In the Beginning...

Dear Friends,

I have decided to revamp Fauren in favor of something more productive than a vanity blog.

The seeds were planted (so to speak) for this idea over a year ago, when I read Barbara Kingsolver's Prodigal Summer and Michael Pollan's Botany of Desire back to back.  The books sparked two things in me that had been latent since moving away from home, which are the influences of my parents' green thumbs and my mom's magic in the kitchen.   And actually, the two really go hand in hand.

Ever since I can remember, 9 months of weekends at our home in Massachusetts were spent with my mom and dad in the yard, weeding, watering, turning soil, raking, mowing, composting, planting, and replanting.  During the other three, my mom's "plant babies" germinated and grew up from their little discs of soil under grow lights in the basement laundry room.  So many delicious things came out of those gardens; we always had fresh herbs (African Blue basil was my favorite), and one summer my mom grew so many tomatoes that she was giving them away as gifts for even the most trivial occasions.  We savored the rest in green salads, in fresh panzanella, or just on their own.

I didn't learn to appreciate my mother's cooking until much later than I ought to have, and I certainly didn't understand the lengths to which she went to cook for us from the most elemental ingredients, instead of taking any number of Hamburger Helper shortcuts.  Now, of course, I am a destitute graduate student without the luxury of a mother to cook for her any longer, so I think back on these meals as nothing short of masterpieces.

But what use is it, really, to long for those salad days? (genius!)

I may not be able to do much about the urge to garden, seeing as I live in Brooklyn with no outdoor space to call my own,  but just the opposite is true of cooking.  Not only do I finally have an apartment with a room large and well-equipped enough to actually be called a kitchen (none of this galley stuff they've got going on in Manhattan), I also happen to live in Park Slope, where the options for a foodie are nearly endless.  There are exceptions, of course, but the restaurants, farmer's markets, and even bodegas offer a lot of options and ideas you won't find in many other places.

On top of all this, I can thank my mother for giving me a palate.  My cooking skills might need some work, but at least I'll be able to taste when I've finally done something right, and aren't the best victories often the tiniest?

So it is with all of this in mind (and thensome) that I embark on this new blog of mine, in which I plan on running the gamut of food experiences: recipes, tips, restaurant reviews, innovations, successes, failures, and all things in between.  There are a lot of things informing the way I order, shop for, cook, and/or eat my food these days that maybe you'll find helpful and interesting too, but there is time for all of that. 

For now, I just want to welcome you to the new Fauren, and I hope you'll stick around.

Comments

[Jonathan Harford]

What? I come here for the vanity!

Maybe I'm only saying that 'cause I just ate.

[lis]

please don't ever knock hamburger helper again. it hurts me. deeply.

[Amy]

I WILL STICK AROUND

[Eileen]

Lauren,

this really is beautiful! and interesting... i would love that strawberry risotto recipe. thank you for letting me know about your blog, i'll stay tuned for more yummy things.