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Bugs!

posted by Kate Good on 04/10/11 at 02:28 PM
It was the bugs in my flour that pushed me over the edge.
First there was the endless winter. Then those freaking insects took over my pantry last week. I discovered the wiggly little larvae one evening when I reached into a box to pull out a plastic bag and ended up with a handful of bugs instead. I’m not normally very squeamish, but this unpleasant and inconvenient discovery put me in a bad mood that’s lasted for several days.
I realize that there’s risk in confessing to this, especially after recently posting a blog about hosting people at my house for a meal. Truth be told, I actually whispered this news about the bugs to my mother over the phone when I called her after I first discovered the problem. I was that embarrassed. 
Not only was I mortified, I was kind of mad. Eliminating the bugs meant cleaning out the pantry before wiping the walls and shelves with bleach and vacuuming a lot. I stacked canned and dried goods on my kitchen island and elsewhere as I dealt with the problem. Right now, it’s pretty hard to find anything, and I’m out of sorts and kind of cranky. Cooking, along with running and a good book, are the few things I really need to feel sane. 
As far as I can tell, the bugs arrived with a bag of flour and are now gone. After some Googling, I was reassured that flour bugs are not a direct reflection of my housekeeping abilities, but just one of those things that happens.
It wasn’t just the bugs, but also the weather that’s made me irritable. This winter has worn on me more than most. To cope, I’ve been reading a lot of books about food, from Ruth Reichl’s hilarious Garlic and Sapphires and her moving memoir, Tender to the Bone, to Dalia Jurgensen’s memoir, Spiced, about her time working as a pastry chef in many top restaurants.
If the act of cooking keeps me happy and well-adjusted, then reading about cooking (and people far more skilled at it than I am) is oddly soothing. The elaborate descriptions of dishes, and the sensual memories the authors often associate with, say, a certain fruit or cut of meat, relaxes my brain in almost the same way that I’m lulled while chopping, stirring, and slicing in my own kitchen.
I like to sound out recipes in my head, imagining the flavor combinations until I can almost taste the dish. I often carry food magazines or cookbooks to bed and read about summer salads or savory soups until I fall asleep. The recipes included in many food-related memoirs are equally fun to imagine.
Perhaps food blogs are the perfect hybrid between straight recipes and food memoir. I have a collection that I check every morning, including The Pioneer Woman, Rhea Drummond’s blog about life and food on her family’s Oklahoma ranch; Orangette, Molly Wizenberg’s blog about her travels in Paris, her life in Seattle, and of course, food; and Ruth Reichl’s blog. I visit these women enough that I sometimes find myself speaking about them as if we’re friends. We’re not, but they add a touch of brightness and companionship to my mornings most days.
Food blogs are, I suppose, an obvious reaction to the obsession with celebrity chefs and the Food Network. With food front and center in pop culture, it makes total sense to me that the average home cook wants to show off his or her best dishes. I prefer the blogs to the television shows where most “chefs” (with the exception of Ina Garten and Martha Stewart) are more interested in entertaining than cooking. 
I don’t like most cooking shows, but I am kind of obsessed with "Top Chef," Bravo TV’s reality competition about chefs who are trying to make a name for themselves while winning a cash prize. Sure, it’s a reality show, but many people think that it most mimics the actual cut-throat, high pressure atmosphere of top restaurant kitchens. The food is wild, the techniques are unusual, and, well, it’s just fun television.
Spring is here now, and the days are still chilly, but mostly sunny. Most mornings, I throw up the windows for a few minutes to air out the house and listen to the birds. The seasons are changing, but I’m still thinking about food. I have a stack of food memoirs piled up in my living room and a bunch of food magazines next to my bed. Already I’m dreaming of tart rhubarb and juicy peaches, of sweet butter lettuce and sun-warmed tomatoes. 
The other night, I shoved the cans and dry ingredients out of the way and made cod and lemon rice, Parmesan panko chicken, roasted portabella mushrooms, and brussels sprouts. The bugs have left and winter is on its way out. I feel a whole lot better. Tonight I’m making mashed cauliflower, spaghetti squash with pomodoro sauce, and flat iron steak. Yum!
Good_kate Kate Good lives in Lancaster City, Pa.  She is a member of Blossom Hill Mennonite Church, Lancaster. She is assistant publisher at Good Books.