I plan out our family's menu a week in advance in order to ensure that we have a variety of foods, and so I can plan ahead for sales and fruits and veggies that are in season. Cooking has transcended just the "necessary" to a true hobby in my life and I have accordingly started branching out in different genres from macaroni and cheese and hamburger helper (is that truly cooking?). I have at least seven cookbooks on my kitchen shelf that I use in constant rotation (that picture is old). One of my favorite resources is the Food Network.

I take it even a step further, though. I don't just willy-nilly plan out our menus - I strategize. One night we'll have tex-mex, the next a stirfry of sorts, followed up by some good ole American burgers, then perhaps a Deutsch dish (German, not Dutch), some curried vegetables and meat, and lastly a nice light pasta. Every week I vary what cultural identity our food has to ensure that our children have eaten a wide range of the food available to them. Eventually, my sushi isn't going to look disgusting, but for now I practice on myself only.

Last night we had Giada's lovely Lemon Spaghetti. Aaron had a look of surprise on his face when he bit in and tasted all of the flavor (I cheated and doubled the amount of lemon). The kids scarfed it down. I almost swooned. It was amazing. It was also the first time I used real lemons and not the concentrated lemon juice. I have no idea if it made a difference or not (and will have to experiment later), but I'm definitely sold on the recipe.



The entire ensemble included white zinfandel from Barefoot, a rosemary-topped french bread, and blackened chicken (I had blackened chik'n strips). Wow. Just.. wow.

Labels: cooking