Cooking?

Cooking scares me. In college Lacey would make fun of me (and still does a little) for always eating quasadillas for dinner. The thing is, besides a bowl of cereal or hummus with flat bread, this is what I knew how to make. So, Lacey did her best to include me in whatever creative thing she was making for herself and this is how I survived the boring meals I would make. Since being on my own, I have regressed. Now, a typical meal would be: chips and salsa or cheese and crackers, coffee and a banana, and of course cereal. I think cooking scares me because I never do it.

This past week I was meeting with the other apartment RDs and we decided that we are going to hold a Thanksgiving dinner for all of the students that live in the apartments. When I asked who was going to make the turkeys, Brian looked at me and said, "You will need to make one; we all will." I panicked. I can't cook a turkey! I mean seriously, if I am going to learn how to cook, I don't think a Thanksgiving turkey is the place to start. Domper calmed me down quickly and told me that she would help, they just need my oven to cook it in. PTL!

In spite of my fear, I have tried to explore cooking a little bit. A couple of weeks ago I made an Apple Crisp. I'm pretty sure that this is quite possibly the easiest dessert to make but I still felt quite accomplished.
The last time I went to the grocery store I picked up a can of pumpkin, determine to make pumpkin bread or something yummy with it. A couple of days ago I looked up pumpkin recipes online and came across one for Pumpkin Pancakes. It looked easy enough so this morning I went for it. Now, the prep time took me twice as long as the recipe said it would, but I figured that once I moved from novice to experienced chef my prep time would decrease. Anyway, the pancakes turned out fantastic! It was a delightful treat and I was wishing I had someone to share them with.

I don't know what has gotten into me. Maybe its the fall, maybe I am bored with frozen dinners, or maybe I really have a desire to conquer this fear. Lacey, I cooked something! :)