“Cooking is like love. It should be entered into with abandon or not at all.” ~Harriet van Horne

I love that quote. Some people who know me might wonder why it appeals to me because I can often grumble about cooking. You see, at my age, I often do find cooking a chore. But then there are days when I do it more as a gesture of love. This is another creative outlet that comes from my mother. She often said she wasn’t a good cook but I always disagreed; she may not have had a lot of creative ideas for variety but what she did cook was utterly delicious — and made with love.

A few weeks ago I was making potato salad — something my mom made better than anyone I know — and naturally I thought of her. She would spend hours-upon-hours cooking, dicing, making her own dressing, tossing and tasting until it was just-so. As if that wasn’t enough, she went to all the trouble of making pretty little flowers out of radishes, cucumbers, and onions and would decorate the entire top of her salad with them. I sure wish I would have thought to take a photo of one of those creations.

Since I’m making an effort to write about some of my life, besides photography, I decided to share more posts about the food in my life.

A few days ago when my husband was out of town, I took hold of the opportunity for a light and meatless meal. I made a really tasty salad (photo above) of shredded curly lettuce, diced fresh tomato, diced onion, sliced avocado, cumin, coriander, pepper, and a generous squeeze of lime and of lemon (I always use fresh; never that phony stuff in a bottle.) It was so full of flavour despite not having any fresh cilantro on hand.

Last night’s meal was a real dandy but I didn’t take any pictures. To redeem myself, I do have a recipe to share. Unless I’m baking sweets I almost never use a recipe. There are numerous recipe books in my kitchen cupboard but I tend to use them as inspiration for something new or different, especially if I’m in a cooking slump. Yesterday I knew I was making pork tenderloin and I wanted to use the fresh rosemary my husband brought home from Edmonton. I remembered seeing a recipe once for pork with cranberry and rosemary so I plugged that into Google. I found 3 recipes that appealed and this one for Rosemary Pork Chops with Cranberry, Rosemary, and Port ended up being my primary inspiration. Of course I made a few of my own minor adjustments (didn’t use the chicken stock, for instance). It was easy to make and turned out so delicious I was wishing we had company so I could show off! That means I highly recommend it. If you’re wondering what I served it with … a loaf of artisan Turkish bread plus I made a bowl of EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) emulsified with a rich balsamic vinegar and fresh garlic. I also made one of my summer salads. These vary every day depending on what I have on hand but last night I diced up red pepper, white onion, cucumber, tomato and sprinkled with a pinch of basil, oregano, and pepper. Needless to say it was all delish and I most definitely ate far too much!

Today is meatless but I know my husband will love it. I’m making rosemary pan bread (from scratch of course), hummus with my own little twist, and a tomato-avocado salad. We’ll have a nice dry but fruity white wine (yet to be selected). So that’s about it for my discussion on food. What’s for dinner at your place?

This week I ordered my custom made Christmas cards that I created using a beautiful set of templates. But the real excitement is what I ordered today! Trouble is, I can’t share with you right now what they are or what they look like. Why, you wonder? Because I created something especially for my 2009 clients that I will be sending to each of them before Christmas and since some of my clients do visit here, it would end the surprise. Once my order arrives and I have mailed them out, I’ll post a photo for everyone to see. The only hint I can give is that it is something that everyone could use before Christmas and they are also unique and beautiful!

I downloaded my new version of Photoshop yesterday and now I have to figure out how to get my watermark as a brush again. Consequently, it was really awkward cutting and pasting my watermark on these two photos so that’s why they look as though a little kid did them!

So what’s cookin’ around your campfire?

PS: I have been very busy and am about a week behind in responding to those of you who have left comments. I hope to get some time on Sunday since I have a photo shoot on Saturday. Enjoy your weekend!