Come on into my kitchen

I am so excited to start this blog. I love to cook, I’m a foodie (at least, I’m pretty sure I am), and have always wanted to share my recipes, thoughts, tips, and tricks with others.

My goal for this blog is to make simple, delicious, mostly healthy food your family (and your kids) will actually eat. I love watching cooking shows, and too many times I see recipes I’d love to try, but there’s no way my kids would eat it, and I don’t want to invest in an expensive bottle of white truffle oil. There’s a certain woman (y’all know who I’m talking about) out there who is famous for making "30 minute meals." But I’ll bet she’s never made a meal AND had four kids running through the kitchen at the same time. I plan to post meals that don’t have a zillion, fancy, ingredients, using items easily found at your local grocery store, and not require special equipment or a pan that costs $50 (which you’d only use for one recipe).

Before I post my first recipe, I thought I should tell you a little bit about me.

I grew up as an Army Brat and by the time I was eighteen, I’d live in 4 different states (Georgia, North Carolina, Hawaii, and Texas), and 3 foreign countries (Germany, Italy, and Japan). I’d visited countless other places too; other states, (New York, California, New Mexico), and several other countries (the Netherlands, Taiwan, Holland, Mexico). My dad made sure we saw as much as we could as kids.

Consequently, we tried eating (okay, sometimes we were coerced into) many different kinds of food. I distinctly remember eating escargot on toast points at the tender age of 6, and thinking it wasn’t half-bad. Then I graduated to squid, oysters, mussels, and shrimp. And yes I like sushi too, but not sashimi. That’s the rice with the raw fish on top, and no, I don’t particularly care for it. But I love Asian food, thanks to countless meals of stir-fry with rice and other delectable Chinese fare served by my mother growing up. Sadly, I barely know how to make edible Chinese food—my mother didn’t write anything down, it was "all in her head." Someday, I’m going to remedy that. But for now, onward!

Favorite cuisine, that’s really hard for me, because I really like everything. Italian is probably my favorite, but close behind is Chinese, Mexican, Japanese, and Lebanese food. I just love to stir a pot of soup when it’s cold and rainy outside. Favorite foods… cheese, chocolate, Cheetos, a bowl of sesame noodles, yeah…that is what I crave sometimes. Maybe I’m a bit addicted, but when you have a family, food is as good as therapy, not just what you put on the table every night. Let’s see…anything else? Oh yes, I’ll try just about anything, but will not eat anything raw. Period. I like my food dead, not wiggling…dead. And cooked, thank you very much.

Favorite celebrity chef, hands down, Paula Deen. Why? Because she’s from Georgia (where I was born), and she is the epitome of a Southern cook. I aspire to be like her (but I’ll cut back on the butter when I can). I watch her every once in a blue moon, and I love it when she says, "Hey y’all!" It brings tears to my eyes sometimes. I know, I know, I’m weird that way. I’ve lived in Texas 18 years, and I LOVE Texas. But you can’t take Georgia off my mind, so don’t even try!

I also hope this blog will actually help me use the cookbooks and periodicals I’ve amassed over the past 12 years. I’m embarrassed to admit it, but my collection is so big, there’s no room for it in the kitchen, it takes up 3 shelves in my husband’s study instead.

See what I mean?

A few months ago, I actually stopped all my cooking magazine subscriptions. Yes, I’m still suffering from withdrawal. But I figured I had to stop accumulating and use what I actually have. Now I’ll be forced to go through it all while looking for recipes to post.

Okay, everyone ready? Here we go. I’ve seen a few blogs with a new post every day, but I am not that ambitious. I’ll try to post once or twice a week, but my hubby and 4 chitin’s come first, so please be patient with me. If you get stuck, let me know, and I’ll pull the pan out the fire for you. I’ll do the best I can, and try not to sweat the small stuff.

Oh, and one more thing… don’t be afraid. If I can make it, so can you… and I’m not a pro, trust me. Just a wife and mother trying to get the food out without going crazy!