Another goal I have for 2012 is to learn how to cook… Honestly, God love Matthew because I am no Betty Crocker. I may be able to clean the whole house top to bottom, without breaking a sweat, still looking stellar (that’s my June Clever coming out), but my cooking skills are that of an infant. I believe that my 7 year old nephews would be able to cook up a better tasting meal.
Let me give you an example of just how shotty my skills are. This summer, I made a FABULOUS pork tenderloin courtesy of Bon Appetit. It was so darn good that Matt raved about it to others and I shared it with the foodie I work with. I was on cloud nine! Then, just a few weeks ago I attempted the chicken roll-ups I found on Jenna’s blog. Big mistake, HUGE! They were awful. Honestly, the dog wouldn’t even eat the bit we gave him. Matt got up from the table and ‘needed a minute’ before he commented on them. Seriously, YUCK!
Truth be told, I loathe cooking. I’m perfectly content cleaning the kitchen from top to bottom and enjoy the smell of bleach much more than a well cooked meal. As I’ve said before, Matt is the cook. His palette is second to none that I’ve met thus far. His taste buds are so in tune with every stinkin’ piece of meat, spice, side dish, wine pairing, etc. that it makes me totally gag. His brother has this gift too, yet I’m partial to Matt’s geniousness; they should really quite their day jobs and open a restaurant. I digress.
So why, you ask, is my goal for me to learn how to cook? Me, the girl who would be perfectly happy with the Yuengling and 5 oreo truffles I had for “dinner” a few nights ago while Matt worked uber late. Shouldn’t he be our cook if he’s so darn swell at it? I’d love to say yes, you’re right! But, the truth is when “the cook” doesn’t get home from work until 7:30 or 8:00 there is little time before stomachs start growling and the FEED ME NOW look comes out.
Since I don’t want to have another YUCK episode, I need to connect with skills that are buried somewhere deep inside of me and become a The Cook of our household. They must exist if I can rival a BA recipe, but where they heck did they go the night of the chicken roll-ups?!?!
I’ve been doing well this week, so far. I didn’t plan ahead one bit (hence the Krogering last night) but both meals went well. Only minor adjustments were made to each recipe, (may in fact be my downfall) but we enjoyed both meals.
Tuesday I made Individual meat loves, mac & cheese and veggies. Last night I made baked ziti. Matt went back for seconds so I consider them both a success. Hopefully, this winning streak won’t end tonight. Not sure what’s on the menu yet, but I’m keeping it simple for now. NO MORE disasters please!
Oh Becca! So much about this post makes me laugh. For starters, Mike is the same way as the cook and for our first year (or 2 if I'm being honest) of marriage, it drove me NUTS! But finally I embraced the fact that I married Michael Crocker and I am the professional dishwasher (and do one helluva job at it!). But I do try to get in the kitchen and cook too. I've found two things that help to make any meal I make great -- 1. find a trusty source to obtain your recipes. and 2. don't divert from the recipe until you've made it at least once. My go-to place for recipes is Taste of Home. If you don't subscribe to their magazine, I strongly advise you to. It's the best $12 a year I've ever spent! Great recipes and they aren't crazy obscene (like Rachel Ray...) And if you ever want to do a recipe swap, let me know!! I'd love to exchange a few :)
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