Rate your cooking level: which actress are you?

I was looking around for a chart to determine really what level of a cook I am. I kept getting weirdly directed to gaming sites (is there cooking on World of Warcraft?) I had to create my own, and I blinked three times at who who I turned out to be. Play this little game with me and find out what level of cook you are using the analogy of celebrity actresses as "chefs". 

Determine your cooking level: which actress are you?

actress/ chef	skill level	daily dish
winona ryder	it just doesn’t work	she can order out i guess
cameron diaz	looks good, no substance	oatmeal, microwave burrito
amy adams	you may fool some	poached eggs, entree salads, chili
kate winslet	great, only getting better with age	prime rib, roasted vegetables, fish tacos
maggie smith	gorgeous, with just the right amount of spice	beef wellington, baked alaska, the perfect chocolate croissant

Background: I threw together a quickie dinner yesterday. Tried to make chicken enchiladas mole using about 5 different recipes for "QUICK MOLE!" online. It came out way way too spicy- probably because my cutie nephew facetimed us right in the middle of my going back and forth between Paula Deen and Allrecipes. So I had to wing it and cool down my mess afterwards- using a half of a quart of cream.  The mole morphed into chicken over rice with an undisclosed reddish-brown sauce (courtesy of the back beans I blended up in there to bring down the spice level). 

I then had a crisis of blogger identity and wondered why I was doing a food blog. But let's be straight. It's not a food blog. It's a life blog. There will be days when I post nothing about food in the remotest sense of the word. Or maybe I will. But I decided to be honest and let you know that I'm not that great of a cook. I may have some tricks up my fingerless mittens and voila,  or I may throw on some cereal for dinner. But for the most part, while I may look slightly cute doing it, I'm still just making chili. I am actually... Amy Adams.

Brave New World in the Pink Kitchen Cafe. 

As I sit here sucking on a square of Ghiradelli Special Dark With Hazelnuts I decide I will log the meals I make this year. I do this because it is a resolution, and aren’t resolutions vaguely interesting to everyone? It is a new start, and everyone likes what’s new. What’s new? My decision to cook. More. A lot. Conversely, to eat out less, a practice which often rises as the bread of idleness in my little life. 

It all started yesterday, when this idea of resolving to cook more was really bubbling over in my mind. I had yet to tap into our grocery $$ for the month, and there was (and still is) a huge winter storm coming with predictions of record lows. These two circumstances vita-mixed- along with some personal conviction and the beginning of a new year- into a perfect souffle of determination. 

Ingredients you will need in order to understand the Resolution to Cook Recipe:

1 cup, shaken, pressed down, and running over of astute disorganization

1 1/2 cups super-small kitchen with no pantry or island, or even stainless steel appliances, although it is pink (creamy tomato bisque no lie)

3/4 cup lack of follow-through

1 TBSP multi-colored yet lackluster kitchen knives set, bought from Costco last year

Line that cookie sheet with a dab of a screaming need for a creative outlet and there you have it, darling. 

we call her squeebs. 

To begin, I went to 3 major grocery markets with my sweet Phoebe (8). Girlfriend is a dreamy shopping and bopping companion. Not one complaint on our 5 hour tryst, from Costco to Caputo’s to Woodman’s. Then home and it was snowing and we don’t have an attached garage. So I parked in the front and started lugging, dragging, shlepping, grunting the bags and boxes in. I had asked Phoebe to mind the dog, but What Did Phoebe Do? She took one look at the situation and said, “I’ll open the door for you.” Let that sink in. What’s the hardest part about getting whatever inside your house? Dealing with the door. She’s a genius. Each time I trudged up the steps with another load of garbanzo beans or Kirkland Organic Chicken Stock or 200 Tall White Garbage Bags she stepped right up and swung that door open with the brightest little grin and a new verbal pick-me-up. “Wow,  good job, Mom!” , “Not too much to go!” , “Keep on truckin’!” 

So instead of cursing the stratosphere and tundra in which I live like I do every January through April, I started seriously praising the Lord. Praise Him that we have enough money to keep my family well-fed for the next two weeks. Praise Him that my car (the Mermaid) is proving to be reliable even though it’s a ’97 Ford that we bought without really checking out the engine. I praise the Lord I am even here at all if you want to get existential on our first meeting. I praise Him because of Phoebe. Her name means “helper of many” and she proves it o’er and o’er. 

January 3rd

(FYI: January 1 and 2 don’t count because I decided. I did make a pot of chili, though.)

Notable: Shopping triathlon, Phoebe-dweebie killing me softly with her smile

Food I Made: Cream of Broccoli Soup

January 4 (today)

 Notable: almost dying en route to church (arctic conditions) so I turned that Mermaid right around like a record baby. 

phoebe's chocolate chip banana bread. it's not aunt holly's anymore. 

Food I Made: 

• a turkey bacon/egg/cheese sandwich for my man for breakfast
• white bean chicken chili
• chocolate chip banana bread (I think it’s called Aunt Holly’s on allrecipes.com) which was 99% made by Miss Phoebe Awesome-Pants. 
• broccoli, ham, and cheddar quiche for tomorrow 

I will refrain from including recipes because I either rarely use them unless I am baking, or if I do I modify/combine. It’s part of my talent for extreme disorganization. If you really want one let me know- I can try no biggie!

broccoli ham cheddar quiche yet to be consumed

Give, and it will be given to you; a good measure--pressed down, shaken together, and running over--will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you."  Luke 6:38

She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Prov. 31:27