Silly Place

Play is important. Playfulness is paramount to becoming an inventive home chef.

Being playful in the kitchen opens up your heart and mind to create whimsical, fun and Imaginative dishes and meals. Being playful allows you to ‘roll with the punches’ when the unexpected happens. For example, when you get to the end of a recipe and realize someone in the house ate all the bacon! What do you do? Substitute of course with ham or lunch meat or even smoky cheese... it does not matter what you substitute, you’re just playing and therefore having fun. Savvy?

Take this 1970s-type breakfast side dish I plan to offer to a friend as part of breakfast. The cuts are far from perfect but my hearts in the right place. I’ve drizzled it with some nice local honey and placed a blueberry in the center just like anyone in the 1970s would’ve done. (1970s were clearly not a highlight in American cuisine.) I think my friend, who is an amazing home chef, will smile and chuckle at my playfulness when he sees it. At least I’m hoping that will be the reaction and not a chuckle of pity for either himself or me...

Another fine example of being playful would be to go out into your yard and collect up any twigs or flowers that might be blooming. Tie them together maybe add some lights and place them around the house. The decoration is free and brings the outside inside. Maybe you purchased some herbs from a local market or yours are beginning to poke up through the ground. Gather those up, tie them together and place them in a vase with water. Treat the herbs like flowers And share and show them off! Just be playful and have fun, always. Life is too quick to be serious everywhere so reserve the kitchen as your “silly place.”