A Love/Hate Relationship

I come from a family of fantastic cooks. My parents were/are awesome cooks, and my mouth waters every time I think about any dinner (or fatty high-calorie dessert) cooked by my grandma. My sister and I, luckily, inherited some of those genes as well. Give us a recipe and we're good to go. Lisa has a little more of a knack for it than I do, though. She is pretty fearless about changing it up to suit her tastes. I, however, stick to what's printed on the card. Yeah. I play by the rules. There will be no flag-throwing or whistle blowing in my kitchen.

I just can't think of anything more comforting about a home-cooked meal and thanks to Pinterest (yes, I brought it up again!!), I've found some awesome recipes - and actually made them! Gasp! As much as I love cooking and how it makes my house smell oh-so-delicious, I struggle with motivation to do it very often. Yeah, it's great and healthy and cheap(er) than going out and grabbing something but there's definitely some drawbacks.

First of all, I hate cleaning up after cooking; especially when it took multiple utensils and several bowls/pans. It seems silly to have to run the dishwasher twice to clean up all the dishes from one meal. No, I am not going to do it by hand so don't even suggest it.

Secondly, even though I enjoy each dish immensely, am I the only one who finds it mildly depressing to sit and eat a fabulous meal alone? I feel like it automatically makes me acutely aware of the fact that I went to a lot of trouble to make that plate of food and have nobody to share it with. Food is meant to be shared, right? I don't get that feeling when eating a sandwich or a bowl of cereal; and I certainly don't feel that way about my morning oatmeal. Then again, I'm pretty selfish with my oatmeal. It's that good.

Despite these two things, I get too much joy out of cooking to ever give it up but I do admit I look forward to having someone to cook for again. I miss sitting down at the table and talking about my day with someone who actually cares. Darcy doesn't count because a) I don't allow her at the table and b) she's too A.D.D. to be a good listener.

Because I love sharing good recipes, here are the links to a few recipes I found on Pinterest and loved when I finally got around to making them ;)

Chicken with Roasted Sweet Potato Salad
Barbecue Turkey Meatloaf
Pizza Fish