Gastromomica

When I first realized I was interested in food–I mean, like, wow, I might actually have a calling as a ‘foodie,’ kind of thinking–it was something that I quietly explored alongside the things that were my main interests, which were all over the place at the time.  Over time those things have either fallen away, or have oddly woven their way into my primary interest in food (did someone say The Holy Spirit?).  As the transition has happened over the last year, my experience has gone from feeling like my “food life” was overtaking my “real life”, to now feeling like my food life is my real life.

They say that all roads lead to Rome.  Well, for me Rome must be the kitchen, because that seems to be where all of my paths are headed these days. To that end, I have found myself in the happy position of teaching cooking classes for the Graduate Student Housing programs at my university.  My first class is tomorrow night, followed by the same class with a different group of folks on Thursday night.  I racked my brains for something cool to teach as my intro class and finally decided on a “tapas and small plate cuisine” theme.  So, tomorrow I’ll be teaching the participants to make spanakopita, stuffed grape leaves, roasted almonds, and stuffed dates, along with some other recipes that I won’t have time to demo but that I’ll share with them to take home.

And you, my friendly blog-readers, will certainly benefit, as well.  The first recipe that I will share here is for a traditional Spanish tapa called Tortilla Espanola, which I made last night as part of my own tapas-inspired dinner.  However, I now have to go grocery shopping for this week’s classes (and for my poor family), write up the recipes, and pre-prepare the ingredients for the classes (kind of like a cooking show where as soon as you put one thing in the oven you come back from the commercial and it’s all cooked–except there won’t be any conveniently placed commercials), which means the recipe for the lovely tortilla that I made will have to wait.  Hopefully this teaser and the promise of the recipes to match the photos will bring you back for that post when I finally write it.  Until then, happy cooking and wish me luck as I continue on this exciting new food journey!