Season to Taste by Molly Birnbaum

I really hope I never go blind. I have often thought that this would be my worst nightmare for my elderly days. I am sure I will lose my sense of hearing. I have never contemplated that I could lose my senses of taste, smell, or touch. But of all the senses, I could not bear to be without my sight.

You don't really hear much about people losing their sense of smell. However, Molly Birnbaum lost her ability to smell after a head injury in a car accident. Her account of her life before and after this is detailed in her memoir, Season to Taste: How I Lost My Sense of Smell and Found My Way. It was our March Kitchen Reader choice, picked by Katherine Martinelli.

If this book is anything to go by, losing one's sense of smell is quite harrowing. More than perhaps I imagined.

Mexican Soup

Sonya was my best friend in high school and university. We started off as colleagues when we worked as youth centre leaders. Soon we were inseparable. She was there when I made my first forays into cooking. This cake (pictured below) was one of the first things either of us ever baked; it was a birthday cake for Glenn, our boss. (In his car he had a wooden figure called Calvin which we copied - you can see it at the top the cake.) This cake was a huge hit with our boss - he was so impressed!

Gingerbread Cake (Whole Grain)

I was a tomboy as a teenager. I refused to wear dresses (sorry, Grammie, you did try to tempt me) and I never owned anything pink. My beanpole body helped, too: I was tall and straight as a board for all of my pre-adult years. Jeans and baggy T-shirts were my uniform, along with chunky boots or trainers. My long (lanky) hair was the only thing about me that could be described as remotely feminine. (Here I am at 16 with my friend Delia. Doesn't she look like a lovely girl?)

Ricotta Cheese

In this month's Secret Recipe Club I was lucky enough to be assigned Parsley, Sage, Desserts, and Line Drives. It's written by Lisa Michele and has a wide-ranging archive of recipes to browse. I viewed so many delicious things on this blog, but somehow found myself coming back time and again to homemade ricotta cheese.

Three Essentials for Writing a Perfect Food Blog Post -- Lessons from A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg

Reading A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg is a writing course for food bloggers. Her book grew out of her popular and long-running blog Orangette. The book tells the story of her life through vignettes and recipes. It was our Kitchen Reader choice for February, chosen by Jules of Stone Soup.

Wizenberg's voice is chatty, friendly, and laid back. She paints word pictures of her family and friends in a humourous and loving way. She has been a food blogger since 2004. In her book she says that she writes "about my life some, too, since it intersects with food roughly three times a day." It's clear that this book grew from the stories on her blog. Each of the forty-five short chapters in her book is a perfect model of how to write an engaging blog post. I learned three lessons to apply to my food blogging. I'm considering these the three essential ingredients for a perfect food blog post.

Cornbread with Corn

From the "why-didn't-i-think-of that-before?" file comes this recipe idea: adding corn to cornbread. Boy, that's an obvious idea, but it had not occurred to me until recently.

If you are anything like me, you often have some frozen or canned corn around on standby to make emergency meals when there are no "real" vegetables in the fridge. And so it is that I threw some corn into the cornbread recently. Serve with soup for a full meal. (Maybe rocket and goat's cheese soup? Or Mexican soup?)

Butternut Squash with Beans and Pumpkin Seeds

"You mean you really don't eat out?" my colleague asked. We were having drinks after a work conference and I confessed I hadn't eaten at any of the restaurants he had been praising.

"I like to cook," I replied. It's true, I prefer to come home and cook rather than eat out--the vast majority of the time. This is not typical Hong Kong behaviour.

"But where do you get ideas for what to make?" he countered.

Thanks for Visiting!

Hello, friends! This is just a short, personal note to say thanks for visiting Simply Cooked, or liking us on Facebook. In the last four months the blog has had over 10,000 page views each month! This is a huge milestone for me and I'm so excited. Plus, there are more than 300 people subscribed to the blog by email or RSS feed.


My next goal is to increase the interactivity on the Simply Cooked Facebook page. I think it could be a great place to share easy, tasty recipe ideas. Anyone can post there, so I hope you will. Next time you find something interesting around the web, please share it with the Simply Cooked community by posting it there. Or share your kitchen ideas.

Meatless Meatballs

Now here's a unique way to make meatballs: with lentils and brown rice. These meatless meatballs are a good party snack or a dinner main dish with spaghetti. They are made more interesting with the addition of pesto, garlic, oregano, and paprika. They tasted scrumptious with a pesto and mayo dipping sauce.

Zesty Grapefruit Cake (Whole Grain)

My good friend is allergic to milk. She came over to bake with me last week and we whipped up this delicious cake. It's made with grapefruit and is zesty, delicious, and has no milk.

I have never tried a cake with grapefruit before - but it's an inspired surprise. It's a sharper taste than orange and more flavourful than lemon. The springy cake is topped with a glaze made with grapefruit zest and juice.