I am listening to a new mix I made and cooking right now. This is my favorite kind of cooking: using whatever vegetables I have around to make something I invent as I go along. I am a very casual cook – it is either an exception to my personality or evidence that I am not quite as anal as the world has decided I am. I love to cook without recipes and even when I follow them I rarely measure carefully or obey to the letter. This was no doubt learned by osmosis from my mother, who is a spectacular and very self-guided cook. She can whip up a feast from what others would deem an empty refrigerator, in 20 minutes flat, all the while having a sparkling conversation over a glass of wine. She is an icon of effortless cooking and entertaining. My productions are not as delicious as hers (today it looks like I am winding up with a chard, zucchini, and shallot gratin with parmesan – jury is out on how it tastes). In the kitchen, I am proud to say I am truly my mother’s daughter.
