The Joy of Cooking

This is my invariable advice to people: Learn how to cook -- try new recipes, learn from your mistakes, be fearless, and above all have fun! -Julia Child

 

If you would have asked me 10 years ago (or even 2 years ago) if I thought that I would ever actually enjoy making a meal, I would have looked you straight in the face – laughed - and gone back to stirring my chicken-flavored Top Ramen. Throughout college and post-college, I lived off of macaroni and cheese and Spaghettios (the ones with franks, yum!) Then I got married and moved to Corpus and discovered my new passion – cooking! I think that my new love of cooking had less to do with getting married and more to do with the fact that we lived in the middle of nowhere with few friends (at least in the very beginning). So we spent most of our time cooking new meals, drinking great wine, and watching lots of Netflix. It was a wonderful way to start out!

 

These days nothing makes me happier than sitting down with a cookbook and looking at all of the possibilities. I love everything about cooking, except for maybe the cleaning part (although I do get a weird satisfaction from wiping down the counters 300 times a day). Our routine is to sit down on Sunday mornings and plan out our menu for the week. We plan one or two new meals every week and then one Swartz “classic” (ie. taco salad, which we tend to eat about once a week). On Sundays, I always try to make a Crock-pot or one-pot meal – something that can be made early and simmer throughout the day (it is hard to get off the couch when you are having an intense Fantasy Football match-up). The rest of the week, we experiment with pork, steak, fish, pasta, etc. We tend not to cook at all on Fridays or Saturdays – those days are reserved for dining out and delivery. I can honestly say that I look forward to getting home from work and putting on Pandora (tuned to Sara Bareilles – thanks, Les), pouring my glass of wine, and grabbing my apron.

So from the girl who went from cooking nothing but microwave meals and the occasional Hamburger Helper to getting uber-excited about her red Dutch oven and Julia Child cookbooks, there is hope for everyone!

 

Disclaimer for all of you future visitors or dinner guests: Just because I love cooking, doesn’t mean I am any good at it!

 

Here are some of our creations...

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Icing

Round One of Joe Patti's steamed mussels in a mushroom sauce, plus crusty bread and nice big glass of white wine

Matt and I recently bought a Weber grill (I really wanted the red one, but couldn't find it anywhere.) Here is our first night grilling out - we went a little overboard. On the grill we have chicken, hamburgers, sausages, and corn. Lots of good, only three people.

Swartz "Classic" aka Taco Salad