I love to cook!

I'm one of those women that most men love and a lot of women envy: a woman who loves to cook and does it well.

Though I have my insecurities, my cooking is not one of them. I am a very good cook. I can't claim all the credit for it; I inherited my love of cooking from my mother and, I've learned, from her natural mother before her. Growing up, while my mother cooked the usual fare – fried chicken, roast chuck, roast chicken and the like – she also regularly cooked a variety of other meals, including duck, goose, oysters, shrimp and the like. When I was home this summer, my younger brother asked me jokingly, "if you like to cook so much, why aren't you fat?" I laughed and told him that while I love to cook, it doesn't necessarily mean I love to eat. I mostly enjoy cooking for others and seeing others enjoy the food I've prepared. I also find it therapeutic , in an odd way, to do the cutting, chopping and slicing while preparing the food. I love the sifting of the flour, the rolling out of the dough and the chopping of the nuts. I find that when I'm down and depressed about something, there's nothing better for me than to get in the kitchen, roll up my sleeves and make something from scratch. Of course since I now live alone, I must constantly find someone to give my food to, mostly my sons. I'm that person who sees something that looks good on Emeril or another cooking show, goes to the website, prints out the recipe and cooks it. I don't feel there's much I can't cook – other than biscuits. Well, I can make a passable biscuit, but I'm still not satisfied with my biscuits. I've tried numerous recipes but haven't quite hit upon one that results in the light, fluffy biscuits I desire. One rainy afternoon, I tried three different recipes in a row – all to no avail.

Because I love to cook, there' have been ideas for several different types of food establishments in the back of my head for years. I've finally settled on one. I'll reveal the specifics of the venture at a later date as I must first get everything, including funding, in place.

I also must admit that I am something of a food snob. I dislike, no, I despise, fast food. I see most of it as empty calories prepared by often less than clean hands. I don't eat out much, but when I do, I want quality food prepared correctly. I don't eat everyone's food either. I rarely participate in the potluck thing at work either. I find that there are a lot of people who think they can cook who can't. One guy I know makes spaghetti casserole that he always brings to work functions. Basically, it's spaghetti with sliced wieners mixed with Prego Sauce and topped with slices of American cheese. Now this dish may sound interesting to you, but believe me, it doesn't taste very good at all. Surprisingly, he actually gets requests for this dish. Different strokes, I guess.

Now, while my ancestors are from Virginia and not Louisiana, I make a mean, put your foot in it, seafood gumbo. Recently, I attended a house party and one of the guests, a man actually born and raised in Louisiana, brought gumbo. I just knew it was going to be good. I got a bowl and piled a heaping amount in it, got the Tabasco Sauce and a spoon. Well, let me just leave it at, not everyone from Louisiana can make good gumbo. It was so bad I threw most of it in the garbage. Funnily, this guy actually raved about his gumbo the entire night. I made sure I hid my smirks.

My younger son seems to take after me. After working at several restaurants, he has become a quite adventurous and daring cook. He'll call me up and ask me what are shallots? How do you make fresh pasta? How do you make hash browns? He'll sauté some shrimp, toss in some fresh garlic and mix it with pasta in a minute. Recently he also made breakfast tacos to go along with a seafood supper. (He is after all, a 6'3" young man whose appetite is always ravenous.)

What's on the menu for today? Mahi Mahi in a cream Cognac sauce over wild rice pilaf accompanied by a Greek salad!

Bon Appetit!

T