The Joy of Squirrel

Future James Beard Winner  

        Even with all the cookbooks available and entire television networks that I am sure have covered every cuisine and dish imaginable, less and less people cook.  One would think with all the extra tutorials and resources available that more people would be cooking now, not less.  I think what may be happening, unfortunately, is that all this talk about gourmet food has driven people into two groups:  Fast Food Fallbacks and Fanatic Foodies.  The middle group, the home cooks who put a balanced dinner on their table every night, is disappearing.  Since I have always really loved and appreciated food, it is hard for me to completely understand the “Fast Food Fallback” mentality, BUT-I think I can relate:


        A couple of years ago my mom got me a subscription to “This Old House.”  Behind my cottage there was an “in-law” house and an unfinished basement.  Since I was bound and determined to live there forever with my dogs she thought I would be interested in learning about how to do renovations.  To a degree she was right.  I had slowly amassed some power tools, enjoyed painting and had built and recovered some furniture.  The magazine though, which is meant to inspire the DIY spirit in old home owners, only crushed mine.  What the heck is a lathe?   How do I go to Lowe’s with this magazine and find all 23 tools and 67 pieces of materials needed to properly repair the door to it's historic origins?  (And in my imagination drive 45 minutes back to Warm Springs only to find I had forgotten something).


I resigned myself to the rest of the issues to just flipping through and looking at the pictures, applauding the homeowners from my comfy,  non-Victorian period sofa.  I decided that when and if the time came to really renovate I would hire someone that already had all 23 tools and 67 pieces.

             In the same manner, I think some of the “foodie” movement has crushed a lot of would-be-cooks' spirits.  When I go into a bookstore and see the rows and rows of gorgeous cookbooks, I think "Well, it looks like this is pretty well covered already.  I guess the only subject left would be a tutorial on how to cook squirrels and other random animals your husband brings home."

A romantic squirrel dinner for two.

              The more we see of perfectly dressed women pulling out perfect meals to a perfectly set table; or see renowned chefs shouting orders so they can get a ten course meal on the table for 200 in an hour, the less attainable family dinner for four (or two) seems.  In the same manner, the “quick meal solutions” that are advertised are full of processed flour, sodium, preservatives and pretty low on flavor.  The result is a lot of eating out, a lot of fast food, and a lot of convenience items from the grocery store that add up to little nutritional value.

My hope through this blog is to help translate those “foods you should be eating” into "meals you are actually enjoying."  As a registered dietitian, I firmly believe that all of us can cook healthy meals for our families every single day without magically becoming kitchen experts first.  As more of a confessed “fanatic foodie” I believe all those meals can be incredibly delicious.  And as someone who is not a total stranger to the drive-thru, I can definitely understand those days when all you want to eat is anything you don’t have to cook. (Squirrel included)

Don't get crushed, I don't cook this much every night.  It was just a good vegetable picture.

What group do you lean toward more?  Do you get overwhelmed when you hear chefs talking about all the spices they are adding in a recipe or excited to go try it?   Are you one of those people I read about whose picture I look at that have actually restored one of the gorgeous Victorians or Antebellums here in Washington or elsewhere?


Tell me about it!  (It's a small town so if you don't talk about yourself somebody else will).  

Coming up:  The next couple posts will be centered around recipes based on locally grown produce that is going to be available at the market this Saturday, October 30th!  So far I’ve heard there will be kale, sweet potatoes, garlic, peppers, eggplant and Jerusalem artichokes (Don't worry-I've never had one of those last things either).