Quack Quack

As of late, I have been obsessing over food blogs. It all started with a simple venture into commercial sites like Cooks Illustrated, Food Network, and, of course, Martha Stewart. But one day, somehow, someway, I stumbled upon a food blog. Written by a regular person like you and me. And that blogger had other food blogs in her blog roll. And the madness commenced.

The food blog madness, coupled with the cooking madness (all my dear friends and family members know that my favorite shopping adventure includes food stores--Whole Foods & Trader Joes, and kitchen related stores--William-Sonoma & Target [we will get to that someday in a post]), have all led me to where you are today, Duck Soup. And this one (once you get to know food blogs) is in no way, shape or form, close to the quality and finesse of a "real" food blog. They are serious cooks and photographers and to them presentation is everything. I have barely gotten out of the "paper plates are fine" stage. And I am starting out using my iphone camera. But this blog is mine. All mine. And now yours, if you wish.

I named it after a phrase that my dad always used when something was easy. DUCK SOUP. He said that to anything that he felt should not be posing as big a challenge as was in my mind. "Liana, das duck soup". And so it went. If dad said it was duck soup, it must be duck soup! Of course, ducksoup.blogspot.com was already taken. So...we (namely, Kika) stuck so in front of it, because not only is this food EASY it is SO EASY. Seriously. If I can do it, you can, too. Seriously. I mean I remember when I needed a recipe to bake a canned ham. You don't even have to COOK canned ham. In all its chemical processing glory, it is already cooked! Just heat and serve! But I digress.

This is a simple blog that will grow out of my love and continual search for a more "healthy" appetite. I'm talking "whole food". Buh bye packaged processed stuff. As much as one can reasonably expect and not be called a crunchy granola tree hugging organic fanatic at least. This I am pursuiting as I am reading Omnivore's Dilemma, the latest book of my book club (thanks Jo Kim). I am also going to seek out "local" foods, as in striving to buy in season and locally grown vegetables (I mean seriously, why try to make mango chutney in the winter when we all know that summertime is where it's at...who wants mangos that took more fuel to get here from Mexico than I care to support. This desire, also stemmed from one of my favorite books, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. Buy local, grow your own foods: animals & vegetables (and fruits). Those are all my goals. And when I accomplish all of that, I will have all my recipes, ready and waiting, neatly organized right here in Duck Soup.

Welcome.