While I would have loved to launch this blog on the very day autumn began, it’s still very fitting for a mid-season start. And anyway, do seasons ever really begin the very day they’re marked on a calendar?

I liken the process of thinking to the process of the autumn harvest. This is traditionally the season where we reap everything we’ve sowed. And for me, it’s a meditative season where random fractional thoughts that were brewing all year begin to surface and I gather them, mull them over and think about the year to come. Sorting through these tangents is like picking through crated vegetables, and putting them together and letting them blossom into reality is like putting together a dish and serving it to the world. Thoughts can often take hold of you and give you those same warm fuzzies you get when your cupping a mug of warm hot chocolate. There’s so much warmth and comfort in that one little cup, and the anticipation of the first sip gives you just as much pleasure as chugging down the whole thing. I really love this season.

– Cynthia Furey

I’m what you could call a selective procrastinator.
There are things that I’m really great with (paying bills on time, planning out menus long before gatherings are even scheduled, meeting deadlines), but then there are those things that seem to sit on my to-do list for longer than necessary (like tidying up the apartment before said gathering). This blog is one of those things.

Don’t get me wrong; I love writing. It’s a huge part of who I am. But when it comes down to actually sitting down and writing, I have a problem. It’s not because of laziness or lack of time. It’s because I sit and agonize over the perfect story, the perfect sentence structure, and where commas and punctuation would accent my ideas perfectly. This perfectionism thing is one hell of a writer’s block. It’s why I haven’t been able to really write something, and it’s why this blog has taken so long to get to this very first post.

So I’m gonna get over it. I will write. I will not agonize. I will write (and cook!). I will not spend hours agonizing or editing. I’m gonna write.

I hope you enjoy reading about my food world, as grammatically imperfect or tangent-laden as it is. I welcome you to my journey, and thank you for reading.

– Cynthia Furey

Cynthia Furey is an editor and freelance food writer who has written restaurant reviews, food news, recipes and features for The Orange County Register and Orange Coast magazine. Currently, she is the food blogger for Orange Coast magazine’s Taste of Orange County blog. Furey graduated with a B.A. in English from the University of California, Irvine (2004), and most recently, earned an A.S. degree in Culinary Arts from Orange Coast College (2008, yay!!). She’s a member of the International Association of Culinary Professionals and the Asian American Journalists Association, and spends most of her free time cooking, reading about food and eating. For a full resume, questions or comments, contact her at cynthiafurey@yahoo.com

Some of my favorite published pieces

• OC Fair: Zucchini Weeni and other delights
• Food 101: Kitchen Sink Mashed Potatoes, the ultimate accompaniment
• Food 101: Croque Madame and Croque Monsieur
• Food 101: Beef Burgundy for a cold, winter’s day
• Food 101: Pumpkin muffins with cinnamon cream cheese frosting
• Loving Little Saigon with Finding Pho: A Guide to Little Saigon
• So happy that Suzanne Tracht opened a new restaurant in Long Beach: Tracht’s, Long Beach
• Massive custom burgers at The Counter, Irvine
• The history of the O.C. date shake
• A Napa Valley chef talks about being a businessman: Q&A with Chef Jeffrey Cerciello
• Sushi at Maki Zushi, Tustin
• An underground dining experience: The Ghetto Gourmet
• My solution for overripe peaches: Peach Muffins
• Real Italian food at Roma D’Italia, Tustin
• Exploring the massive Southern-rooted beast that is the Turducken
• Some of my picks in the Best of Orange County
• The wonders of bacon sushi at Fish in a Bottle, Placentia
• An elegant way to serve soup: Puree of mushroom soup
• Having “chicken” at The Veggie Grill, Irvine
• Easy Valentine’s Day gifts by making Chocolates
• Fun facts in a Q&A with Food Network’s Guy Fieri
• Covering a culinary competition: Chef Lewis Butler Wins a Food Fight

NON-FOOD stories:

• Talking with man’s best friend: Tyson the Skateboarding Dog and the O.C. Pet Guide
• Profile: Survival is a Very  Cool Trick

• “ad hoc” at home brownies
  
• Apple pie
• Arugula salad with sweet potato croutons
• Bacon caramels
• Beef Burgundy (Bourguignon)
• Bread pudding with chocolate and cinnamon
• Brownie Baked Alaska
• Bruschetta
• Chicken en papillote with basil and cherry tomatoes
• Chicken en papillote with chili and lime
• Chocolate and toffee sour cream cake
• Chocolate fleur de sel caramels
• Chocolate mousse
• Chocolate pots de creme
• Crab-stuffed mushrooms
• Croque Madame
• Croque Monsieur
• Cucumber mint aguas frescas
• Egg souffle with bacon and asparagus
• Gianduia brownies
• Ginger and vanilla bean creme brulee
• Gorgonzola and leek creme brulee
• Grilled cheese with skirt steak and marinated onions
• IHOP’s Rooty, my way
• Insalata infilzata
• Kitchen sink mashed potatoes
• Lemon meringue clouds
• Low-and-slow meat sauce
• Microwave chocolate cake
• Mini chocolate banana cream pies
• Neiman Marcus cookies
• No-Knead Bread (Jim Lahey and Mark Bittman)
• Okonomiyaki
• Paparadelle pasta noodles
• Pavlova with candied lemons and blueberry coulis
• Pesto crostini with pear
• Pesto crostini with caramelized onion and skirt steak
• Pho Hapa (Vietnamese noodle soup)
• Poached sole with blood-orange beurre blanc
• Pork roulade with Roquefort and apple-butter sauce
• Pulled barbecued beef sandwiches
• Pumpkin cheesecake with candied pecans and caramel sauce
• Pumpkin muffins with cinnamon cream cheese frosting
• Pumpkin soup with bacon
• Roasted Red Rose potatoes with garlic and rosemary
• Shrimp and slow-roasted tomato risotto
• S’mores cupcakes
• Spaetzle in brown butter with prosciutto and broccoli rabe
• Strawberry cream cheese cake
• Strawberries in bruleed marshmallow creme
• Strawberry rosemary aguas frescas
• Super-garlic Parmesan bread
• Vanilla caramels
• Vietnamese-inspired chicken and rice soup
• Watermelon basil aguas frescas