EZ Peas-Z: Sameness

I don't know if it is a human nature thing or if it is just me, but I go through "kicks" where I will read/eat/listen to/watch/wear something that I like, and then proceed to re-create the experience for some undetermined amount of time. Does this sound familiar at all? Reading is where it started.

I really love to read. When I was younger, I spent a fair amount of my spare time with a pile of books by my side. My mom would schlep us out to the library during the summer and I would come home with what seemed to be no fewer than 17 books...all of which were Nancy Drew novels.

I would breeze through one book every day or so until they were done and we would start the process over. Imagine my disappointment when I exhausted the Canterbury Library's collection. I then moved on to the American Girl stories. When I decided I wanted to be a veterinarian, I read all of James Herriot's books. As I got older I devoured Mary Higgins Clark, then Ken Follett, Marian Keyes, and Bill Bryson. Of course there were one-off books in between that I thoroughly enjoyed, but to this day, I am always looking for an author who either writes a series or has a few books under their belt so that if I like one, I can keep moving through their novels until my appetite for their work is quenched (or I run out of material).

I have to be very mindful of my tendency for "sameness" when I am cooking. Fortunately, Flick helps me stay on track, otherwise our menus would be surprisingly homogeneous. Last winter I was on a real risotto kick. We were trying to eat less meat and risottos happen to be a very satisfying way to incorporate a meatless meal into your week. After 3 or so weeks in a row of 2+ risottos per week, I was thanked for the delicious meals that were being lovingly prepared every night...and gently reminded that maybe there was more than one way to make a meatless meal :). If it weren't for Flick, I would need to buy grain bags full of Arborio rice.

That isn't good for anyone (except the farmers I suppose). So you will have to forgive me if I turn out a few menus here and there that seem to have a common theme...I am probably just on some sort of kick and it will soon pass. Off to research how I can get my hands on some of those old Nancy Drew books...enjoy the meals!

Monte Cristo Sandwiches