The 4 Fs and 1 E

As previously claimed, I have not abandoned the blogoshere and I do intend to make some changes here at KP HQ. The posting schedule will change from the original Monday to Friday to a Monday, Wednesday, Friday schedule. This will help to stop the burn out that I would have by Thursday when writing posts was scraping the bottom of the mental barrel.

I had planned for this return post to be about a personal challenge that I want to undertake but that will have to wait until Friday so that I have a chance to run my idea past DBF first, he eats my food so I think it's only fair. Instead, I'm going to expound a bit upon the philosophy of this blog.

What is the point of this blogging experiment? Um...I'm not exactly sure yet; there is no mission statement for Kitchen Penguin. I was reading the article "There Is No Competition If You Build Something That Matters" and I'm going to start working on #1 Solve Your Own Problems. What are my problems? Caviar tastes on a canned tuna budget. I feel stagnated as a cook. Working 80+ hour weeks for the past five months means that we've been eating takeout at least twice a week and there has been little variety at the dinner table when I do cook. I worry about the environmental impact of the food that I'm buying; how does buying cheap, possibly pesticide laden, vegetables grown on the other side of the country balance out with saving other people's plastic bottles from the landfill?

Which brings us to the four Fs and 1 E of the KP philosophy. Family. Friends. Food. Fiscal responsibility. Environmental stewardship.

Family & Friends - I hope this doesn't need an explanation; these are the people that I care about most.

Food - This is a food blog. I like to eat. I like to cook. Once upon a time I fancied myself a journalist so I'm going to write about what I'm cooking and eating.

Fiscal Responsibility - Eating at gourmet restaurants and cooking with fancy ingredients using the best gear is fabulous...if it fits into your budget. Me? Not so much. I'd rather pay my credit cards in full at the end of the month and save for retirement. Debt makes me extremely stressed and I want to be semi-retired by 50 so I need to find balance in my food budget; not just good for the wallet but good for the waistline. I've learned that when I live large, I am large.

Environmental Stewardship - I recycle. Heck, I pick other people's bottles out of the trash can so that I can take them home for recycling and I collect my friend's Brita filters and take them to Whole Foods for recycling. I compost. I air dry my clothes. I try to support local and organic farmers. I am in the process of replacing my personal grooming products with more earth, and body, friendly alternatives. My friends say that I'm a little crunchy granola. I cried while watching No Impact Man because following his blog gave me hope during a rough patch in my life. Buy good quality food and eat less of it; Michael Pollan is right.

So there you have it, the 4 Fs and 1 E of Kitchen Penguin. It's a little late in the year to restart the garden but I can start planning for next year. Thanksgiving is coming up in 36 days; DBF is cooking lamb and I'm doing the side dishes. I am completely reorganizing the pantry and kitchen. There might be a personal challenge announced on Friday. Lots happening here at KP HQ, stay tuned for details.

Happy Cooking!

-KP