Comfort food doesn’t always have to be fattening.

At least that’s what I keep telling myself.

Sure, there’s a place for amazing fried chicken, gooey mac and cheese, Mom’s biscuit and gravy and double chocolate cake. If I let myself eat like that as often as it sounds good, I’d be 10 times my size.

So, I’ve been on a healthy comfort food kick. Healthy meals can be just as rich, delicious and stick to your ribs as pot roast on a bed of creamy mashed potatoes.

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Before the evil vine borers decimated our squash crops, we harvested A LOT of butternut squash.

I really love butternuts, but most of my recipes are much more Fall oriented.

There’s a reason people grill in the Summer and it’s not just about the food. For each meal I plan, I try to minimize my use of the oven or stove. Cooking on a gas stove in 100 degree heat in an 80 year old house makes the kitchen feel like the Sahara.

Despite that, I’ve made soup…twice. I’ve even tackled risotto which definitely does not meet my Summer-oven routine.

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One of the first cookbooks I started cooking from was a 640 page Martha Stewart Living Cookbook. Though it’s a great resource, it probably wasn’t the best cookbook for a beginner.

Each recipe I tried called for about 40 different ingredients, most of which were totally new to me. Cardamom? Creme fraiche? What the hell are those? I didn’t know enough to be able to make substitutions, so gathering the gourmet ingredients for each meal would easily cost me $100. Since I was a poor college student, my cooking escapades were rare.

This was probably my Junior year of college. I lived with 3 other girls I was happy to feed. And, of course there was A who usually had a couple of roommates in tow. So, I commonly cooked for 7. Not exactly the best number of guests to have when you’re learning to cook.

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‘Um, Crystal…is there butter in this soup?’
‘Maybe. I mean, it’s quite possible.’

I shared this soup with my book club last week. We meet once a month to (sometimes) discuss the book that we (sometimes) read. Mostly, we just chat, eat good food and drink copious amounts of wine.

Last week’s meeting was special not just because we ate amazing soup. It was also our 2 year anniversary meeting–the meeting where we chose and planned books for the following year. We’re a militant…ahem…I mean organized group. Before meeting, we compiled a list of book recommendations. Then, we met to vote and organize hosting dates. Due to the large number of members, we found ourselves planning until March 2011. It was somewhat surreal.

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It rained in Austin the other day. A rainy day didn’t used to be so rare. This drought we are in, paired with the insane heat, has made Austinites praise the heavens every time this unfamiliar wet stuff falls from the sky. The rareness of rain in Austin and the smell of rain on dry, hot asphalt reminded me of the desert rain I grew up with.

Rain in the Nevada desert is also quite rare. It is the desert after all. Rain was so rare, our family had a ritual when I was little. Nevada thunderstorms don’t sneak up on you like Texas thunderstorms do. You can see them coming for a while. Any time the sky would begin to darken and lightning would flash behind the mountains, my dad would pull lawn chairs out onto the front lawn. We’d sit and watch the light show over the mountains, counting the seconds between lightning and thunder to determine the distance of the storm. Even as the storm rolled in, we’d sit in the rain for a bit to revel in the amazing smell of cool rain on desert dirt and plants. It’s one of those memories you have that other people might not even remember. It was a sweet time with my dad. For that reason, every time I smell a good Summer rain, I’m transported to that spot on the front lawn, admiring the flashes of lightning over Nevada mountains, counting ‘one one thousand, two one thousand, three one thousand…’ until we heard thunder. (more…)