Too Many Cooks: Strange Cooking Sprees

You'll be hearing from the staff at FOOD52 every week in Too Many Cooks, our group column in which we pool our answers to questions about food, cooking, life, and more. 

We're food-obsessed, but sometimes we go through months (or years, even) when there's one particular food we just can't get off our minds. We know you've been there, too -- that avocado sandwich you had for breakfast, lunch, and dinner; the way you somehow figured out how to incorporate mustard into every meal; or the month you spent every Friday night with your stand mixer.

Since the secret's out, it's time to air our dirty laundry (or should we say, empty out our pantry?) and come clean about our strange cooking and eating sprees. We asked the Food52 staff:

Was there ever a time when you turned to the same ingredient, dish, or technique again and again? 

Did you once consider marrying your slow cooker? Did you go through a period in your life when you made 6 batches of granola a week? Share with us in the comments below?

Posie: I realize this isn’t cooking, but after college my sister and I lived together and we used to make huge batches of Rice Krispies treats. Instead of spreading them in pans, we would eat them out of the pot with spoons. Let's hope our mom doesn't read this.

Jane: I have an addiction to this homemade granola I make with pistachios, orange blossom water, and dried cherries. I love it so much that I ran home to bake a batch after my second interview with Food52 and did a morning drop off at the offices the next day (naturally, in mini mason jars). 

Bridget: A few winters back, I charred a few greens for a salad. Then I charred a few more the next time. Eventually, I was charring all the greens. It extended until every dinner had a blackened vegetable on a plate. The children eventually rebelled.

Amanda S: I ate a toasted bagel with cream cheese and Fruity Pebbles, open-faced, in two heaping, colorful halves, for breakfast every day of the fifth grade. I have recreated it in my adult life and it is still delicious.

Erin: When I was in pastry school, I was obsessed with Asian cooking. After my first trip to Momofuku, I became obsessed with trying to recreate the steamed buns. I sweet-talked my way into my cooking school's Cuisines of Asia kitchen at night, where the chef let me experiment with his ingredients and industrial steamer. I ended up crashing the course for three months. Two weeks after I felt I perfected the buns, David Chang published the recipe in Gourmet. Still, the crash course was so worth it.

Haley: I spent six months eating quinoa with roasted tomatoes, feta cheese, and walnuts for lunch. I'm not sure why, because it's missing a lot of ingredients before it becomes a good quinoa bowl, but I did it without flinching. 

Michael: Every year between November and March, a rule goes into effect in our household: You may not purchase something at a store that sells brussels sprouts without also purchasing brussels sprouts. Ninety percent of the time we cook them the same way: halved or quartered, lots of olive oil, salt, cut side-down on a baking sheet, and roasted in a hot oven until dark brown.

P.S. Bonus baby obsessions: My toddler Mirabelle often wakes in the morning asking for PA-DA (pasta), and won't eat yogurt if it doesn't have Cheerios on it.

Heather: When we started using Tabasco Chipotle Pepper Sauce, our consumption of eggs, tabasco, and avocado toast started to get out of control. I had to put the breaks on when I took the recycling out one weekend and realized I was trying to hide the number of bottles from my neighbors. 

Bryce: In high school in San Diego, I ate a carne asada burrito every single day. (I still eat one every single day that I am home now!)

Channing: This ginger miso salad dressing on arugula with avocado and grilled chicken (and some variation of chopped radishes, bell peppers, and tomatoes) was my lunch everyday for about 4 months. What can I say? I know what I like. 

Ali: I’ve been averaging 2 fried egg and arugula sandwiches per day for the past few weeks. You could call it an obsession (or laziness).

What's your latest cooking or food obsession? Share with us in the comments below!