I've never been good at resolutions. I laugh at people who make "New Year's Resolutions" because really, if you're going to do something, just DO IT (as Nike says). Don't use New Year's as an excuse, don't use waiting until the New Year as a procrastination method, and don't, in the name of all things holy, follow the crowd and make resolutions you have no intention of keeping just because other people do.
That being said, I took a long look around my rather small house (actually, three not-particularly-long looks in the time most people would take only one - my house is *very* small), and realized I had a problem. An addiction, if I'm being honest.
A cookbook addiction.
Don't laugh. It seems minor to people who have faced drugs or alcohol or other serious addictions. But in my teensy tinsy little house, having three bookshelves of cookbooks CAN be a problem.
Particularly, when (and this is MOST difficult for me to admit), I... rarely.... cook.
There. I said it. It's now public information that I am a cookbook-o-holic and Food Network junkie who rarely cooks. What do we do, you might wonder? We eat out. We reheat frozen dinners. My children thrive on dinner-from-a-box. All while we watch Food Network and I browse foodie blogs.
My husband is not even entirely convinced that I CAN cook. He tends to smirk... and then laugh..... and then roll his eyes when I mention the possibility of cooking. (And that's just when I mention the possibility of ME cooking. On the rare occasion that I suggest that HE cook, he opens the freezer and asks the kids if they'd prefer corn dogs or pizza pockets.)
See? We have a problem.
But what to do, what to do? Clearly SAYING that we're going to start cooking won't help much. If it were just that easy, we'd already be doing it, wouldn't we? I assume so.
Therefore, I'm making a resolution to USE my vast collection of cookbooks as something other than table decorations, supports for wobbly table legs, and seats for my kids to reach their straight-from-a-box mac n' cheese (it IS "the cheesiest", though!).
And I'm blogging about it because there is the ever-so-slight possibility that someone will notice, and call me on it if I drop the ball.
I. NEED. PEER PRESSURE, people. (Only the good kind. So be gentle....)
I like to surprise myself, so I will set a goal of using at least two recipes each week from cookbooks ALREADY in my collection for a whole year. (No buying new ones! Curb the addiction! Just say No!) Then if I do more, YAY me!
I'll probably give you random tidbits of food-related fun along the way (ya know, from those many foodie blogs I already subscribe to and visit religiously when I'm... not... cooking). And maybe the occasional completely unrelated post. I like to be random like that.
Wish me luck. Bear with me. Be supportive. If my meals turn out horribly, laugh WITH me, not AT me, and then remind me why I'm doing this.
Because really, the reason is far more complicated than I can ever fit into one sentence, I think. Food blogs have been inspiration. Hopefully this one will be motivation. And if, no WHEN I make it through a year, in the long run my family will benefit, my psyche will benefit, the environment will benefit (from my not buying more cookbooks I never use!), and my appetite will... well, I'm not sure if "benefit" is the right word, but it will definitely be more appreciative. :)
So in the words of Julia Child (and many french-speaking people the world around, of course),this time uttered with fingers tightly crossed..... Bon appetit!
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