Yes, I am back!

Okay.
I tried to learn to enjoy cooking. There were some sparks; but nothing caught on fire. I kept trying with different things but nothing seemed to work.

So, I tried a different tactic.

I love my dog, Beau. He is my everything. And I kept reading all these different articles on how much healthier it would be for him to eat home-cooked food as opposed to food in a bag or can. And THAT started off fairly well. But it takes time. Time I was willing to take but then I remembered, I DON'T LIKE TO COOK. Funny, I know.

So that fizzled. I thought of giving up this blog; it just wasn't working for me. So, I did.

Gave up, I mean.
Can't have a blog about learning to enjoy cooking if you can't enjoy cooking.
Right?

But, as much as I really don't like to cook, I LOVE to watch others do it. I still avidly watch the cooking shows and most definitely the cooking competitions. I still think it's amazing to watch people come up with the most amazing dishes on the very weird or even the very little. It's like watching a ballerina or a surgeon at work. Sheer heaven.

So, we're going to take a little turn. Still going to talk about the cooking. But not mine.
Even if I only have a few people that read this blog, it's still going to be fun to share my excitement at the turns and twists of these incredible people. Most on the Food Network but other channels have some really good offerings, also.

Join me, if you will, on this trip and maybe join in if you'd like.

Thanks for reading!
Paige

Change of Heart

Well, it took me awhile to figure it out but I guess better late than never! You can't find the perfect spaghetti sauce recipe without actually COOKING them. Well, hell. I wanted to cook it just once.

I've also come to the conclusion that cooking really isn't for me. Yes, I still watch the cooking shows on Food Network. They are fascinating and I'm still impressed with how the chefs can create beautiful and tasty things out of most anything. But I've decided it's just not me.

But no need to fret. My journey is going to take a slight twist. I have a new guinea pig that will eat anything I make; no matter what. (Although he isn't a big fan of veggies) But it doesn't have to be fancy or especially tasty, even. AND it'll save me money and he'll eat healthier.

I'm talking about my dog, Beau. He's a basset hound and almost five years old. He's not really spoiled; I'm just well-trained! He is the love of my life and I'm looking forward to a long life with him.

So we're still going to learn how to have "fun" with cooking; just in a different way!

Thanks for listening!
Paige

Where's the Fun?

Cooking should be fun, right? That's pretty much the whole point of what I'm doing. Learning to enjoy cooking so it's not so much of a chore.

My first dinner the other night went well; better than I had expected. And while there were some parts that were intense (trust me; for a non-cook like myself, boiling noodles successfully is intense) it wasn't fun.

Hmm. What can I do to make it more fun; thereby making me WANT to do it?

I was watching "Worst Cooks in America" last night on the Food Network channel and their first challenge was to create a hamburger with anything they wanted. This made me sit up. I've cooked hamburgers before; a means to an end as I've said previously. But to CREATE my own signature burger? Wow....the endless possibilities!

And if I can create my own burger, what next? Couldn't I create pretty much anything? No, I still don't know enough about flavors to know what would and wouldn't work but I'm pretty sure that's what most cooks enjoy. Making it their own.

Sure, I'm still going to use recipes. There are quite a few I've seen that seem a tad difficult but might be worth trying at least once. But I'm going to learn to be brave and try flavors that I normally wouldn't put together. Sort of like finger-painting as a child. Just let it flow!

So, as soon as I come up with a recipe, I will post and let everyone know. Wish me luck!