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My midlife crisis arrived about twenty years too early. The year was 2001 and I had been working in the modeling industry for almost 15 years — basically since I was a teenager. Modeling afforded me many wonderful opportunities for which I will always be grateful, but it didn’t really fulfill me.
I had always dreamed of going to culinary school, yet the thought of simply abandoning what I had done for so long to start something completely new gave me great anxiety, no matter how determined as I was to find my true calling. I researched several culinary programs but never could commit to do anything more than take a tour. And so there I remained, lost, two years shy of my 30th birthday and entirely too young to be so confused about what I was doing with my life.
I was living in New York back then and had made an appointment one day to see yet another school, the Institute of Culinary Education. The tour date was September 11th and as you can probably figure out for yourself, I did not get to visit the school that day. As it did for many people I know, 9/11 forced me to reexamine my life. I decided within days of that unspeakable tragedy that if I was ever going to follow my dream, that was the moment.
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I spent the next year as happy as I’ve ever been, working during the day and going to school at night. As hard as it was, I still romanticize that period of my life for the sumptuous meals (my schoolwork) that I would bring home from my classes for my future hubby and I to enjoy late at night after our long days of work and school.
This all finally brings me to the whole reason for the recipe below. While at I.C.E., I was blessed to meet one of the kindest, sweetest, most talented women I know. At a very young age, Sarah Copeland knew exactly what she wanted to be and she made it happen. A veteran of the Food Network, writer, food-expert, urban gardner and co-founder of Share Our Strength’s Good Food Garden’s Campaign, Sarah’s most recent exploit is The Newlywed Cookbook. Not only is this amazing book rich in information and stories, it features tantalizing food photography and delectable recipes which are perfect for both the newbie and experienced cook. Below is one of my many favorites from the book. I made it for Kenya’s snack one day and all the kids (and their moms) went nuts for it.
Rise and Shine Muffins
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup raisins
- 2 cups white whole wheat flour
- 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 4 medium carrots, peeled and grated (2 cups)
- 1/2 medium zucchini, grated (1 cup)
- 1/2 cup pecans, chopped
- 1/3 cup pine nuts
- 3 large eggs
- 2/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1/3 cup buttermilk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375° F.
- Place the raisins in a small bowl, cover with hot water, and set aside to plump.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and salt.
- Stir in the carrots, zucchini, pecans, and pine nuts.
- In another large bowl whisk together the eggs, oil, buttermilk, and vanilla.
- Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and mix until just combined.
- Drain the raisins and stir them into the batter.
- Fill greased or paper-lined muffin tin 3/4 full with batter.
- Bake 25 minutes (15 minutes for mini muffins) or until a wooden pick inserted into muffins comes out clean.
- Serve.
- *From The Newlywed Cookbook by Sarah Copeland-reprinted with permission from Chronicle Books
Spaghetti and meatballs- yep, you can win someone over thru their stomach. 🙂
Shrimp tamales, haven’t made those in a while.
A really delicious vegetarian Mexican pie … which he was a real trooper about and tried, even though he “doesn’t eat vegetarian stuff” … we compromise now, I eat meat sometimes and he doesn’t sometimes 🙂
Grilled cheese and tomato soup. We get much fancier now with our cooking but still love going back to the simple meals too
Brownies 🙂
Ten bucks says most of you don’t remember at all what you made. Or is it just me? 🙂 Thinking back, it was probably something Italian like a bolognese or marinara sauce.
The first thing I made him was his favorite – Shephard’s pie! It still is one of his favorites 🙂 We always have it for his birthday!
Beth
I made homemade pizza from scratch!
Chicken and rice
I made and this sounds so strange… “Hunter’s Surprise” it’s a secret family recipe that my dad made. He loved it and it’s great on cold winter nights. It’s super healthy and so good
It was lunchtime and all I had were tortillas and lowfat cheese, so an incredibly unappetizing quesadilla it was.
It’s been a while, but it was probably rice and sausage…a super easy (and kind of gross now that I think of it) meal with rice, a can of tomatoes, chicken stock and cut up keilbasa…He liked it, but has been the cook in our house ever since. I probably need this cookbook more than I know! Ha!
I am so impressed everyone knows the answer to this! I haven’t the foggiest. After nearly 20 years together, remembering the first thing I cooked for him as newleyweds is near impossible for me. lol. He was the main cook in our house back then…
Teriyaki pork chops with rice 🙂
First meal I made when we started dating was spaghetti with homemade marinara sauce with cheesy garlic bread. I was vegan at the time and he wasn’t but I still made meatballs and sausage to go with the meal for him. Still one of his favorites.
I made chicken cacciatore that I found the recipe for on food networks website. I also made mashed potatoes and a veggie. I remember that we took a picture of it because my hubby was so impressed!!