Cooking Again

So tonight we enjoyed the last of our "baby dinners" as I think of them.  Our church has been bringing us meals for the past four weeks.  Not every day but often enough. We are so thankful.  It's amazing how freeing it is to know dinner is coming that night.   I can become so overwhelmed and at the end of my rope in a heartbeat lately.  As much as I love my family, this new phase is wearing me out! 

All that to say, we've had some really yummy dishes- spaghetti and meatballs, a roasted chicken, chicken chili, vegetable soup, pork tenderloin, lasagna, chicken pot pie, and the list goes on.  Not to mention the desserts that came with most every meal!  We will do well to be done with so many sweets for a while!

And now I am left to cook again.  So, under the inspiration of "Julie and Julia" I have decided to expand my cooking abilities.  I told my brother I was trying to learn to cook and he said, "You mean you don't cook???"  I do, but not always well.  I now have "The Joy of Cooking" in my kitchen and am hoping for a transformation on our dinner table.  I tried two recipes earlier in the week, chicken enchiladas and Mississippi mud cake.  The enchiladas were so-so.  The cake, from scratch, was delicious- plus I had my little helper whisking and mixing her heart out..  Brian laughed when he saw the cake and was surprised that I started off with a new dessert recipe.  Wouldn't you agree that a good dessert is key to a good dinner? (I do realize that in the previous paragraph I said we need to be done with sweets!)  Well, maybe not key but it sure is nice.
While I have no plans to cook my way through this whole cook book, I am looking forward trying out some new recipes.  We'll see!