The Leslie Show

Blog Killer

I deleted two blogs of mine that I had been sorely neglecting, yet didn't have the time or interest to maintain.  Joy or Death was my project where I was gonna cook every recipe in the Joy of Cooking, and "Fifty by Fifty" was my "bucket list" of things I wanted to accomplish by the time I was 50 years old. 

My business, calm by leslie, and my career (as a relaxation and wellness specialist) is keeping me really really busy.  That combined with the usual business of being a mom, wife, and home-owner meant that it was time to pare down.  Frankly, I need to pare a lot more down, but those two blogs were easy to cut. 

The Joy of Cooking project was a fun idea, and was fun for a while, but it quickly stopped being fun and turned out to feel more like an obligation.  Not the cooking part, I love to cook.  It was more of the "I have to use THIS book" when there are so many cook cooking books and magazines to choose from.

Reading Eckhart Tolle had a big say in my ending the "Fifty by Fifty" blog.  Living in the now is a current goal, and I will do the bucket list things when and if I like, but I don't want to add more obligations. I'm busy enough as it is.

Cocktail du Jour: The Daiquiri

The following is a cross-post from my cooking blog:  Joy or Death

RECIPE NAME:  Daiquiri
JOC PAGE #:  60
DATE PREPARED:  7/15/2007
WOULD I MAKE IT AGAIN?:  Yes.
NOTES:  The daiquiri is a classic, and like most classics, it has been bastardized into all sorts of hideous things.  I am not a fan of cocktails that are blended.  If I want a Slurpee, I’ll go to 7-11, thank you very much.  These Day-Glo, sticky sweet concoctions that pass for cocktails these days really chap my ass. 

But I digress.

The classic daiquiri has but three ingredients:  light rum, lime juice, and simple syrup.  Shaken together and chilled, it’s a wonderfully refreshing drink on a hot summer’s day.  I used Tommy Bahama "White Sand" Rum, which is really quite an extraordinary one.  It’s very smooth and vanilla-y, but clear as water.  I think, if I were to make another, I would add less simple syrup just because this rum is almost sweet on its own.  Still, a very nice cocktail.

A New Lifetime Goal

(Addendum:  This post spawned an entirely new blog of its own - "Joy or Death".  It is there you can see how this project is coming along!)

Have you heard of the book JULIE & JULIA?  I think I had it featured here as a book I was reading several months ago.  It's the story of Julie Powell's attempt to cook all 524 recipes from Julia Child's MASTERING THE ART OF FRENCH COOKING in her tiny New York City apartment kitchen.  According to the blurb from Amazon.com: 

Julie & Julia is the story of Julie Powell's attempt to revitalize her marriage, restore her ambition, and save her soul by cooking all 524 recipes in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume  I, in a period of 365 days.  The result is a masterful medley of Bridget  Jones' Diary meets Like Water for Chocolate, mixed with a healthy dose of original wit, warmth, and inspiration that sets this memoir apart from most tales of personal redemption.

Well, my marriage is going ok, and my soul has seen worse days.  My ambition, though, is definitely searching.  I have decided to do Ms. Powell one better.  It's not that I think Julie Powell needs bettering.  She is a cool chick who has made her dent in our society.  More power to her!  But I need a project.  A BIG project.  A decades long project.  One that fulfills my curiousity, attends to my ever-shrinking attention span, and induldges my gourmandesque inclinations.

I am going to attempt to cook every recipe in The Joy of Cooking.

I am going to use the most current version, that being the 75th Anniversary edition that was published in 2006.  The cover says there are 4500 recipes.  I am going to be 40 this April.  That means [attempting to keep a realistic head with regards to this entirely unrealistic prospect] that I will be well into my 50's by the time I complete this task.

I don't care.  I want to try.  The journey will be most excellent.

The Joy of Cooking has been a mainstay throughout my cooking life, and I have made many of the recipes in the past.  But, for the sake of authenticity and sticking with the true spirit of this quest, those don't count.  I am starting, today, at

ZERO COUNT FOR RECIPES MADE.

I have a feeling there are going to be several parties at The Evans House, in which many recipes will be knocked off at once. 

Wish me luck!