SUCCESS! I am a COOK!

So....it seems that I CAN cook after all. I just caught a glimpse of Craig and I at the grocery store on a repeat episode of Tosca: Flexing at 49. I noted that I can't cook, and Craig so nicely adds that I burn water. Not true, mes amies! Tonight, I cooked my first real meal using a recipe. And it was delicious. AND my family raved about it. This never happens. Hannah asked for seconds of the Baked Ziti, and was shocked to learn that there is tomatoes and carrots hidden inside. After the initial shock, and look of betrayal she gave me (Hannah does not like cooked carrots, nor does she like tomatoes in any form other than ketchup) she concluded that maybe cooked veggies aren't as bad as she once thought. Good for her I said! Nicholas left only a small amount on his plate, which is a big event. The little squirt weighs barely 30 pounds, and will be four in two months. His size is mystifying to us, as the rest of us struggle with our weight. So for a Newell to need to gain weight...well it just seems crazy to us.

So! Here are the pics of my family before eating said Ziti, and one of the divinely golden masterpiece created by me. I'm so proud. The lantern in the middle of the table is circa 1996, part of the centrepieces on the tables during our wedding reception.

Things I learned while in the kitchen;

1. Prep time = time to prep all the food before beginning to cook. I never really took that into consideration, and just started following the recipe from the top. If you read the recipe in its entirety beforehand, you may find that you have to multi-task. Like preheating the oven, while something else simmers away. That sort of thing.

2. Cooking ground turkey until browned. I believe that should be changed to Cooking ground turkey until "beiged", it doesn't get any browner than beige. Also, Tosca tells us to make sure that the skin was not ground into the turkey. I have no idea how to tell if it was or wasn't, but I decided to trust the president of the choice and deduced that there was no skin in my meat.

3. Wearing an apron is sexy. No really, I put on the white apron that Craig normally wears (although, on him, it's more of a skirt, as he doesn't wear the bib thingy around his neck) and I looked in the mirror and I was immediately thrown back into the 50's. But the way the bib thingy, well, hugs the girls (and by girls, I mean boobs) and how tying the strings at the waist, gives an automatic hourglass shape, it is just very girly, and kind of sensual.