Diann is Cooking

about me

I live with three cats, a tank (or less... one of the cichlids recently turned into a Jeffrey Dalhmer wannabe) of fish, and several cookbooks. Hobbies, besides cooking: photography, graphic design, gardening, hiking, writing, the study of history, the exploration of sciences.

Someday when I retire I'd love to start up a small farm with a few chickens, guinea fowl, Angora goats, Soay sheep, Shetland sheep. Possibly a donkey to keep the predators in line. Okay, so I am dreaming way ahead of time...

I am moving away from eating factory farmed meats as much as possible (which means I am eating less meat due to availability and price). I am not there yet, as I haven't found a good/affordable dairy substitute, and I have this serious cheese "jones". Yet.

I am also attempting to eat more locally, but this is far from hard and fast, due to my taste for foods from many cultures. (Garlic grown in China??? NO. That's far too far away; we do it well locally. Garlic is not a Chinese-alone staple, like, say, bamboo shoots. Something like 80% of our US garlic in supermarkets now comes from China, WHY? How cost-efficient is that???) In the summer and fall I currently get most of my vegetables from farmer's markets, or from my current garden patch (which is too shaded to do much). I like reading about food and culture: I highly recommend reading Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemna. Things to think about, big time. Big time.

Favorite Foods:

I'm known for my devilled eggs (a pinch or so of curry is the secret). In most recipes I'll vary things around, depending on mood and what is on hand.

I love to cook (and eat) seafood, Asian foods, Mediterranean foods, Middle-Eastern foods, Cajun, unusual dishes, and breads. (I'm not so big on making desserts, a function of the fact I seldom eat them, but when I do, I make, say, the pumpkin pie from the pumpkin itself.) Yes, I learnt you really have to strain the liquid out!

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