Culinarily challenged

Hi, my name is Nicole, and I am culinarily challenged.

And by this, I mean I entered into married bliss without one ounce of knowledge regarding liquid vs. dry measuring cups, I had no idea what the heck "reducing" meant, and I once caught my dish towel on fire while attempting to remove our fourteen pound turkey from the oven (luckily, the fire went right out once I stood up, as I was completely freaked out; needless to say, I now own oven mitts).

Anyway, the road to culinary know-how is slowly but surely shaping up. I no longer feel  uneasy whenever faced with a night of food-preparing. Talk about a load off the old shoulders! I can confidently attribute this new found knowledge to my mother. See, you can learn a thing or two from those parents! Like I've mentioned before, she bought me two new cooking books for my birthday. I have had so much fun recreating Giada's brilliance, I'm mad at myself for not buying a few books on my own!

Case in point: if your spirits are low everyday around 4:00 or 5:00ish because you're at a loss as to what to make for dinner, buy yourself a cook book. Read the little excerpts above each dish from the author, and soon enough, you will be cooking up a storm!

One little tip: before buying your book, flip through a few of the recipes. Try to buy from a chef who uses many of your same ingredients that you buy on a daily basis. For example, I always buy chicken and mushrooms at the store, no matter what. Giada just so happens to have a million recipes with chicken and mushrooms. It's nice because I don't feel like I'm going super far out of my way just to make a good meal.

I still have a ways to go, but at least I'm not gagging at my own creations anymore!