Amaranth to Zucchini

Another year, another blog.

I'm hoping to actually finish this one though.

This time I have a goal. Along with the many others out there that have seen the movie Julie and Julia, I have decided to cook my way through a cookbook. Not because of that movie, though it was inspirational at times, but because every time I go into the produce section of Berkeley Bowl I see something and think "What the hell is that?"

While perusing the cookbook section of the library, I came across a book called "Vegetables from Amaranth to Zucchini" by Elizabeth Schneider. For those of you who don't know (which is probably most of you) Elizabeth Schneider is a James Beard award winner for her knowledge and skill of cooking with and writing about the world's many strange yet delicious fruits and vegetables.

She's no Thomas Keller, but that's been done.

I don't need to know how to sear Foie Gras. I don't even want to eat fois gras. Gross me out. I do want to know how to cook and work with the endless varieties of fruits and vegetables that are out there just waiting for me to eat them.

Hence, my quest; to cook my way through this massive encyclopedic cookbook and share my findings with the fine readers of this blog...all two of you. (Hi Mom!)