who am I & why do you want to work with me in the kitchen

I am a light hearted, glass half FULL, funny, creative food fanatic and I almost always find the best in the worst situations ... but there is a serious side of hunting and gathering, as I like to call it, and it is important for me to share my love of the nature that provides me with the bounty to sustain myself and those I love.

on occasion I thoughtlessly eat a quick handful of almonds, a chunk of cold leftover chicken or cheese or a hurried fried egg...just to sustain myself. However I am very thoughtful of WHERE my ingredients are coming from. Who raised the almonds, the chicken, the egg {me} or the pregnant cow who gave up some of her milk made for her child to make me cheese. How did the harvest occur? How is their "product" treated from conception to sale? Is it a job? A passion? Do they feel the same way about the gift of life that I do? Are they compassionate?

It is easy to roll into the market and quickly grab things unknowingly and dart home to unload. WE ARE ALL BUSY. This is where I slow down. It is meaningful to me. And if it isn't to you I do not judge you.

I want to share my philosophy with you. That's all. This passage from what I refer to as my "bible" sums it up fairly well.

thanks for considering having me into your home & life... Courtney Anne

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On Eating and Drinking
 Kahlil Gibran

Would that you could live on the fragrance of the earth, and like an air plant be sustained by the light.
But since you must kill to eat, and rob the newly born of its mother's milk to quench your thirst, let it then be an act of worship.
And let your board stand an altar on which the pure and the innocent of forest and plain are sacrificed for that which is purer and still more innocent in man. 

When you kill a beast say to him in your heart,
"By the same power that slays you, I too am slain; and I too shall be consumed.
For the law that delivered you into my hand shall deliver me into a mightier hand.
Your blood and my blood is naught but the sap that feeds the tree of heaven."

And when you crush an apple with your teeth, say to it in your heart,
"Your seeds shall live in my body,
And the buds of your tomorrow shall blossom in my heart,  
And your fragrance shall be my breath,
And together we shall rejoice through all the seasons." 

And in the autumn, when you gather the grapes of your vineyards for the winepress, say in your heart, "I too am a vineyard, and my fruit shall be gathered for the winepress,
And like new wine I shall be kept in eternal vessels."
And in winter, when you draw the wine, let there be in your heart a song for each cup;
And let there be in the song a remembrance for the autumn days, and for the vineyard, and for the winepress.