Cooking: Cocktails, Aprons and Family Ties

Over the last two months I have spent an increasing amount of time each week in the kitchen cook for myself and any of my friends who care to join me. The whole reason that I started learning to cook, really, is due to my menu planning efforts. But what I have gotten out of it has been worth way more than the money I'm saving at the grocery store.

There is something magical about standing over a stove with various pots bubbling before you, delicious smells wafting around in the air and, if you are anything like me, enjoying a nice little pre-dinner cocktail as your brandish your wooden spoon. There is something that makes me happy about having a spice rack and using it regularly, know what I have and how much of it I have left. Knowing that when I look in my fridge and find something about to go bad, I will find someway to work it into my dinner that night. It's satisfying ... and delicious.

But most of all, I like to be able to call my dad and brag about what I made that week and how good it turned out. As you may know, my mother never had much of a presence in the kitchen when I was growing up. It's nice to have something in common with my father, something that we can sit and talk about and not have to worry about including Mom or my brother.

I have a insta-connection with my mom (we're both girls) that I have never had with my dad. I love him and all, but I'm not so comfortable talking to him about "girl things" you know? And I'm pretty sure that he doesn't want to talk to me about the awesome deal I got on the awesome pumps that are going to be perfect to wear with that slinky black dress I have. But cooking? We can talk about that all day. And it's an 11 on a 1-10 scale of coolness to share a cocktail with my dad when I help him cook at the house.






Plus, I know get to sport one of these babies (and it's almost as satisfying to me as the cooking itself)