Living with a Foodie

It has now gone far past the point of confession: everyone knows I am a foodie. But more often than not, I wonder what it must be like to live with someone like me, in other words, what it must be like to live with a foodie.

I'm currently in the middle of reading "The Gastronomy of Marriage" by Michelle Maisto and it's a really great read. And yes, I am reading another foodie book, but I have good reason to do so! You see, when you're tired of bothering your friends, your roommates, your spouse, your family, and sometimes even the guy selling apples at his market stand with talk of food, you can simply pick up a foodie book, curl up on the couch, and feel like you aren't that crazy, that someone out there in the world relates to you. (This is also why I like to wind down at night by reading other people's food blogs). It's a kind of strange foodie escapism.

I can related to Michelle Maisto in so many ways, especially with her increased obsession with food the more she formed a live-in relationship with her then fiancee. Like the author and her partner, the longer Andrew and I lived together, the more I seemed to find myself waking up to thoughts like "What do we have? What can I make?", a thought I didn't have quite as often when I was single, when I only felt I had myself to take of, or when there was no one else to impress or show my love for through food. Again, it's a huge pleasure I now take in fulfilling, but our similar progression into marital foodie madness was funny to see.

Just as often, I so related to her descriptions of nudging her partner in bed, while he's trying to go to sleep, just to ask him if he thinks, say, beets would have the right flavor to be paired with apples and balsamic vinegar. Soooo been there.

On a similar note, I remember once telling my cousin that sometimes I get so excited by the prospect of having a yummy energizing breakfast (which is usually no more than some form of smoothie) that it actually keeps me up for a little while at night. I'll never forget the somewhat bemused look on her face when I confessed that to her.

One passage of this book in particular made me smile, because once again, I could so relate. In the middle of the street, in the middle the day, the author remembers that she really wants try to make a stew that she saw in a magazine months ago. To make sure it can happen, she emails her fiancee and asks him to pick up a few ingredients on his way home from work. Agreeing, his response is:

"You're going to think about this all day now aren't you," he emails back. Which is true, though I don't exactly know why.

Does it ever get tedious to live with someone like that, like me? Do you get sick of hearing about perfect food combinations, about striving for an ideal new texture, or about the latest food trend in food blogs and magazines? I hope not... In any case, to all partners and family members of foodies, thank you for putting up with us, though I think we make up for it in yummy dishes. Also, thank you foodie world, for making me feel a little less alone...

Now onto the food! Like all foodies know, not every meal can be a success (something we unfortunately have to learn the hard way). Part of tonight's dinner was just meh. I made I am Grateful's I am Magical Marinated Mushrooms, and they were very... mushroomy, and unfortunately, little else. I even topped them with figs to try and compensate. We only had a couple, and now I've taken them back into the kitchen to become a lovely marinade. They were pretty though:

Also up on the menu was something to curb one of today's cravings... raw sushi! Our kitty was very interested in the seaweed, so they disappeared pretty quickly :) Okay, with or without my hungry kitty, I'm kind of a sushi vacuum...

Have a great weekend!

Workout of the Day

Another fantastic ab sesh courtesy of Laury

20 minutes HIIT on the stairclimber + 2 minute cooldown

5 minutes of stretching