Starting with Grilled Cheese

So here I go.

I'm a California girl in love with food--both cooking and eating it. I grew up in a family of cooks, but refused to eat much more than grilled cheese and PB&J as a kid... except artichokes, I always loved artichokes.

As time went on my taste buds developed and I truly fell in love with food.

So here I am now. I am a newly married woman excited to cook for her family! There's just one thing--sometimes I'm a bit too excited. On Sunday afternoons I spend hours looking through cookbooks, websites, and magazines for my weekly menus. I go on and on to my husband about how great the fresh ginger will taste in this new marinade and how I can use it the following week for a soup. Now don't get me wrong, I am blessed to have a man who will eat everything I make (building my confidence in culinary experimentation). But I would have to say that talking about food may not be as big of a passion for my close loved ones as it is for me. So I will write!

Now back to the food. I've been cooking for years, but I fell into the habit of cooking the same things over and over. I was on a two week cycle of stir fry, tacos, pizza, pasta, and chicken Marsala on every pay day. Then I got married and gave myself a new challenge. I decided to make at least one new recipe a week. So this is where we begin.  

Of course, a few of my moody food habits of childhood have stuck around so I always make changes to recipes I find.  With that in mind, if you read this blog, you will find a version of recipes that I prefer.. but I'll do my best to add variations (even if I wouldn't eat them).