I love the imagery of the “little islands of order” within the chaos that you create… I’m still not yet finished scrubbing, but I have now created many of these little islands and it’s really beginning to feel like home.

So yes… the baking… coming soon :)

Kat

And you’re right – I don’t eat much meat, but my reasons for not doing so are more reflections of my general laziness, in addition to financial limitations. I’m very much a “one-pot” meal kinda gal and don’t care much for the added concern of making sure meat is “done” and all surfaces are properly sanitized during the cooking process. That and I care about the conditions under which the animals I choose to consume live and die, which necessarily means buying meat at a premium. But my health and tastebuds urge me to engage more often in carnivorous gustatory adventures. My body has a hard time absorbing enough iron from non-meat iron-rich foods… and, well, charcuterie is something you can enjoy in small amounts (making up for the $$) and you don’t even have to worry about contamination, at least at the time of consumption.

I’d love to hear about your adventures in smoking meat! And you know, I just remembered that I promised I would make that tomato pie… a bit telling about my “optimism, determination and appetite for life.” The saying “eyes bigger than your stomach” applies equally to my ever-growing list of interests and endeavours. Hopefully with some careful organization and time management I’ll actually be able to walk the walk, not just talk the talk. I’m good at the talking part.

Cleaning your new place to your satisfaction is an indispensable part of the nesting ritual; as much as we despise it, scrubbing away the previous owners or tenants is the beginning of a sense of permanence, of the place being “ours”. It only looks hopeless when everything is scattered everywhere – as soon as you begin to establish little islands of order (as you appear to have done already, from the picture), your place begins to emerge from the chaos.

I’m sure you won’t be able to stay away from baking for long.

I look forward to more from your blog; I got the impression you ate very little meat (I couldn’t really say from where; just an impression, I guess) so the charcuterie ambition is a surprise. I got a great smoker for Christmas and am anxious to try it out; maybe you might be interested in something like that, too, and the recipes that came with mine suggest just about anything can be smoked (although an apartment would not be the ideal location for a smoker, except perhaps for the balcony). I’ve always liked the flavour smoking brings to firm cheeses, for example, and Quebec offers several very good ones. But I’m getting away from the meat subject; one of the recipes is for making “delicious” salami (so they tell me) from regular ground beef. I’m interested in trying that one.

I love your optimism, determination and appetite for life; I wish you well in your new endeavors and experiences.