While some of my international friends have moved on, I’ve tried to continue learning more about their cuisines here at home. Whenever I’m missing those friends the recipes here are likely to reflect those specific types of cooking (Korean and Sri Lankan in particular). If I could only learn how to share a dinner over facebook and have it be more satisfying than just photos, I’d be very happy.

My family has also continued to provide me with a nice range of cookbooks covering all kinds of cuisines – a good deal for them, since such gifts generally inspire tangible (and usually edible) results. My boss, knowing my interest in this kind of thing, also gave me a book dedicated to the range of ethnic grocery stores across Chicago. While I usually focus on the options closest to home, it definitely helps to know where to go if I decide to start a new excursion.

When I’m really interested in a cuisine I generally find it more fun to plan a huge feast than a simple dinner, so my bookshelf has lead to many big dinners where we continue to build new friendships. I have quite a backlog of recipes and photographs to build on, but will be interested to see where this blog may lead as well.