I'm No Cook, So I Get Out of the Kitchen

linguine pesto
Originally uploaded by speedM.

Hello all, and apologies for not blogging much this week. I was busy on a professional level. When there is writing to be done, sometimes this blog gets ignored. I only have so much mental energy for writing and more often than not it gets spent on more lucrative projects than this thing, which yields no income whatsoever.

In other news, it has come to my attention that I don't know how to cook. Actually, I already knew this, but it was pointed out to me yesterday. I tried to defend myself, based on three basic points:

1. I Live in New York City. There is no need to know how to cook in this town, especially when there is an amazing bodega across the street from me as well as an incredible sushi joint. That's the other thing: sushi is my favorite food ever. Forget Italian, forget Indian and definitely no Mexican. Sushi. I can't exactly make that at home, and so I have spent the better part of my seven-year stint in New York City finding the best sushi places in every neighborhood. If you come and visit me, I will show you.

2. Genetics: My best friend Jen is Sicilian. If you give her a box of pasta, some tomato sauce and some vegetables, she will whip something up, no recipe needed. I have watched her do this and it is like watching Houdini. My dad is from New Jersey and my mother is originally from Belarus and also lived in Germany. When was the last time a former Soviet state was known for its cuisine? Vodka, yes. But borscht and pergoies will only get you so far in life.


3. Cooking is Simply a Skill I Never Learned: A lot of women will tell you that they learned how to cook from their grandmothers or mothers. Thing is, my mom is a great cook, and when she cooked everyone was tossed out of the kitchen so she could concentrate. That said, I never learned the secrets of roasting a chicken or broiling a roast. And I've done pretty well for myself without them.

Nevertheless, there have been requests that I learn how to make a few things, because, you know, I'm female and it seems to be expected of me. (As if childbirth and dodging obesity weren't enough.) So...does anyone have a few good recipes they could share with me? I understand all the basics of the kitchen, since I actually can bake and I enjoy that. It's just dinners and entrees that I don't understand or have any particular interest in. However, gender roles must be enforced, and who am I to thumb my nose at that?

In happier news: A Chorus Line is back on Broadway!!! I want to see this more than anything else in the world, mostly because I saw the original when it was still at Shubert theater back in 1989. I was 11 and my dad took me, which was kind of awkward given all the dirty jokes.