I’ll Keep It

~post by Katie G.

I grew up with a mom who hated to cook and made a big deal about how much effort had to go into the meal vs the actual enjoyment of sitting down to eat it. In an attempt to circumvent this reaction to culinary creating, I’ve spent a number of years figuring out how to simplify and make food tasty but easy.

So, when I first started skimming Kathy Brennan & Caroline Campion’s Keepers: Two Home Cooks Share Their Tried-and-True Weeknight Recipes and the Secrets to Happiness in the Kitchen, it felt like home. My home. Not my mother’s home.

This book offers so many awesome ways to keep your kitchen running over with good food. Not only that, but it promotes getting away from your “safeties.” Those are the foods you buy week after week at the grocery store because they’re familiar. Instead, this book makes you work with Keepers that make you more adventurous and your mealtimes sizzle.

I am definitely guilty of the “safeties” infringement. I have basically 2 minutes a day to myself and a boyfriend whom I live with who has the culinary habits of a 6 year old. (Habits which basically amount to, “No I don’t like that!”)

So, yes, challenge accepted. What recipe to make? I decided to take us both out of our comfort zones. He hates turkey, and I hate any salad I make myself. So, Keepers “Jucy Lucy” Turkey Burgers and the Kale Salad with Pomegranate and Pumpkin Seeds were it. I was really excited about the salad. I’ve been trying to figure out that dark, leafy mistress named kale for years.

So, I don’t often use recipes. I normally follow the fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants-oh-this-should-probably-taste-good-together formula of cooking. I found Brennan & Campion’s recipes were easy to prepare. There were great suggestions and the instructions were simply spelled out.

Best example: I’d always heard people talking about massaging kale, and she tells you how right there in the recipe. No Googling required. I tried to keep a straight face while I was gently caressing the bitterness out of the kale , but Wade (the boyfriend) decided to start playing some Barry White in the background. Giggling ensued.

It all turned out great, as you can see from the pre-nommed photo there on the right. We even had Wade’s sister, Megan, over. She’s a college student, so she rarely gets home cooked meals. It was a great success and everyone found it delicious. I think these two (the recipes and the peeps) are Keepers.

…Side note: Everything was easy enough to make. But, allow me to show you an example of why I do so rarely venture away from my “safeties.” This is what my kitchen looks like after making something I don’t have a rhythm down for yet.

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Keepers is currently available on our shelves and via bookpeople.com. Caroline Campion will be in-store at BookPeople on Monday, September 23 at 7PM in conversation with fellow Austin Food Bloggers to speak about and sign copies of Keepers. Check out the BookPeople event page for more details.