Random Ramblings

As I was flipping through the channels during my oh so exciting treadmill punishment last night, I stumbled upon a movie I'm quite fond of....Julie & Julia. It hadn't dawned on me that I had a lot in common with the younger character in the movie. She had started a cooking blog. The more I watched, the more I realized that I was missing a very crucial part of becoming a natural in the kitchen. Key word = becoming. Which brings me to this question......


WHERE THE HECK IS MY APRON!?!


Oh, that's right, I don't have one. To be legit does one not need to have an apron on at all times when in the kitchen? YES!!!!!! But it has to be extra messy with ingredients rubbed on it and a little bit of flour on your brow. Well, I may not have any of those things but I do have this now......

2 Legit 2 Quit

I've gone as far as asking for a baking accessory for my birthday. This cooking thing is getting serious. ;) Which brings me to my next question.......

AT WHAT POINT DOES ONE BECOME A GOOD COOK?

I always thought it was a skill you were either born with or not. For example, my mother and mother-in-law must've been born with the ability to make delicious, nutritious and quick meals that resulted in happy families.So what makes a "good cook?" Is it a person who can create delicious complicated meals with ten thousand ingredients? Is it a person who can get home from work at 5:00 and have dinner on the table by 5:30 with a kid hanging from their leg all the while? Is it a person who makes a complete and total mess of the kitchen, takes an hour to get a meal on the table but it tastes good? I don't mean to disappoint when I say that I don't know the answer. But what I do know is that each day cooking seems to get a little easier....I feel like the clumsy me who used to timidly approach a recipe is a girl I don't know anymore. I feel more in charge now.....sometimes I feel like shouting at the recipe..... "I OWN YOU RECIPE!!" I feel like I've sprouted a couple extra hands in the kitchen. I have embraced my cooking drawer. Is it strange that I actually get excited to get my handheld mixer out. Mind you, this used to be one of my most dreaded things. I hated the thought of having to pull the box down, hunt down the beaters and unplug an appliance just to plug in the mixer. Sometimes I would just ignore when a recipe called for using a mixer. I'd stir really really fast instead. ;) I was not a big fan of using more than one bowl. If a recipe asked for two separate bowls for two seperate mixtures it didn't matter to me. I would tell myself "everything ends up mixed together anyways so might as well use one bowl." Another popular mindset was this: "more cooking only means more dishes."

So what's all this rambling about? I guess my point is that everyone can be a good cook. With a little work and a good effort you might actually find that it's (gasp) fun. You don't have to be born with the ability and you sure as heck don't have to grow up loving to cook. I never understood the joy of cooking and the whole "made with love" thing. The upcoming holiday season has be almost giddy about trying new recipes and sharing them with my family. It may not taste like Julia Child made it....but these days my food is definitely full of love.

Here's to your cooking adventures......

.....may they be as fruitful as mine have been so far.

Thanks for reading Pink Dishers!