So, what am I doing here?

Why did I start another blog? Seems like I barely can keep up with the one I've been running for a couple years now. My other blog, In My Little World, is a place for me to talk about my novel writing, as well as books and general life. But so many times lately I've felt like yakking about cooking experiences, and the tediousness of mucking with new recipes. Somehow it seemed that the other blog wasn't the appropriate venue for that discussion. Folks who are curious about how my novels are coming are likely not interested in my gastronimical habits, and vice versa.

I actually spent a week talking myself OUT of starting this blog. I should have started it in the spring, I told myself. Chronicled the whole saga. It seems kind of odd to start blogging the experience at this stage. Well, that's okay. If you're bored, you don't need to come back!

I've tried so many new recipes in the last few weeks that I sometimes get tired of new stuff and just want my old diet back. Maybe not the one I had a year ago, but the *just for me* GI Diet of a few months ago. The one where no one depended on me for newer and brighter and tastier ideas. (Yes, I remember that it was me and me alone that volunteered to drag the rest of you into this!)

Today for supper I made Tofu Moussaka. Oddly enough, Jim loved it (4 out of 5). I say oddly because his supper is incomplete without meat on the plate, and this is strictly vegetarian. However, he said it was a definite do-again. Sometime this week I'll get my notes typed up and post the recipe over on the forum.

I got the original recipe from my sister, who spent nearly 20 years in North Africa. I'd made a number of changes early on, as I never was fond of eggplant soaked in oil. But changing it to a vegetarian dish actually worked quite well. There's not much the same from the original, actually...except it is still moussaka!

On the other hand, maybe he liked it because he loves nutmeg, while I am indifferent to it. Or possibly against it. At any rate, I thought it was pretty decent too. (3)

I've experimented with lettuce wraps twice in the past few days. I've found a variety of recipes for these in several different cookbooks. You'd think the sky was the limit as to what you can wrap up in lettuce leaves and have for lunch. Well, um, ...sure. If you're fond of eating lunch leaning over the sink because everything wants to drip or fall out. Lettuce doesn't hold together like a wrap, and it definitely doesn't absorb excess liquid. Instead, it makes a little skating rink for food to fly off of.

Green-leaf lettuce does NOT work. It has too many ripples in it, so you get far too much lettuce per bite compared to anything else. It would be easier to eat salad out of a bowl, because then the filling wouldn't go squeezing out the cracks. Romaine works slightly better. Even crushing the stems, though, as recommended, doesn't make them roll up worth a darn.

I haven't given up yet, though. It's a terrific idea, if I can only figure out how to build the things so they stay together for five minutes. Or at least long enough to devour.