cooking by trial and error

I'm  new to this cooking thing. Bless my  husband and kiddos who are on this journey with me.  It's not that my mom never cooked - quite the contrary...  she was always whipping up stuff. Mostly unhealthy junk food - which we loved.  She would "invent" things in the kitchen. I will never forget her pizza rolls (before Totinos, before hot pockets, before the pizza roll as we know it was ruined with preservatives and freezer burn).  I remember fondly the Saturdays I spent playing in my room while guessing the smells that came from the kitchen. Often, there was always a great variety - she'd sometimes make cookies the same day as her pizza rolls and/or hand-pulled chicken noodle soup.

Unfortunately, though - the mantra heard from the kitchen was always, "Out of the KitchANNN!!"  

She loved the kitchen time alone. And I totally get that now.

I use my kitchen a lot more now that I have some help.  It took me years... YEARS! to graduate from my Betty Crocker cookbook for beginners.  Actually, I'm not even sure if I really did graduate that yet, but I definitely grew tired of it. I wanted to finally add some flavah to the staples I've learned how to make.  But, I'm putting myself out there as I admit that I'm just now learning to to make the most basic things. Potatoes, for example. Sure, Betty taught me how to bake or mash a tater... but, do you realize how many different potato related dishes are possible!?!

Last night, I tried my hand at skillet potatoes. (God love the internet for it's vast array of recipes.  However, I admit that I'm overwhelmed by all the choices and opinions out there.)  I wish someone was there to coach me. I probably would have heard, "MAGGIE - PUT THE GARLIC DOWN."  or "Stop looming. They haven't had time to get HOT, let alone to get turned. Relax. You want crispy. Leave them alone."

But, I'm alone in the kitchen. Rightly so, I might add...  the kitchen - just like the road when I'm running - is my new escape.  It's my time to be creative without getting paint every where or worrying about kids eating the glue.  It's my own little way of relaxing at the end of the day.  Too bad, I can't quite relax when the meal is ready for consumption.  Instead, I wonder - what if I'd done this different? Does husby really like the garlicky potatoes or is he just being polite? I can't believe I forgot to sneak a veggie into this meal. 

I'm also trying to learn from my own experiences.  When the kids come into the kitchen, I want to (SOMEDAY) have them wash their hands and jump right into the cooking process. For now, I let them play in there, and I talk them through what I'm doing. (Often, Julia gets a chance to help or completely take over some of the dishes... but, not as often as she would like.)  I don't want to be one that kicks my kids out of the kitchen. Even if it is my time to enjoy winding down.  I just need to come up with some additional creative ways to keep the kids entertained but not in the way.

Ahh - but if these are my worries at the end of the day, I admit that I've got it pretty good.

Ten minutes left until the banana bread comes out of the oven.  Rest assured, I didn't pull the garlic out of the fridge for that one.