365 er 300 er 200 ... Maybe 100 ... Okay, Some New Dishes Challenge!
As any "working gal" will tell you, we all get into a cooking rut. I am no exception.
There are four or five things in my cooking repertoire that I make over and over and over and over and over and over ....
You get the idea. Basically, these four or five things are easy. They are quick. They are relatively low mess and low fuss. And after a day of dealing with HIGH maintenance mess and fuss, browning up a chicken breast and eating it with reheated green beans (or sadly, and more frequently my case, make a sandwich) is much preferred over dealing with cooking craziness.
But I do enjoy food (as is evidenced by my body's current state of affairs), and I do love to sit down to a good, well-balanced meal and just enjoy it.
One can not do that when one is making themselves peanut butter and jelly sandwiches 5 out of 7 days a week.
I was reminded of how much I love a good home-cooked meal when my parents were down here visiting. I came home from school one afternoon and was met at the door by the heavenly aromas of roasted chicken in the oven. Pure heaven, ladies and gentlemen. Pure, unadulterated heaven. I ate my weight in roasted chicken that evening (and paid the price later on that evening)!
Last night, I had dinner at a friend's house, and she made the most wonderful pork loin ever! I'd been toying with the idea prior to last night's dinner, but last night sealed the deal.
I AM GOING TO DO A "NEW DISH EVERY SINGLE NIGHT FOR A YEAR!" CHALLENGE!
Okay, so I know me. I know I will get side-tracked ... or have to deal with some sort of craziness at work ... or I will get sick ... or something. So, I am pretty sure that 365 days a year might be a bit more than I can literally and figuratively chew in terms of new dishes. However, I *might* be able to attempt 100 new dishes. That seems feasible ...
Maybe ...
Sorta ...
Perhaps ...
The deal is, I have a CRAP TON of cookbooks and recipes that I've clipped over the years (I am some relation to my Grandmother, Phyllis Murray), and I was raised by a master cook! My sister and I can both cook the pants off people ...
Okay, maybe not that impressive ... but we can cook.
So, it's not that I don't have the abilities ... or the accouterments, for that matter. Rather, I've just gotten lazy in my advanced age.
Time for a change, people!
At lunch today, a lunch of homemade JAZZY TUNA SALAD (my own concoction), I pored over a cookbook I received from a friend when I moved down here ... The Bible of Southern Cooking. It seemed fitting to start there.
I have some garden fresh sweet potatoes that need to be used up, and there was born my first NEW DISHES in my SOME NEW DISHES CHALLENGE!
CHICKEN PIE WITH SWEET POTATO CRUST
More to come on this one later on tonight ...
I know, y'all are sitting on pins and needles waiting to hear how this all turns out, aren't you? All I know is that somewhere in Michigan my mother is saying to herself, "FINALLY!"
There are four or five things in my cooking repertoire that I make over and over and over and over and over and over ....
You get the idea. Basically, these four or five things are easy. They are quick. They are relatively low mess and low fuss. And after a day of dealing with HIGH maintenance mess and fuss, browning up a chicken breast and eating it with reheated green beans (or sadly, and more frequently my case, make a sandwich) is much preferred over dealing with cooking craziness.
But I do enjoy food (as is evidenced by my body's current state of affairs), and I do love to sit down to a good, well-balanced meal and just enjoy it.
One can not do that when one is making themselves peanut butter and jelly sandwiches 5 out of 7 days a week.
I was reminded of how much I love a good home-cooked meal when my parents were down here visiting. I came home from school one afternoon and was met at the door by the heavenly aromas of roasted chicken in the oven. Pure heaven, ladies and gentlemen. Pure, unadulterated heaven. I ate my weight in roasted chicken that evening (and paid the price later on that evening)!
Last night, I had dinner at a friend's house, and she made the most wonderful pork loin ever! I'd been toying with the idea prior to last night's dinner, but last night sealed the deal.
I AM GOING TO DO A "NEW DISH EVERY SINGLE NIGHT FOR A YEAR!" CHALLENGE!
Okay, so I know me. I know I will get side-tracked ... or have to deal with some sort of craziness at work ... or I will get sick ... or something. So, I am pretty sure that 365 days a year might be a bit more than I can literally and figuratively chew in terms of new dishes. However, I *might* be able to attempt 100 new dishes. That seems feasible ...
Maybe ...
Sorta ...
Perhaps ...
The deal is, I have a CRAP TON of cookbooks and recipes that I've clipped over the years (I am some relation to my Grandmother, Phyllis Murray), and I was raised by a master cook! My sister and I can both cook the pants off people ...
Okay, maybe not that impressive ... but we can cook.
So, it's not that I don't have the abilities ... or the accouterments, for that matter. Rather, I've just gotten lazy in my advanced age.
Time for a change, people!
At lunch today, a lunch of homemade JAZZY TUNA SALAD (my own concoction), I pored over a cookbook I received from a friend when I moved down here ... The Bible of Southern Cooking. It seemed fitting to start there.
I have some garden fresh sweet potatoes that need to be used up, and there was born my first NEW DISHES in my SOME NEW DISHES CHALLENGE!
CHICKEN PIE WITH SWEET POTATO CRUST
More to come on this one later on tonight ...
I know, y'all are sitting on pins and needles waiting to hear how this all turns out, aren't you? All I know is that somewhere in Michigan my mother is saying to herself, "FINALLY!"
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