Salutations

Dear friend,

Like the two previous posters, I’m not exactly sure to whom I should address this post. But if we are linked on this blog, I know that you’re at least a friend of a friend, and you want to survive this mysterious experience that is called ‘adulting.’ And these two criteria tell me everything I need to know: let’s skip the friend of a friend business and settle for friend. Much simpler.

So that you know who you’ve just become friends with, here’s a couple salient details about me. My name is Anna. I’m a reader and writer and avid tea-drinker. I adore baking and am very good at it; I find cooking to be a chore and am in the process of learning how to avoid sucking at it. If you haven’t set a pot on fire yet, you’re ahead of me on the learning curve. (Pro tip: olive oil has a lower flash point than other oils. If you’re sauteing anything, say for a lentil soup in a big stew pot, DON’T HEAT THE OIL ON ANYTHING HIGHER THAN MEDIUM).

Accordingly, there are some cooking rules I live by:

1. The recipe must be simple enough I can manage it without tearing my hair out.
2. I like to cook with fresh ingredients whenever possible.
3. I prefer recipes that are healthy and cheap.
4. I will try any food at least once. If it’s good enough, I might try to replicate it.
5. I try to expose myself to foods that are unfamiliar to me and my European-spiceless background. I am also learning to cook some of them, with varying degrees of success.

Accordingly, most of the recipes I share here will be time-tested. They will also be cheap and simple. If you’re looking for creme-brulee tips, I’m afraid I won’t be of much help. But if you’re looking for food that you can make on a college budget, in any city in the world, and in mass-batches, I’m your girl.

I’m also, by the way, looking forward to reading about you and your food philosophy. I’m eager to steal your recipes, and above all, I hope that we can continue this friendship for a long time. Because when my life gives me lemons – if I don’t want to blow another pot up – I’ll need some advice on that lemonade.

All the best,

Anna

P.S. If for some reason, you want to see what I get up to in my spare time, here’s the link to my non-cooking blog: http://www.nimbusofawriter.wordpress.com.