The Lure of Do-It-Yourself

I’ve never been all that much of a do-it-yourselfer.  I need strict supervision from my father if I’m to embark on a carpentry project, and the help of a stronger-armed friend for hammering together rails on some-assembly-required dresser drawers.  I can’t really garden because worms freak me out.  But I have to admit that a couple of pieces in Secret Ingredients have been tempting me to try a little homework in the area of food.  One is about an expert in foraging for wild food, and for someone on a budget, the idea of gathering mushrooms and edible flowers for lunch is quite tempting.  The other is about a woman known as the “Cheese Nun,” and though I do have a natural fear of anything that might possibly be deadly (raw oysters, for example), I do agree that the FDA has gone overboard on raw milk cheese prohibition.  French cheeses are just so good.  If I had a cow, it would be tempting.  Alas, I do not, and there isn’t much foraging to be done in downtown Baltimore, so I’ll stick to attempting a sourdough starter instead.