Chloe Cullen's Blog, page 10
February 28, 2024
Self-Taught Homework #14: You almost cancel everything, then evolve into a dinner-party type
You apologize for this coming later than Sunday. You’ve been pushing off the end of this project as long as you can, because you want to end it on the right note, and you’re sad to say goodbye to it. Thank you to you, the subscribers, for kindly reading and sending recipes for three months. This project’s wonder comes from the individual act of cooking and the digitally primal response to cooking through a words on a screen. You wish that you all could be in one room eating a crown roast togethe...
February 22, 2024
Self-Taught Lesson #14: So, how do you get this thing (a dinner party) started?
After I saw my parents last weekend, and retrieved bags of sweaters, t-shirts, a citrus slicer, a water bottle, and a library book I left behind in December in a last-minute dash, I also gained a new cookbook. Above the library book (a rented 2019 edition of Joy of Cooking that I have held for too long) was a sun-yellowed 1962 edition with my grandma’s handwriting on a Post-It on the inside sleeve.
This would be the perfect reference book for entertaining, I thought. This was a primary document ...
February 20, 2024
February 19, 2024
Self-Taught Homework #13: You make cheesesteaks for comfort and mini Wellingtons for hubris
After you serve individual Beef Wellingtons on Thursday, your boyfriend closes his eyes. That’s the signal for “this is good.”
When he returns to his body and his eyes open, he says, “I think it’s time for you to make your own recipes.”
You don’t say anything for a second. You’re a rule follower, a syllabus maker. As your knife slices through the pinker round of the small Wellington, you take a second to feel something small. Amazement? Pride? Before this week, would you even be able to imagine ...
February 15, 2024
Self-Taught Lesson #13: Ok, I actually know nothing about beef cuts...what are they??
Beef feels socially prickly. It tastes delicious, and we societally hold it in the highest regards. From steakhouse restaurants to wedding caterers, you celebrate with steak.
But there’s also no other animal like cows that are connotatively connected with climate change. What other creature has their farts running through the news? (I hope the cows never find out or learn shame.)
This makes the approach to Beef Week a little tricky. Should we really be trying to cook every cut of beef? Is it too...
February 12, 2024
February 11, 2024
Self-Taught Homework #12: You & tofu bond over Eldest Daughter Syndrome
Tofu’s superpower is its ability to absorb whatever you give it.
You can’t tell if you admire or worry for tofu.
The meatless protein recipes you find primarily feature tofu, and a disproportionate amount of those recipes come from Instagram (sadly).
When you scan a private folder of saved Instagram cooking videos, you search for one recipe you swore you saved about a one-pot-looking tofu medley. Your worst eating preferences reflect back to you (double sadly). You are surprised to find yourself...
February 9, 2024
The January Log: Here's How I Spent My Time, Is It Worth Yours?
Me: No resolutions this January, I’m going to let myself figure it out day by day.
Also me:
January is such a pressure cooker of a month. Coming out the gate on New Year’s Day, everyone wants to become the version of themselves they’ve always thought they could be. That’s not for me this year.
These abstract goals that always remind me of what I could be doing better, or how I could be different, don’t always resolve the questions of “what do I want to be doing?”
Often, these expectations I have...
February 8, 2024
Lesson #12: So...what is a meatless protein?
Seems like a crazy time to ask after the week’s theme has already been announced, but…what is a meatless protein??
Though vegetarian and vegans have to source these supplements for their daily diets, I am (1) apparently a huge carnivore and (2) apparently hesitant when it comes to trying new things.
Since I’m not vegan, my research includes vegetarian options (like eggs or dairy-based dressings), though we will also look at purely plant-based options.
February 6, 2024
Dinner Party #12: Exploring meatless proteins
As we enter week 12 (and the 3 month mark of the first Self-Taught project!), I wanted to explore the types of ingredients that are (1) healthy, (2) meatless alternatives to protein that (3) are not vegetables and (4) typically intimidate me.
I’m interested in trying to cook with vegan-friendly ingredients like tofu, halloumi, chickpeas, or even elevate…
