my very favourite jeans!!!!

I'm back...

Where has that month gone? Where has this year gone?? My schedule at work has been so unpredictable and out of control that I haven't had a moment spare to cook anything at home. Certainly nothing worth sharing. So I have spent this month more as a blog-viewer then an actual blogger. It was a refreshing hiatus from blogging because I was reminded of all the reasons I started doing this in the first place. And I always love visiting the many inspiring artists, chefs and writers who entertain me daily.

I can't believe there was a time I didn't read food blogs. It's like when you get new jeans and you think "what on earth did I wear before I had these!!!" It feels like I have always visited the same sites and that the names I am so familiar with are like calling cards from old friends. So I have felt a little off this month not contributing to the food community and I hope I can promise myself it won't happen again... but promises have been made and broken before and who knows how many crazy weeks are just around the corner. At least I always have you guys to keep me in the loop (not to mention entertained).

In the meantime since it has taken me so long to cook anything for this blog I decided to offer up something a little special, purposeful. Soon I will have been blogging for a year, in what has been a some what disjointed and disfunctional manner. I have no vision, I have no real purpose but I do love to share... when I look back on both my career as a chef and my lifetime as a diner two foods really jump out at me as significant. You grow and evolve as a chef, constantly learning new techniques and ingredients, but sometimes it is the early experiences that are most poignant, when everything is new and exciting and undiscovered. I have blogged about both before but thought I would combine the two for a dinner to remind myself why I live in this crazy world of hospitality, why I am a chef, why I love my job and why I must continue writing this blog.

Please enjoy your confit duck (the most exciting discovery I ever made as a young teenager.. that there was something out there besides chicken, lamb and beef) and nicoise (the salad that made me realise the thrill of hosptality).

I did get a little creative with the salad but it is the thought that counts.