Cooking procrastination without the heat of the kitchen

I love being in the kitchen, I get pleasure from creating chaos though a collection of bowls and plates strewn across counter tops, piles of chopped vegetables cluttering up cutting boards, jars of spices set out waiting to add a layer of depth to a dish their potent aromas mixing with the steam from boiling pots of water on the stove. I love turning this storm of sights and smells into a calming reward of delicious flavors and the happy haze of the satisfaction of eating a fantastic meal. Yet, this is not the only way to avoid work by cooking. Seeking out the inspiration for a meal can be just as rewarding and waste just as much potential working time.

I can spend hours in a grocery store, seriously, hours. Put me in an “upscale market” and you may as well forget about getting anything else done. I will go up and down every else with careful eye. I will imagine of what I could do with an unlimited budget, I will soak up the savories and dream over the desserts. I am not sure if this is a procrastination skill as much as it is an inherited trait, but the result hours of enjoyment and few if any of those pesky thoughts about the work that I should be doing.
Other great inspirations for cooking are farmer’s markets. There is no substitute for fresh produce and farmer’s markets deliver some of the very best! Building a dinner based on what you can get here can help you create combinations of ingredients that you would not have though over, or easy standbys that are full of flavor (can you say caprese salad with purple Cherokee tomatoes).

My procrastination skills got a quick jump start when I was getting my Masters degree from the University of Washington. Besides being a great city, Seattle is home to Pike Place Market, the ultimate way to waste a day and spend far more money than you planned. From fresh fish to fresh roasted cashews, from jams and honey to eggplant and elephant garlic this market has it all. It is deserving of the tourist Mecca it has become, I never leave there empty handed and when I was living in Seattle it became such a problem (both to progress on my Masters and my wallet) that I had to force myself to settle on the small Sunday farmers market that was just up the street from my apartment. Yet at the same time the masses of people takes away from another great aspect of the farmers market; personalization and communication. Yet Pike Place remains the starting point for my love of wandering from stall to stall, seeing what they have and thinking “what could I make with that?” Later I learned to add “how long will it take to make that?” And “what can I do with that when I come back next week”? All of these questions helped me develop into the cooking procrastinator that I am today.

Here in Santa Barbara, I have the vendor where I buy my tomatoes every week, the one where I buy my strawberries and just recently I have added the one where I by my beef. Here you can have conversations about their products, the weather or various other topics ranging from sports to the economy, all while seeing what is at the peak of its freshness. As I walk around a farmers market I always think about what I can make, what mixes well and something new that I want to try. This past Thursday, I ended up with a beautiful cut of beef, delicious peaches, sweet blueberries and vibrant squash blossoms. From that came the inspiration for Friday dinner. Oh, and the people watching was pretty great too. Basically farmers markets are a heaven for procrastination and fresh food and play an integral role in my balance between being a productive PhD student and holding true to my procrastinating ways.