Maybe It's Just a Phase...

It is one of the maxims of the food world that thou shall eat seasonably. One should enjoy the bountiful fruits and vegetables of summer in light, low-maintenance meals like salads. In winter, it is time for hearty stews of meats and root vegetables, and creamy or cheesy comfort foods. In the summer, we are told by food magazines that it is time to cook outside on the grill, and avoid heating up our homes by running the stove or the oven. Normally, I say bollox to conventional wisdom, and cook whatever I want, when I want. My dishes may have a huge carbon footprint, but they either satisfy a craving for a specific flavor, or a yearning to perform a specific kitchen task. In the past, this has meant chicken in mustard cream sauce in July, or raspberry sorbet in January.

Recently, however, I came to a startling realization: I was preparing a cup of tea at work when one of my colleagues inquired as to whether I had baked the cake that was gracing the break room counter. "No," I replied, "I think it was the summer legal associate." As I walked away, it hit me: I couldn't remember the last time I had baked something!

Shocking, I know. Upon further reflection, I realized that I had not baked any dessert for over a month, when I took cookies to Abel and Katie when I visited D.C. in June. Furthermore, I had not brought any goodies in to work since my birthday, when I prepared cupcakes to use up extra frosting from my birthday cake. Back when I first started at the museum, I had embarked on a program of baking cookies for my coworkers every other week in an effort to bring myself to their attention. Initially, I provided the cookies anonymously, which created an irresistible mystery. Everyone wanted to know who the "cookie fairy" was, and it helped to break the ice with my peers.

Last weekend I decided to end the dry spell, and offered to bake up a batch of peanut butter cookies (a legend over at the office), to bring to my picnic with Lauren. Much to my horror, when I went to put the cookies away, I discovered a layer of dust on my cookie jar. It really had been a long time!

Peanut Butter Cookies, are you jealous?

As it turns out, I have been focusing my kitchen efforts on treats of the frozen variety. Ever since my Fourth of July party it has been an endless procession of popsicles and homemade frozen yogurt. There was even sorbet on the agenda for this week, before my injured neck put me out of commission. If I can hardly comb my own hair, I think churning sorbet in my manual ice cream machine is definitely out of the question. Hopefully I'll be feeling better soon; it would be nice to capitalize on this unintentional inclination towards seasonally appropriate food production while the impulse still grabs me, because goodness knows, it doesn't happen very often.