Saturday, January 24, 2015

Cooking

Now that the chaos of the holidays is over, sickness in our household is diminishing and things are starting to get back to normal, I feel that I can now blog. Its been a while, but sometimes with the day to day being so hectic and busy between thanksgiving and new years, its hard to find the time. We did survive the holidays and new years, and the weddings, and events and school programs, etc....see, BUSY!

So back to life. I love to cook. I have loved to cook ever since I went off to college and found myself inspired by my first small, run down kitchen in a duplex I rented my sophomore year. Plus, when you're on a budget, ramen noodles, pasta sides and spaghettios can get tiring and boring. I started making casseroles on a Sunday and eating off of them most of the week and trying something different from week to week. I really enjoyed it. Then came the holidays when I was at home or at a boyfriends family house, and I loved to help and pitch in. I started watching Food network and reading about cooking and collecting cookbooks. I felt passion and a yearning to want to learn more. 

Then I got married and as I started caring for another, my skills expanded quite a bit. I was cooking new things and trying new ingredients that I hadn't before and really learning to love it all. This only blossomed as I brought children into this world and now I feed 4 of us daily, breakfast, lunch and dinner. Staying home has only made these skills better.

Today is our 6th anniversary, and tonight, I am cooking up a mushroom stuffed beef tenderloin. I tried this recipe out 5 years ago when we first married and I remember thinking, I don't want to mess this up. I read and reread that recipe like 50 times trying not to make a mistake. And it took me forever to cook, because I was slow cutting and just not having the hang of my kitchen skills at full scale yet. Tonight, I am making it again. I haven't tried because I remember the process being so tedious and taking forever. But, I reread the recipe a couple days ago because my husband requested it, and to my surprise, it looked easy! I love it! I love that over the years, what once terrified me and seemed to daunting, I look at now and say, "oh i got this!". 

For Christmas this year, we even wrote a cookbook. My husband threw in a lot of grilling and smoking recipes and I did most everything else. We had some family recipes that we got from people and put those in as well and then had it professionally bound and shipped to us. It looked great and I was so proud of it. I loved it so much, that I have already started gathering recipes for book #2. 

So for those out there who are starting to learn to cook, or have some inspiration to do more, my advice is keep at it. The more you cook, the better you get at it. I have been cooking now for 10 years and I am so impressed with where I have come. I have to look back to what I used to know how to make to now, and I am pleasantly surprised by myself. That doesn't mean I don't make mistakes! In fact, a couple weeks ago, I had some melted butter and onions on the stove and I went to change clothes and brush my teeth, thinking I had time, and when I returned, they were burned. I haven't burned onions in years! So it happens. And you will make mistakes, but don't let that ruin your desire, passion, curiosity, whatever it is, to stop trying. I raise a spoon to all the foodies out there! Good luck, keep cooking and maybe someday I'll start sharing recipes on here too! Until next time...