A few weeks ago, I took an unofficial mental health day from work and attended a workshop hosted by Purple Kale Kitchenworks. I had been intrigued by Ronna Welsh’s cooking “system” after reading about it in Whole Living and on the about page on the Purple Kale Kitchenworks site. I started an email conversation with Ronna, and decided to attend a workshop that was specifically for parents.
Ronna’s concept reminded me a lot of the way my parents cooked while I was growing up, and still continue to cook. As new immigrants, food was not a commodity, it was a luxury. Growing up, my parents didn’t buy many clothes or toys, but I was well-fed (and I did not realize this until much later!). My parents always cooked with what was in the refrigerator—without recipes! I hardly cook without recipes. My parents often laugh at me when they see me toiling away in the kitchen measuring out spices, or trying to read the next line of a recipe while making sure the pot on the stove isn’t running over. They always ask, “What do you need a recipe for? Just taste!”
I love to cook, and food shopping whether at the grocery store or local farmers market is one of my all time favorite activities! When shopping, I often pick out beautiful vegetables that look great and then end up bringing them home, not knowing what to do with them. Or I’ll get busy and have a crisper full of rotting vegetables and end up wasting a lot of food. It’s also been hard to find time to cook. I don’t like to take shortcuts with my cooking and prefer to do most of it from scratch, which means it takes me a long time to make a meal. By the time I’m done cooking, I’ve missed out on a substantial amount of family time, or am too tired to really enjoy eating what I’ve made.
So when I read this quote on the Purple Kale Kitchenworks site, it just resonated with me.
After my first daughter was born, I limited my work to more humane hours. Still, I spent my energies cooking only for guests, and left nothing for even modest meals for ourselves. My attempts to cook us a casual dinner while caring for a newborn left me despairing. I would inevitably under-salt pasta, if I didn’t overcook it. I burned plenty of vegetables left steaming in a long forgotten pot. And the dishes generated in our toy of a kitchen surrendered us to too much take out and meals of cheese-toast and beer.
Mind you, my daughter never suffered such injustices. The baby food I made for her consumed our cooler space and my time. Eleanor’s first foods weren’t simple purees, they were fruits and vegetables recast as edible silk. I maintained a disciplined schedule of baby food production until, after she licked clean my plate of tuna drippings, I saw our tastes begin to merge.
Faced with caring for an infant after a long day of working, Mr. Marbles and I would often order take out. It’s even more shameful that I work in the food industry and place such a high value on good, quality, food that I just lost interest in cooking. Food was just sustenance. I missed coming home to a good home-cooked meal, but really didn’t have the energy to chop onions or cut up meat for a recipe. I’ve also failed at weekly meal-planning because Papa Marbles and I are not the types who know what we want to eat five days ahead of time. What happens if you’re not in the mood to eat what you had planned for the evening? And I’m not up for freezing meals and reheating a meal in the microwave. I love fresh food! It was a conundrum. I love food and good technique, but I don’t have time to apply good technique every night without spending 3 hours in the kitchen!
So I attended the Purple Kale Kitchenworks workshop with an open mind. It was a small class of three and we started at the table while Ronna and her team served up some of the most delicious food I’ve had in a long time, including dinners at five star restaurants! We had a celeriac soup with almond cream, seared kale and pumpkin seed salad with a cumin vinaigrette, and ricotta custard.
While we ate, Ronna shared with us terms like mise en place, holding points, bridges and blocks, which are essential to efficent and versatile cooking. But in the back of my mind, I kept thinking, The only reason this tastes good is because she’s a professional! Ronna IS a professional and is very talented, but she highlighted the key to the whole process which was prepare ingredients individually. Elevate each ingredient for its own sake. It sounds simple, but when you’re cooking with recipes, you’re really focusing on process and getting through the steps. In preparing each ingredient individually, there is so much room for improvisation!
A large portion of the class was dedicated to individual improvisation. This is where you get the converts. Ronna had laid out about 20 prepared ingredients for us to study and taste. Everything on its own tasted fantastic. I could have eaten all the items out of the storage containers. Then she challenged us to cook something using the ingredients. I chose a paparadelle pasta with shitake mushrooms sauteed in simple herb butter. The total cooking time was less than five minutes, and the final product tasted superb. I was shocked at how easy it was and it required no prep! We just tossed everything into one pan and voila— dinner was served.
The Purple Kale Kitchenworks workshop really helped me think outside of cooking with recipes (which usually creates a lot of waste—what do you do with the remaining ingredients that the recipe does not require?). I came back from the class armed with a deck of excellent guides on how to prepare my ingredients, and the confidence to cook with whatever was in my refrigerator. I have to admit with travel and a busy work week, I haven’t had a good chunk of time to totally implement the system, but I’ve been adding bits and pieces here and there with my cooking. For example, I saved my leftover pieces of chard to prepare stock and when food shopping now, I focus on selecting things I want to eat and worry about how to cook them later.
If you’re interested in learning more about this process, Ronna writes a great blog, 2 Minutes to Dinner, with recipes and more background. If you’re in the NYC area, I highly recommend her workshops.
Have your cooking habits changed post-baby? Do you cook more or less?
Hellobee Series: Mrs. Marbles part 7 of 11
1. The Road to Pregnancy - Part 1 by Mrs. Marbles2. The Road to Pregnancy - Part II by Mrs. Marbles
3. The Road to Pregnancy - Part 3 by Mrs. Marbles
4. Emma's Birth Story Part 1 by Mrs. Marbles
5. Emma's Birth Story Part 2 by Mrs. Marbles
6. The Struggle by Mrs. Marbles
7. Re-learning How to Cook by Mrs. Marbles
8. Sitting the Month by Mrs. Marbles
9. Selfish or Self-Care? by Mrs. Marbles
10. A Portrait for The Marbles by Mrs. Marbles
11. Little Marbles' First Birthday by Mrs. Marbles
GOLD / wonderful coffee bean / 18478 posts
I almost never cooked pre-baby. We survived on frozen ready to eat meals and take out. Now I cook family meals 2-3 week and eat the leftovers in between or reheat something from my stash of home cooked frozen meals.
For me, it’s not re-learning how to cook because I never knew how in the first place. It has been a stressful, ongoing learning process for me but I am getting better slowly but surely. I am teaching myself to cook with what I have and tinker around with recipes.
One goal of mine is to try and teach my daughter about ingredients and how they work together from an early age. As you discuss, I think once you have this knowledge, you can cook from your fridge/pantry without having to rely on a recipe. I don’t want cooking and meal planning to be a stressful experience for her like it is for me because it shouldn’t be!
Thanks for the great post!
hostess / wonderful persimmon / 25556 posts
That’s really interesting. I’ve been thinking about how different our life will be with a child in it and combining that thought with how I take FOREVER to cook a meal and normally make a huge mess in the process. Sometimes it takes 3 hours to make, eat and then clean up from dinner! Sounds like you learned a lot in this class and I bet a lot of us could learn from it!
cherry / 230 posts
I rarely follow recipes, instead I read them, take the idea or concept and then go at it. I don’t go back to the recipe I just kind of follow what I think would taste good. Take this morning for example, I’ve got stew simmering in the slow cooker. I looked up a recipe to see the amount of liquid then just went at it. I don’t think a single thing matches the recipe, and I just used what we had in the panty/fridge, but I’m sure it’ll be delicious later.
Since Cameron isn’t born I can’t say if it’ll change once he is born, but as of right now I’m freezing left overs so it doesn’t have to change too much.
honeydew / 7968 posts
wow. you just blogged my life. sans baby, of course.
i will definitely have to check out her course.
pea / 19 posts
this was us. in fact, for a whole year, i was so busy with work that we ate out almost every night. then i felt so bad for my toddler. so now that i have a new job with more humane hours, i cook about 3 to 4 times a week. i cook korean food a lot because its just rice and a soup. my mom (bless her!) stockpiles my freezer whenever she visits with frozen marinaded meat so i never worry about that. side dishes i buy…so its easy. Or, i’ll make pasta which only takes 30 minutes or so….i need to get some more american foods in my rotation so that i can be more versatile. i used to watch 30-minute meals and emeril a lot so that i could learn the basics. this course sounds so interesting though!
pomelo / 5628 posts
This post totally resonated with me! I feel like an idiot in the kitchen (at 31). And I always let fruits and veggies rot in the fridge because I don’t really know how to use them and then I feel guilty and don’t buy more, and then guilty for not eating fruits and veggies!
My husband and I only eat together a couple of times a week because of sports we play or business dinners for him and I never want to cook just for myself. But I really want to!
Can’t wait to check out Ronna’s blog!
admin / watermelon / 14210 posts
you’ve sold me — i have to take this course.
my mom has never looked at a recipe and was always able to make something delicious with what we had in the fridge too. it is a better way to think about cooking, and one that is especially helpful for busy parents who want to provide delicious but fast meals!
persimmon / 1255 posts
I cook more now but that’s only because I have no excuse not to as a SAHM, lol. I have about 10 staple recipes that are <20 minutes from prep and cook that I rotate during the week and reserve more elaborate meals for the weekends. Even then, we still get take-out 2-3 times a week cause I'm tired of eating the same things. Unfortunately, I've got a lot of food restrictions so it's more difficult trying out new recipes since I end up having to replace a lot of ingredients and while I'm great at improvising desserts, I'm horrible when it comes to savory dishes. I wish I had a better palette and would definitely benefit from a class like this.
cherry / 202 posts
I cook at least 5 meals a week and don’t follow recipes. I cook from my pantry and fridge although there are occasions where I am craving something and I will have to make a trip to the store to get what I need to make it. It helps that I work from home 4 days a week and only commute once (my husband cooks on that day or take out depending on the schedule). My meals normally only take from 20 – 30 minutes from prep to cooking.
When I used to commute to the office every day, I would plan one day ahead, after dinner I would prep everything for the next day. If we happen to want something else that day we would do take out and use the meal for the following night.
blogger / wonderful cherry / 21628 posts
I love to cook and I cook a lot now. Not everyday, but most days. I hope to keep that up when we do have a baby because I know my husband appreciates coming home to a home cooked meal after a long day of work.
grapefruit / 4923 posts
i’m a total recipe follower as well and have wondered how i would handle making meals with a little one around. i could definitely benefit from this kind of philosophy and approach!
wonderful pear / 26210 posts
I fall somewhere in the middle…I use recipes for things that are unfamiliar, but eventually, if we like it and want to include it in the rotation, I don’t use a recipe any longer. I usually try to learn “methods” as opposed to recipes, like how to make a risotto and then add my own twist to it with different broths and add ins. Once you master it, you can always change it. I find that fits the way we eat.
I also meal plan, not so much to save money (not really possible where we live) but so I have something on the plan for every night. Now that I SAH, I want to contribute to the family by making a meal we can share. I usually do this once a week but I am working on a 6 week rotating menu of all of our favorites so I don’t have to plan for months at a time.
kiwi / 718 posts
you describing your attitude towards food before the workshop sounds just like me! my husband cooks the way that the workshop describes, but I just haven’t been able to wrap my mind around it & honestly just don’t really enjoy cooking. spending so much time in the kitchen to just have it eaten? really?
I’ll definitely be looking into this & her website, though! I want to cook for the baby once he or she gets to the point they are eating solids & need to get my mind into the right space for us as well.