Cookerati

My Cookerati co-blogger (and sister) Diana and I were having a little Skype chat the other day, talking about the different foods we like to eat and how our tastes have changed over the years. Since taking on a food blog we’ve both been exposed to some premium food and drink. That’s not a complaint, mind you, but Diana and I don’t exactly come from a house filled with culinary excellence. Growing up in our budget-minded household meant that dinners consisted of huge vats of pea soup or spaghetti with watery tomato sauce. For us, fast food was a gourmet meal.

Except I can’t really take fast food anymore.

Recently my husband, son, and I met my sister in law’s family at Friendly’s to share a meal and I wasn’t down with any of the options – all of which were obviously frozen then fried. Friendly’s used to be a favorite late night after concert munchie haunt with my friends and I when were in our teens and early 20′s, but lately, I can’t take it. Ditto other family friendly restaurant chains. In many the food ranges from “meh” to “palatable.”

When we started Cookerati it was to discuss our love of home cooking and baking, but in the past years since, our palates have become much more refined.

A few cases in point:

• Before becoming a food blogger I used to raid my son’s candy jar for mini-chocolate bars from Halloween. Now I hold out for the premium stuff. Having access to a food blog means being able to taste some of the world’s finest chocolate, and let me tell you, it’s better than anything you can buy in the supermarket.

• I’m a coffee snob now too. That stuff on sale at Stop ‘N Shop is good for a caffeine fix, but it’s not what I’d consider a good cup of coffee.

• Instead of mixing up a quick casserole from the back of a soup can, I find myself looking up some recipes from scratch created by top chefs and cookbook kings. There is, indeed, a difference.

• My mom loves what I call “wine cooler” wines. You know the kind I mean. They’re blackberry flavored and sweet as all get out, but they don’t taste a thing like wine. I used to drink them too until I started learning about real wines.  My preference is for a Chilean Merlot or California Chardonnay over a sickeningly sweet Raspberry Peach Zinfandel.

• We’re learning about ingredients we never would have tried before. Diana is cooking with lemon grass and quinoa, for goodness sake!

So yeah, I think I’m turning into a food snob and I don’t think that’s such a bad thing. As a food snob I’m eating less friend and processed food and learning how to cook with fresh, organic ingredients. That’s never a bad thing.