who always say that textures add pleasure to food.

And I never would have added fresh mint unless I had some growing in the garden AND saw a chef on some other show add fresh mint to a grapefruit granita.

What I mean is that every dish is so layered with our experiences and influences that the best way to become a better cook is to increase experiences and influences.  To buy things you might not be familiar with and just play.

The expression "to find a prince, sometimes you have to kiss a few frogs" comes to mind.  For everything that I have tried and loved, there have been things that I tried and thought - this is never going in my mouth again - but if I only stuck to what I liked without trying new things?

I would have had my fave treat from when I was 8 for breakfast today!

A mustard sandwich.

Maybe weird is the right word after all !!

:D