Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Seasonably tasty makeover

For those of you still reading (thank you!), you may have noticed a couple layout changes over the past couple days. There are more coming, but I thought I'd take some time to fill you in on the bigger changes going down. 

I think one of the reasons why I haven't been posting as much is because I felt like the blog was turning into more of an online journal where I recapped my days and blahblahblah. I wasn't getting excited about writing and blogging was starting to feel like a chore. Not cool.
At first I considered closing up shop, but then I realized I'd never keep track of my recipes and the blog was a way to keep friends and family back east informed. Then I started thinking about doing a major blog overhaul. That required way too much work and honestly, I don't have the time or patience to deal with that at the moment.

SO, Run Beans, Run is getting a makeover. 

I'll still write about the usual topics - running, biking, food, food, more food - but I'm hoping to keep the tone a little less 'dear diary-ish' and will work on my flavor descriptions. I'm also hoping to get a little more creative in the kitchen. Instead of making variations of trusty standbys (which I've noticed I do a lot), I'm going to try my best to experiment with different flavor combinations and actually follow recipes once in awhile (eek). 

I do want to bring your attention to one important addition to the blog - please glance at the left sidebar for a quick second. Ready? Ok.

After a deliciously simple dinner with a friend, it occurred to me that I live in a city that is full of fresh fruits and veggies year round. I don't have to rely on grocery stores for my produce; I can head to a farmers market every week for fresh, locally grown produce. WHY AM I NOT TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THIS?? 
Anyway, I did some Googling and found a few sites that posted month by month lists of in-season produce (in Northern California) and the makeover was born. 

Every month I'll update that little sidebar with a list of fruits and veggies that are in season. My goal is to eat and cook as many of them as possible. Canned and frozen don't count (because we know I love to dump beets, artichokes and corn on my salads year round). I figure this will get me cooking outside my comfort zone, especially when random veggies like nettles pop up on the list.

As you can see, I've already crossed a couple items off my list. As I use these seasonably delicious ingredients, I'll post the recipes so you can enjoy them as well (and I'll try to keep the salads to a minimum)!

I hope you enjoy my little experiment and maybe it'll get you all thinking about making the most of what's in season in your neck of the woods!

2 comments:

J said...

I'm still reading and still love it! Like the seasonal idea. Have you read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver? Definitely has the same theme.

Jamie said...

make some guava jam like from grenada :) YUM