My boys have been asking this question with a bit of trepidation lately. Before, they could count on a dinner of "convenience food" about one third to one half of the time. But these days? Mom is making all sorts of things that they've never seen before, and she is (*gasp*) expecting them to try them!
Honestly, I have been doing so much more cooking. And Jeff and I generally finish off whatever I've made for dinner (with no help from the boys, thank you very much) so there never seem to be any leftovers to speak of. In the last few weeks we've had sirloin steak, fresh green beans, lentils, cilantro-lime chicken, naked (bunless) cheeseburgers, honey mustard chicken, corn on the cob, and tonight we will try my first-ever attempt at homemade chicken soup. With a whole chicken, and everything! It's been cooking for over 18 hours, and I must say, it smells delicious. Not that Ben or Kyle would ever touch soup...but I knew that, going in.
So, here's the deal. Early in our marriage I loved to pore through cookbooks. I would even check out an armful from the library and study them when I got home. So I gleaned some basic knowledge on basic cooking terms and such. Julienned. Broiled. Reduced. And I did a bit of cooking back then, too. Nothing fancy; I'm not a fancy sort of girl. Never have been. No gourmet restaurants for me.
It's a bit counter intuitive, because there's a desire to move toward the ideal with the arrival of children, but since we've had kids, I've moved away from my cookbooks in the interest of time and energy. Not to mention efficiency. Of course, now the tide has turned. I am once again donning my apron, rolling up my sleeves, and going at it in the kitchen.
And I feel a bit out of my depth.
I have never used fresh herbs and was fairly concerned about whether the cilantro in the frying pan with the chicken was supposed to look "like that." And I was completely thrown when the lentils were done in half the time the cookbook said for them to simmer. They had to sit while the rest of dinner was completed, and the end result was pretty mushy and revolting-looking. Ah, but they tasted good, anyway.
My second batch of lentils turned out beautifully, just so you know.
So, slowly I'm getting reacquainted with the craft of cooking, not to mention more comfortable with it. It feels good, like coming back to something I knew once, when life was a bit naive and uncomplicated. Now I need to figure out how to mother my children when I'm up to my elbows in poultry!
3 comments:
Wow Mindy, I am so impressed! I avoid food and cooking at all costs. It is one of the biggest stresses in my life. A result of me never being confident and a household of picky eaters who wouldn't eat what I cook anyway. I am proud of you keep it up.
Oh, but I have been so flustered lately! I was confident in the amount of cooking I used to do...burritos, casseroles, broiled chicken... But this stuff is different. And it's only the 2nd time I've EVER cooked a whole bird (the first time was Thanksgiving 2000, I believe, and I was terrified!). I am totally intimidated by that kind of stuff.
It's exhausting me right now, the planning & executing. But I'm sure it'll get better as I get more used to it. I just need to make bigger batches, so we can have leftovers and I won't have to cook EVERY night!!
You go Girl! Love the "home-cooking" and the very interesting way that you describe your adventures in cuisine land. Sounds like you are doing very well if you can just convince the boys of that.
p.s Love the new picture of your little rascals.
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