The Adventure Begins...
Hey there, everyone! As you know, I am no world class chef in the kitchen. I have lots of cookbooks, but that alone does not always help my endeavors. There is one darling cookbook, however, that has come to my rescue a few times. It is my favorite. I love this book so much, in fact, that I purchased one for my daughter in case I ever lost mine. Here it is, the dream of dreams of all go to cookbooks: Peg Bracken’s “I Hate to Cook” Cookbook.
The whole book is filled with fantastic little stories and commentaries, and some fun little recipes for those of us that hate to cook, or just have no skill or talent in the kitchen. Don’t get me wrong, I do not want to discredit those that have such skill or talent. It’s just wise to know where one’s gifts and talents lie and focus on those strengths. There are so many fantastic chefs out there and I love watching them with their creations. Then there are chefs that love their open kitchen concepts, where guests, friends, family, neighbors, and cameras are ALL welcome to observe the magic as it unfolds in all of its organized and aesthetic glory. It all looks so effortless, but I know that is not me. I prefer to hide in a closed off room with plenty of ventilation. Kitchen windows, for example, are a wonderful dual-purpose problem-solver. Not only can they remove smoke and other unpleasantries, but in a pinch you can toss whatever went other-than-planned out into the yard for the neighbor’s dog to deal with. That’s ok we can’t all be the “ballet dancers” of the cooking world, but we can be great spectators.
Unfortunately, people want to eat. They tend to get grouchy and pushy about it too. “Mom what’s for dinner?” “Mom want me to make dinner?” “Hey Hun, what’s your plans for dinner?” Everyone in my house seems to have the idea that I am the chef extraordinaire. I panic when my usual ingredients of Peanut butter and jelly disappear when it is lunch time. If I could decorate the table in such a way that distracts from bowls of cereal and a glass of milk…. THAT’s what’s for dinner.
The hard part of planning a meal for me is also planning the grocery list. I mean really, I have to plan everything, see what I have etc. After I make my lists and head out the door I discover I left the list at home, so I end up winging it, anyway. Oh, I could call the house, but that becomes another source of amusement for my husband. He doesn’t need anymore. SOOO, I wing it and I forget many things and add things I forgot that I remembered I forgot to add to the list I left at home. I wonder if I could just use my receipt as verification I attempted a list.
By now you are wondering to yourself “What does this have to do with that cookbook?” I’ll tell you: EVERYTHING. You see, there is a place in her book for 30 meals for a month, on the months with 31 days she recommends that to be the day you eat out. And in February you could ditch the two days you really didn’t like. Well, since you’ve gotten this far, I am going to let you in on my plan.
Here it is: I am going to follow the dinner entrees for 30 days. I will add to that the salads, the sides, the desserts as they are in the book. I may not go in the full order, but I will be going through the book day by day. I will also find how I can tweak the flavors here and there from the beginning, or I might not more like the kids will. Some of these recipes look very easy for children to follow as well. That is always a plus in my book. I do not want my children intimidated in the kitchen like their mother.
There are also a few potluck recipes, and some company recipes as well, and even kid party recipes. I will be incorporating these as time goes on or if I get invited to some potluck or such thing where they do not ask for my husband’s to-die-for-mac-and-cheese. They never ask for my foods. I don’t blame them, and potlucks are the most harrowing experience for me. I always worry about causing a situation that approaches news-worthiness. I know it's not really that bad, but I fear it anyway.
Follow along as I work this all out. Let’s see what I can do. Will the house remain standing? Will my family not take up residency in the storage shed? Will we survive.? It’s a mystery. I am coming at this well armored: Oven mitt, apron and prayer in hand.
