Cooking . . .and a Tooth!

We'll start with the big news first - Samantha Michelle has her 1st tooth!!! Well, at least part of the white is punching through :) We were wondering if it was ever going to come. She pretty much eats all table foods now, and will occasionally (like once every other day) eat some baby food. As far as we can tell, she's getting plenty to eat, because she is busting out of her clothes and has now moved on to her 18mo stuff . . .

In other news, I am officially stamping the label of a good cook on myself!! You know, when I was younger and my Mom would call me in the kitchen to help and watch her cook, I would drag myself in and sit and explain the uselessness of this skill. When asked "what are you going to eat when you're older?" I would simply answer with one of two possibilities - I would either 1. be wealthy enough to eat out every day thus never needing even a kitchen much less the ability to cook in it or 2. I would marry a man that cooks.

I am here to tell you, I upheld my part of that scenario. I married a man that can cook, does it for a living, and is darn good at it. HOWEVER, someone failed to inform me that if that man cooks at work all day, the last thing he is going to do when he arrives home is cook some more!

So alas, I had to learn to cook . . . and I have mastered my ability to make healthy, home cooked, and well liked meals for my family - and I am proud!!!! The culmination for me was dinner tonight when every member of my little family ate more than I have seen them eat in a while - the menu: a fabulous "pizza" that I made with a healthy dough brushed with olive oil, basil, and oregano, and topped with a turkey tenderloin covered in a tomato basil marinade and mozerella cheese. Minus the dough, it was from scratch including the olive oil mixture!!!!!!

Simple and mundane, but if you understood the depth of my lack of ability to cook, you could appreciate this. For years, I ate scrambled eggs almost raw and tomato soup barely lukewarm in an attempt to prevent myself from burning my meals!!!

One day, I WILL cook as good as my Mom and bake as good as my MIL . . . but for now, I am just proud and happy not to be the Mom that settles for mac and cheese (at least not every night!).