May 18th, 2017

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Here is a funny thing that I've noticed about myself.  When anticipating something, I tend toward preconceived ideas.  What I mean by that is when I know that a life-changing event is about to occur, I write a little script in my head about how it's going to go.  It's like a movie or a book.  Rarely does the reality match what I've created, but still it's something I do.  I cannot seem to stop myself.

For instance, before I went away to college, I pictured in my mind what college life would be like. It as a rather elaborate portrait.  Now imagine my disappointment.  Not a single professor of mine wore a sweater with leather patches on the elbows, none of them had lovely wood paneled offices with library shelving filled with mementos of exotic travels.  None of the girls wore sweater sets, not a single guy wore a bow tie and there were no "mixer" dances.  I think I watched too many old black and white movies. 

In real life, I did enjoy my college days, but I worked much harder than they show on TV and movies,  sometimes partied harder than I should have and everyone wore jeans and tee-shirts and since it was the era of such, army jackets and long flowy "hippie" things.  Not a bow tie in sight. I met great people, learned important things and had a good time. Just not the same as the script I wrote.

I have done the same thing for every single move I have made in my life (and that is a lot of moves), for weddings, funerals, childbirth, raising children, foreign travels, and getting my drivers license.  Everything I've ever done for the first time, which  means things I  find kind of scary, I wrote myself a little story about it first and imagined what it would be like. And every single time, I was completely wrong.

Well, in that same way, before we moved to Florida, I had  created that little preconceived idea film running in my head of what life would be like here.  I scoffed at myself the entire time I was doing it because after an entire lifetime of this habit, I should know by now that it will be nothing like what I picture.  I thought for sure that I would be on the beach every day, that I'd be able to walk nearly everywhere I needed to go, that there would be palm trees and exotic blooming shrubbery and sunshine most every day. I was positive that I would have collections of shells and beach glass in my house and mostly I was certain that I would do a lot of cooking.

Oh wait, that is exactly what happened!!! Mercy me!  I finally got it right!

And one of the best parts that I got right was the cooking part.  I will confess that when I first got married, I had never cooked anything, ever.  My Mother bless her heart, hated cooking and avoided it at all costs.  When she did cook, let's just say, it was not ideal.  My Nana was a great baker (not a very good cook) but I was never privy to the magic behind what she baked. I grew up in the era of children belonging outside not in the house underfoot.  I've told the story here before of my gratitude to the person who gave me a copy of the cookbook, "Joy of cooking" as a wedding present.  That is the book that taught me.  There were a lot of failures initially, but gradually I kind of got the hang of cooking. And it turns out that I enjoy it and I'm fairly good at it.

In fact, I would go so far as to say of all the things I do each day, cooking and baking are my favourites.  I love coming up with ideas, stumbling across recipes, trying something brand new and twisting an old idea.  I enjoy shopping for ingredients then collecting them for my creations; lining everything up on the countertop and then transforming those things into something else.  I love presenting it to my "audience" for their appreciation and those empty plates that tell me that I did a pretty decent job afterwards.  I don't even mind cleaning up and putting my pretty kitchen back together again.

I am learning and growing  as a family chef all the time and there will always be more to learn which is part of the fun.  I find that I collect recipes the same way that I collect shells, except the shells just sit there, the food, we eat.  And I am happy to share my recipes.  If someone gives me the ultimate compliment of liking something I made so much that they want to make it too?  Well, I would be delighted to write that recipe out and send it to you. In fact, I do it all the time.

So, here is my request:  If you have a particularly terrific recipe that you love, please send it to me!  I would love to learn to make something new!  I am eager to learn new things. Please Send Me Recipes!!!

Thank you in advance !