Admission

Here's my admission for the new year:

I am horrible at reading recipes all the way through before I begin them! My husband has prevented me many times from messing up a recipe by looking over my shoulder. But, for all the times that he hasn't, I roll with it. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.

Christmas morning, I forgot to add the yeast to the bread for the cinnamon rolls. Oh, NO! Well, I threw it in the kitchen aid and added some baking powder (since baking soda would have added a lot of bitterness). It turned them into more of a biscuit tasting batch of cinnamon rolls, but thankfully they were edible.

You'd think I'd learn.

No.

I just made some soup and missed one of the directions, I added the cider vinegar and orange juice early. I'm sure it won't be that big of a deal, but I just have to laugh at myself!

So, I should make a New Year's Resolution for cooking this year:

1) Read the recipe all the way through before beginning it
2) I'm going to try and work my way through Essentials of Cooking by James Peterson.

My second resolution came to my mind because of the movie Julie and Julia. While watching it, I thought it really would be a blessing to my family and specifically my husband (who loves good food) if I were to endeavor to learn more from Essentials of Cooking. At the end of the movie, I was a bit disheartened and wanted to forget it because of the end, but my husband shared some wise words with me. He told me that he would have said exactly what the husband did to his wife at the end. When we pursue a goal, it should not be for the approval of others. We should pursue the goal because we want to or we feel God is impressing it upon our hearts and minds to do so. He's right. I still don't really like the end of that movie, but I'm trying to think of it in the right perspective. So, as for my idea--I'm not trying to copy what she did in any way. I will probably only do a handful of recipes from the cookbook, but I do want to be a better cook.

If you've never looked at Essentials of Cooking it's nothing like Julia Child's cookbook. Peterson's cookbook is actually written to help people learn how to do gourmet cooking. It covers all the foundations of gourmet cooking--and it has lots of pictures! Cookbooks without pictures just aren't as appealing. I love pictures in Cookbooks. I have come to realize this more and more. This is the cookbook that I use for Hollandaise Sauce and it always comes out =)

Well, I hear my children waking. I hope you have a great start to your new year!