Gails Blog

There’s the Slow Cook trend, the Raw Food trend, the 100-mile trend. It seems there’s nothing new about trends in food. Organics are a phenomenon. Vegitarianism is on the rise, prompting one character in a hamburger ad to coin the term “Meatatarian.” But it’s the latest trend in food preparation that is most likely to surprise you: Eat At Home. Really. It’s becoming fashionable again to cook and eat at home. Who wudda thunk it?

I’ve been a big proponent of the Eat At Home approach to food. For years now I’ve been urging families to cut back on their take out and eat home-made food. I’ve sent my couples to meal planners. I’ve sent my couples to cooking school. I’ve even sent them to Get-the-meal-ready-ahead Shops like Supperworks, where the prepping has been done for them, so they can ease into the whole home-cooking thang gradually. I’ve urged them to shop with a list, to incorporate themes into their meals to add fun and excitement, and to get the kids involved in the process.

Well, the economy is in the tank and people are eating at home. Could it be that we’re getting wise to how expensive eating out really is?

According to BIGResearch, an Ohio-based firm that does consumer research, about 45% of Americans are eating out less this year to save money. IRI Consulting and Innovation in Chicago reports that sales of “center store” items in supermarkets — stuff like rice, pasta, canned goods, baking supplies and spices – are up. And according to USA Today, Bon Appetit  (not my favorite cooking mag) says newsstand sales in May 2008 were up 39% from a year ago and Amazon.com has seen double-digit growth in book sales in the food, cooking and wine category during this past year.

Okay, so cooking at home is hot. But how do you cope with the work involved in prepping, cooking and cleaning up after a home-cooked meal?

In my house, cooking isn’t a chore, it’s an activity. It’s something we do together. Even if I’m the one stirring the pot, the kids are there chatting their heads off, doing homework, or skylarkin’ with each other, and the whole thing is fun.

And let’s face it folks, if you can read a cookbook, you can make a meal. It’s not rocket science, particularly with the great instructions we now get in recipes. Anyone else remember when measurements were “a pinch” of this and “a dash” of that. Once you get really good, you can start improvising, and then the fun really begins. To this day, I don’t measure. And whenever my kids say, “This is great Mom” I respond with, “Enjoy it!” meaning it isn’t likely to happen just the same way again.

While many people take the job of grocery shopping and turn it into an Olympic event, rushing through the aisles, tapping their feet at the check-out, I consider grocery shopping to be an experience. I take my inspiration for my meals from whatever catches my eye as I browse the aisles. I’ve long been a fan of those centre aisles because there’s so much opportunity there. And I’ve never been afraid to combine cuisines.

So when I saw that The President had a fruity salsa on the shelves, I immediately thought how lovely that would be combined with some jerk seasoning over chicken. Dead easy and ready in no time flat. I’ve subsequently added a little apricot jam to the mix to sweeten it up a bit as a compliment to the fire of the jerk.

Then there was the day I wondered how jerk seasoning would taste mixed in with basil pesto. Hmmm. So I added a tablespoon of jerk to my Classico Basil Pesto, rubbed it on my chicken, and it was fabulous… particularly sliced up and served over a fresh salad of spinach, red peppers, oranges and nuts. Yummy!

Cooking at home doesn’t have to be boring, although many people make it so by sticking to the tried-and-true recipes they’re most comfortable with. My husband would say that when he was a child he always knew what day of the week it was by the meal at dinner.

And just because you don’t like a certain spice because you tasted it once and almost tossed your cookies, doesn’t mean you should write it off completely. My mother-in-law claimed to HATE curry. Hated it in its every iteration. After she came to live with us I – who am a huge fan of curries of all kind — cooked a curry that she not only enjoyed but asked for again. There she sat at 85 shaking her head as she ate because she’d always hated curry and here she was eating it with relish.

I’m teaching my children to cook. Alex is already quite the whiz with dessert – a good place to start kids in the kitchen because it doesn’t matter how crappy the end result, it’s sweet so they’ll eat it. And now she’s learning some savory alternatives that will stand her in good stead when she heads off to university. She’s not the KD Kid, so she better learn to cook or she won’t be happy.

And Malcolm, who is 12 pushing 13, has just begun his lessons. Home made pizza on pitas to start. And salmon (because if you can cook one fish, you can cook ‘em all.)

Okay, it’s your turn. What’s your most creative invention in the kitchen?

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