A voyage to MasterChef

I have never been much of a chef, but that's about to change. Our story begins with memories of visiting my cousin Kelly when I was a little girl...Her mom was the creative stay-at-home mom who could easily whip up a 5 course meal on any given day for any given reason.Kelly was always getting things like cookbooks for presents, and I would be excited to go over there to help make something out of her cookbooks. She was much better and much more patient than me when it came to cooking. For example, when we would make boxed cake she would insist that all the batter be scraped out of the bowl and put in the baking dish, where I was all about leaving as much as possible to eat the delicious batter with a spoon! I am currently salivating at the mere thought of eating some delicious cake batter, however, people seem to frown upon eating raw eggs these days...especially when one is pregnant, therefore I will continue to blog until later when I devour the delicious coconut cream pie I made last night. Ok, back to the story...

My mom, on the other hand, was the full time job mom who was constantly running her athletic and musically inclined children to and from every sport or musical instrument practice under the sun.To this day I do not know how she managed to work a very physical job all day long and still have the energy to cheer us on and run us all over. Thanks mom for all you did, by the way! Because of our hectic schedule, however, dinners growing up for me always came with the question "do you want fries with that?" or "How many in your party this evening?" And while that was awesome for me as a kid because I loved fast food and sitting down to a meal where someone catered to my every desire, it led me to an adulthood filled with the belief that if it didn't come from a restaurant of some sort it must be contaminated.It's not that I didn't try...I mean I would go to Wally World and spend upwards of $300 for groceries for just myself! I would try to make something at home, but every time I would put my creation to my mouth and taste, I would instantly throw up...ok, well maybe that's a bit of exaggeration, but I certainly didn't eat it...but instead would run out and get carry out. This was hard on both my wallet and my waistline. Shortly after college, I started putting on the pounds from lack of cooking skills and lack of the same sort of physical activities I used to be involved in...volleyball, basketball, cheerleading, gymnastics...etc. I was smart enough to marry a man that cooks, but we have quickly adopted that hectic schedule I was accustomed to growing up...between our work schedules, 2 year old, and our love and devotion to performing in community theatre, we have become a modern on-the-go family resorting back to that lifestyle of dining out more often than dining in...again not good for our wallets or our health as we are over and near 30. It's time to start knowing what we're putting in our bodies and where the food came from!

Now, getting back to my cousin Kelly. She is quickly turning into the creative stay at home mom her mom was which makes me jealous for 2 reasons. First, I desire to be able to stay at home with my children, and 2nd because I desire, almost as much, to have to ability to cook and actually have people enjoy it without vomiting upon tasting. This along with my husband's nagging he wishes he had a domestic wife, has inspired me to learn how to cook.Oh yea, and because of my strangely unhealthy desire to be on Gordon Ramsay's Masterchef!!

As far as learning how to cook here is my plan....Because law school already put a huge dent in our future wealth, I have decided to forgo the fancy cooking school and learn to cook the old fashioned way...by trial and error...oh and having Kelly, the Hubs, the Mother-in-law, the Aunt and whoever else is willing teach me a thing or two! I am super excited to learn and possibly more excited to blog about it. I will, of course, take pictures and give you honest to goodness feedback on the results! Hopefully you will see me on Masterchef next season!!

Much love and Happy Cooking Friends!
Amelia

By the way....

The reason I have all the time in the world for cooking now? Well, it's a touch tragic...Almost a month a go I was put on modified bedrest by my doctor because my body was going into labor 16 weeks early! I am not allowed to stand for extended periods of time, not allowed to go shopping, not allowed to walk very much, etc etc etc....I am however allowed to sit and have decided that I shall learn to cook while sitting down. Upon learning how to master the basics of cooking, I will audition for Gordon Ramsay's Masterchef. I am super excited about this and will cook a new meal and/or dessert every day and blog about it. I may even take on some of the challenges from the show itself. Like the ravioli challenge! I am stoked to make pasta one day, but I think I need to hone some more basic skills first! We shall see my friends of all things cooking.