The Kitchen and Me

Alright, it is time to tackle the subject of me in the kitchen. This is not my area of expertise and not something I would consider to be where I feel the most natural and at peace with my surroundings. Now, that being said, I am not saying I don't enjoy being in the kitchen and playing, because I do, I really and truly love to get in there and try all new sorts of things and what I can do well, I do exceptionally well such as my apple fritters, pumpkin and carrot cake, apple cake as well as out own homemade Chocolate Iced Caps, a beautiful and tasty rip off of Timmie's for which I will not apologise as ours taste better and are a lot healthier. Unfortunately, my attempts at the unknown don't always turn out well.......much to the chagrin of all those around me in my household. The worst part about this is the fact that my best friend and partner happens to have many talents, cooking and baking being among them and she doesn't quite grasp my failings in what should be a simple matter. Now she is graceful and polite about it, and I know she appreciates my attempts, but I feel I must be somewhat of an embarrassment to her in this aspect. Fortunately for me, I have one child, strike that, one young teen, who no matter what is made for dinner always replies with great enthusiasm. It could be a grilled cheese sandwich or fillet Mignon, no matter, it is great. You have to love that kind of eagerness and positive energy around food.

Now this week has been a great success for me and the kitchen, first on Monday I made (in my humble opinion) one of the most fantastic bruschetta pizzas I have ever tasted. Fresh basil, local tomatoes, onions, a homemade crust....mmmmmm, I am salivating just thinking about it. I know, it all sounds amazing simple but for me it was quite the accomplishment. Yes there are a few changes I will make for next time to make it even yummier but was delicious and even my best friend and partner told me so and she is a genius in the kitchen, no guff!

So, it is now Sunday evening and a short time ago I was trying to figure out what I could possibly make for dinner that would please my best friend as she was working on school work and I wanted to try to let her work uninterrupted while creating something healthy, light and for tonight, vegetarian. I chatted briefly with a very good friend Stephen who offered to come over and make what sounded like a very delicious dinner. This idea was very appealing to me on several levels as it would mean that the food would be prepared correctly the first time, I would have some company other than the children while the meal was being prepared, and also because it would mean I would likely have to do less and I was feeling a little lazy today. I contemplated the offer quickly and as tempting as it sounded to have a personal chef for the night, it also seemed a little rude to ask such a good friend to do something like that and it also defeats the purpose of ME trying to do something different in the kitchen, to learn a new recipe or a new skill. I mean, how can I possibly get better if I just bail every time something seems a little difficult? I politely declined the offer and perused the web and some cook books for recipes before I finally found what seemed to be ideal. Quick, simple, light, vegetarian and it sounded absolutely scrumptious. Herbed Fettuccine with  sugar snap peas. I ran to my local grocery store to get the few items I did not have on hand and will admit to using my phone a friend feature to save myself from a cheese mistake (thanks again Stephen). I came home and started what turned out to be a 3 pot dinner, this was kind of scary for me as 2 is usually my limit..lol...but the recipe was beautifully simple and it turned out I had no problems with any part of it. I used the best ingredients I could find, fresh fettuccine, herbed garlic goat cheese, fresh parsley, basil and green onions as well as a beautiful tomato. I wish I had taken a picture of it but that is still a foreign thought to me, to take a picture of the food I have prepared and am about to eat. I am happy to report that the meal was received well by all who tried it, once again, a few changes I will be making to it when I make it again, a little fresh garlic thrown in for fun, I'll make sure the noodle length is a little shorter to allow for thorough mixing in of the fresh sugar snap peas and tomato. I felt incredible when my best friend said that she loved it and would like to have it again, a sure sign that I have gotten it right! What makes me feel the best about this though, is knowing that I have conquered yet another recipe, another skill, and that I have provided myself and my family with a delicious and nutritious meal.  It makes me feel encouraged to get in there and do more and that is the feeling of success.