...here we go!

I have a little secret, more of a problem really... My family is aware of it and my very close friends know about it too, but no one else. Until now. My secret isn't terrible, not even all that bad in the whole "keeping secrets" arena. But it is embarrassing and the only way to get over this little problem I have is to face it head on! So here goes...brace yourselves...I am thirty eight years old and I can’t cook! There you have it; my secret is out. Sad…but true.

If genetics have anything to do with it, I should be a good cook…

• My mother can cook. In fact, she’s a great cook. She’s one of those throw-stuff-together-without-a-recipe-and-it-comes-out-delicious kinds of cooks.
• Jackie, my lil’ sis, can cook. She’s pretty talented at it. She’s currently living in Poland and doesn’t have the luxury of running to Kroger to pick up a lot of conveniences that we think of as being necessary to cook. STILL, she manages to pop out dishes that are yummy and continually impresses her Polish peeps with her cooking skills.
• My brother Shea cooks on a regular basis and I think he’s a pretty good cook as well.
• My Dad has a few signature dishes that he makes for holidays and such…those are always good eats…baked corn being my personal favorite.
• My brother Bryan loved to cook when he was able and even when he wasn’t able, he’d dictate ideas for recipes to Mom, she’d whip them up and they’d be quite tasty.
• My grandmothers are wonderful cooks and Papaw could barbecue like nobody’s business.

So why did I miss out on the culinary portion of the family gene pool? No idea. I share the same bloodline with all these wonderful cooks and should be a great cook myself, and yet my cooking skills rate along side those of Ellie Mae Clampet. Remember when she made biscuits that were so hard they used them for hockey pucks or shot-put or something? I’ve made those same exact biscuits!

For whatever reason, I can’t (or perhaps don’t) cook. Maybe I’ll delve into those reasons someday, but for now I’ve decided it’s high time I start learning to cook! Mom suggested that I try one recipe a week and I thought that was a pretty good idea! SO one recipe a week it is and I plan to document it here. For now, I’ll do my documenting on Wed. or the weekend, as Mark and I still do not have internet service and I can’t really post from work. I’m usually at the folks’ place at least once a week, so the blog will be a weekly thing for me.

In case you’re wondering, on the days I’m not trying out a recipe, I’ll be eating my usual “make do” cooking (if you can call it cooking) which is frozen dinners, cereal, fast food, and stuff from cans…so don’t ya’ll worry. I’ve made it thirty-eight years without cooking and I ain’t starving (as is widely recognized). The day I DO try an actual recipe, I’ll have one of those convenience foods with it. “Why not trying TWO recipes on the same day?” you ask. Are you kidding me?! Change takes time, people!

11/10/07 UPDATE: It's over a year later and I'm now a little bit better at cooking and have even taken up some new hobbies! If you've been directed here from Jackie & Scott's blog, you can see what I'm up to these days here.