The way I see it...

Cooking..

Isn't it great how we all have ways we like to relax or relieve our stress? One of my favorite ways is to cook. I know some of you may find that ridiculous, since you're making a mess and all, but I relish my time in the kitchen.

I remember the first time I tried to make macaroni and cheese. I can't remember my exact age, but I didn't drain the noodles after they had boiled and ended up adding the milk, butter and packet of cheese in with the water. I know that seems like an obvious thing to do now, but, just starting off I didn't do that. My dad informed me that a cook always eats what they make. So, there I sat trying to choke down that awful mac and cheese.

As I got older and hit my teenage years, I found I liked to bake. I always whipped up some chocolate chip cookies and would divide them up and give them to some of our neighbors. I loved making something and then sharing them with people. And, as Chris and Greg here at the office can attest to, I still like to share my baked goods.

I think it was like a switch was flipped with me after I got married because I became really interested in cooking again, after not really doing too much while I was in college. I started watching the Food Network and would look through cookbooks all the time for recipes to try. If you leave me a stack of cookbooks, I can keep myself occupied for hours.

Now, let me just be honest with you. I'm not a great cook. I do not cook anything remotely fancy. But, I love the process. I love finding something that sounds delicious, buying the ingredients, throwing them together and (hopefully!) enjoying the end result. I, I'm sure like a lot of you, have had successes and failures.

I recently watched the movie, "Julie and Julia," based on two true stories. One of Julia Child and one on Julie Powell, a near 30-year old who started a blog about her trying Julia Child's 524 recipes in 365 days and writing about it. Now, I can be honest and tell you I didn't love the movie, but I loved the cooking scenes and Meryl Streep as Julia Child was great. It was also after the movie finished that I realized there is no way I will ever try French cooking. If I can’t pronounce it, I’m probably not going to eat it! But, I guess never say never, right?

My favorite thing to do at the end of the day is get out a recipe book and seeing what happens. I'm a big believer that my kids will be more willing to try things if they get to help, so you can imagine we make quite the mess. Whether a recipe turns out or not, it's about the experience and trying new things. And, if it doesn't, I always have the ingredients for a grilled cheese sandwich on-hand, just in case, but that's just the way I see it.