I saw Meryl Streep’s newest movie this weekend, Julie & Julia. It’s a movie that tells the tale of Julia Child’s life and Julie Powell’s, a then-food blogger who cooked her way through Julia’s cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking, vowing to make all 524 recipes in one year from her little NYC kitchen.
I loved the opportunity to get to know more about Julia Child and how she got her start. Meryl Streep did an amazing job with the character, and although there is no vow to work my way through the whole book, I did come away ordering it from Amazon when I got home.
There is a scene in the movie where Julia is in the kitchen and her husband comes in and asks “what’s for dinner?” She lets out a deep sigh, looks to the heavens and said, “I have no idea!” in her distinctive shrill tone. It was a sentiment that I can relate to all too well. Even though I have recipe clippings stacked on my nighttable and desk, a stack of cookbooks I’m reading through and my Tivo list is consistently filled with taped food and cooking shows, that doesn’t mean I always know what’s for dinner. Sometimes I’ll have Saturday’s dinner planned, but not the current day. Just like this week. I know what I’m making for dinner on Wednesday, and have since this past weekend, but didn’t know what was hitting the table tonight. It’s like … food occupies my mind on so many different levels (I’m currently on a hunt for to-die-for bleu cheese stuffed olives), that the most simplest aspect of food, as in what’s for dinner, is often the one that escapes me, or just gives me momentary pause.
A co-worker and I were just talking about this very topic this morning. Deciding on dinner, to me, is like getting dressed in the morning. If I don’t know what I’m going to wear before I get out of bed in the morning, I guarantee it will take me a good 30 minutes standing and staring at the clothes in my clothes before I can figure out what to wear. Thirty minutes I don’t have. The same goes with dinner. If I don’t have a plan before I step in the kitchen, all bets are off, and who knows what’s going to happen. Although I know menu planning would probably help me in ways I can’t possibly imagine, I find it hard to commit to. At least right now. I’m just not in the right mind-set to do it. Between an upcoming move (T minus four days!), two very active kids, and a full-time job plus, I don’t have the time, at least right now, to be quite that organized. I can tell you what I’m making for a dinner Wednesday and the kids and I have planned a foodie outing this week, but dinner? I’m with Julia … a deep sigh, eyes towards the heavens and a big “I don’t know.” Sometimes that’s part of the fun though.
So what to make when you don’t know what to make? Stir-fry is always a good bet. Whether it’s with new ingredients that you picked up from the grocery store, or it’s your way of either cleaning out the fridge or eating more healthily, it fits so many different needs. It’s so very forgiving, you just can’t screw it up. When we have company over usually for the first time, my go-to dish is usually a Penne with Vodka Sauce. The recipe comes from A Slob in the Kitchen, a cookbook from former MTV VJ Karen Duffy. Without exception, I am always asked for the recipe. But believe it or not, I have never made anything else from that cookbook … until last week.
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