Hanione Can Cook

Hello, and welcome to my blog about food. I'm Hanione (that's pronounced han-I-knee) and there are three main reasons I decided to do this blog:

1) I like to cook, but more importantly, I like to eat. My husband is a bottomless pit waiting to be filled with food. Sadly, we're both past the blissful phase of life when your metabolism lets you eat whatever you want with no consequences. So, we're always looking for ways to prepare new, exciting, delicious food that's not too rich and can be consumed in relatively large quantities.

2) My family has a history of heart disease, high cholesterol, strokes, and diabetes. That means that whenever I can, I'm going to try to find appealing ways to eat whole grains, fruits, and vegetables. I'm not so diet-righteous that I could give up dessert, beer, and cheese forever, but I am trying to be smart about most of my day-to-day food choices.

3) Over the past few years, I've had a lot of fun experimenting with food. I draw inspiration from cookbooks and food I eat in restaurants, but most of my best stuff happens by accident. I'm a big fan of throwing away measuring cups and adding flavor until it's right. Sometimes you get something edible, and sometimes you get something transcendent. I find cooking this way to be a fun and creative process and that is the philosophy I'll try to stick with in this blog. Here are a few general rules:

* Everying can and should be modified. Food should be pleasureable; make every recipe your own.

* All measurements are approximate. I'll give guidlines in standard increments (e.g. Tablespoons), but these will just be guesses based on whether I used a big or small spoon from my silverware drawer when I was scooping.

* Don't be afraid of things you think you hate. If at first you hate mushrooms, cut them in small dice for your soups. If you try something and still hate it, find a substitute and keep experimenting.

And with that, let's get on to the good stuff...the food!