I love eating and I love cooking, but I'm only good at one of those. Correction, I'm great at it. Ever have one of those All You Can Eat dinners where you and your friends are sitting around the table, looking at all the excess food that was ordered? Even after hiding pieces in tea pots and napkins there's still too much on the table to not get charged extra. Well, I'm one of those people who will take a deep breath, pull my sweater over the waist of my jeans, undo the belt and button, and keep chewing and shoving food down until there is enough to not be charged. I've puked on two occasions. That may be seen as a defeat, but I was a champion during those moments I helped clear the table.

Cooking on the other hand... well, like I said, I love it! I can make food that is okay enough for me, but never good enough to serve, even though I still do (poor friends and family). My biggest problem is that I have no patience. I feel like food should be ready NOW. I'm slowly learning. I'm getting better at letting things marinate longer so the flavours can really come out instead of drizzling and sprinkling more and more sauces, juices and spices because I can't taste the flavours right away.

I'm a big admirer of Jamie's Food Revolution. We won't see McDonald's going away anytime soon, but I think it's important that kids (and parents!) understand that strawberry milk doesn't give you the same nutritional value as milk. French fries shouldn't be counted as part of your suitable veggie intake. It sounds simple, but you'd be surprised to hear what some schools are serving the students. Let's make one thing clear though, I'm guilty of eating crap. I told you, I love food. I love my Panago pizza, take out calamari, shawarma plates and cheap hot wings, so I can't preach to any one. I'm just saying, Jamie Oliver knows what he's talking about and he has influenced me to eat less of those old favourites and to look for healthier options that could eventually become my new favourites (if I cook it right).

Today, I took Jamie Oliver's gnocchi recipe. This is my last day, second to last meal, of Wild Rose so I did have to modify it. No flour, which meant there was less hold, but I liked the slight mushiness! And no parmesan. Even without those two it was pretty darn good. I could only imagine how much better it would be with cheese.



(Pardon the jumpy layout and formatting. I should have decided on a template before I started but I really wanted to get started. This was a canned layout, so expect it to change again.)