they say posta, i say pasta

it's a rainy monday evening. we have just finished dinner and now josh is taking a bath and i am blogging. really, i don't think i'm supposed to tell anyone that josh takes baths...according to him, it's only when he's feeling sick or tired. i won't comment on that.

lately i've been trying to broaden my rather small range of culinary skills by finding new recipes on the internet and also having them sent to me in the mail. i became a wife with next to no cooking experience (besides foods 11 with mrs. dyck) and really didn't know where to start. i had a tiny collection of recipes painstakenly copied from my mom's recipe cards, a few cookbooks and that's it. oh my, the things i went through. the tears i cried. the horrid things i made him eat. i felt that every meal was a test of my capability as a wife. i would watch josh take the first bite and then scrutinize his face for any sign of whether he was liking it or hating it. there weren't too many hates, though plenty of dislikes.

since then, i've learned from my mistakes, and am doing better. and yet i simply cannot give up wanting to be a better cook. and the most frustrating thing? well, josh's favourite meals are not the ones that i slave over, making every little bit from scratch, letting them simmer or steam, adding a dash of this or that. oh no, his very favourite meals end up being the ones that i cheat on! the ones that come out of a box! campbell's dinner bakes--just add the chicken and you have a complete meal! he raved about that one for days. or the frozen pizzas that you just pop in the oven. even the hamburger helper scored big points. the other day, i bought a packet of pasta seasoning to add to penne and chicken. he loved it (of course). today i made a pasta sauce from scratch--lemon zest and everything! all i'll say is that we'll have plenty of leftovers for days to come.

~WHY?~

~heidi, Desperate to be a Good Housewife