So, why not jump on the bandwagon? This blog won’t be so much a “How-to” of cooking, but rather my triumphs and pitfalls as I gain confidence with cooking. I’ve never been the most confident in the kitchen, as any of my friends and family members can attest to. But when you get tired of ordering chinese, pizza and eating forty-nine cent burritos, you have no choice but to learn how to cook.

Here I am, spilling my guts to total strangers, all over the proverbial kitchen floor. Some of the things you read might be common sense to those who are savvy in the scullery. But alas, I am not one of those people.

I’m not going to pretend that I make these recipes up and that I’m a genius in the kitchen. Truth be told, I get virtually all of my recipes from a website that I’m not sure if I can mention (I’m also not well versed in legal matters). I attempted to cook from “The Joy of Cooking” but I found no joy in cooking with that recipe book. In fact, I found it very overwhelming and it only heightened my awareness of how bad of a chef I actually am. I had given up on cooking until I found the-website-that-shall-not-be-named.

The recipes on said website are extremely easy and over time I have gained much confidence. However, I still have many disasters with those recipes. I find that when I improvise is when chaos ensues. Have I learned my lesson of sticking to the recipe? Of course not! How else am I going to learn that reheating chicken in the broiler, instead of the microwave because I felt the microwave was too “college” as I am now gourmet, dries it out? See that “common sense” overtly in your face? I didn’t.

That being said, I give you tonight’s recipe.

Dijon Peppercorn Pork Tenderloin with Zucchini, Squash and Grape Tomato salad mixed in Homemade Olive Oil Vinaigrette

Lesson learned: Don’t buy Peppercorn Tenderloin because you are too lazy to search for peppercorn in the spice aisle, then add pepper to it “because the recipe calls for it”.

Positive lesson learned: When you don’t have olive oil vinaigrette, Oprah has a great recipe on her website to make it yourself. Yummy!

Olive Oil Vinaigrette – Oprah.com

Update:

Thank you to a friend who suggested that I link back to the website that I use for my exploits in the kitchen. It is a subscription website, so you have to pay to receive the recipes. But it’s well worth the $5 per month to get great recipes (and to boost certainty in one’s cooking skills).

Here is the link: E-MEALZ Easy Meals for Busy and Frugal Families