White Lasagna with Butternut Squash and Sweet Italian Chicken Sausage

Normally I'd say lasagna isn't the best when cooking for a small number. But, lasagna is only as big as the baking dish you put it in so it is pretty easy to shrink it down if need be. My friend Sara was coming over for dinner and then we were going to see Marley & Me, so I needed a dish I could make the night before and this lasagna was what I chose.

This recipe was inspired from a skillet lasagna in the Williams Sonoma catalog, but I think my version is easier because you can make it ahead, refrigerate or freeze, and then bake the day you want to serve it. It's layers of thinly sliced butternut squash, sweet Italian chicken sausage, and cheeses (Parmesan, Asiago, and Fontina) all doused in a crème fraîche béchamel.

The first thing you want to do is get all of the components ready. I started by preparing the chicken sausage. I purchased 2 links of sweet Italian chicken sausage that added up to about a half a pound, not even. I split them open and scooped out the insides into a pan that already had one small finely chopped onion cooking away. To that, I added about a tablespoon of Italian seasonings and a little bit of olive oil. I used a wooden spoon to break the sausage into tiny ground bits- you don't want really big chunky pieces in this lasagna.Meanwhile, I sliced the butternut squash. I bought a half a butternut squash that was already peeled. I picked one that had a big neck, as the neck piece was what I wanted to use so they'd all be around the same size after being slice. You could certainly buy a whole squash, halve it, and peel it yourself, but I am lazy. Plus, I didn't want a lot of leftover squash.Next I made the béchamel. This is really just a white sauce but I prefer the sound of the word béchamel roll off my tongue. Sounds classier. A white sauce sounds like something I'd use in tuna casserole (which I am not against and actually that sounds quite appealing right now, but I'm just saying). To make this creamy sauce, I used 2 tablespoons of butter melted into 3 tablespoons of flour. Whisk the flour and butter together, once combined thoroughly start adding milk in half cup portions while whisking. You want to add a total of 2 cups of skim milk (the proper technique requires whole milk or maybe even cream, but no, that's not what I did). Keep whisking until it is creamy but not really boiling. Then, remove from heat and add about 4 oz of crème fraîche. Just drop it in, and whisk some more until it is combined. This adds a nice creamy flavor to the white sauce.Last, cook your noodles. I used fresh pasta sheets. Like I have mentioned, I shop at Whole Foods and though expensive, it has all kind of cool things like pasta sheets that you just have to try. Make sure when cooking the pasta you oil the water. This way they won't stick together when you drain them. (Believe me, that's annoying).

Now that you have all of the ingredients prepped, you just need to layer it up. First, pour a bit of the sauce in the bottom of the baking dish. Then, put one sheet of cooked pasta down (or two or three is you are using traditional dried noodles). On top of the pasta, create a layer of the thinly sliced butternut squash. If you slice it thin enough, you don't need to cook it beforehand. If you are worried, you can sauté the slices in a bit of oil in a pan to cook them a teeny bit but it shouldn't be necessary. Next, distribute the cooked sausage and onion mixture throughout the layer. Sprinkle on your shredded cheese of choice, pour on more béchamel and again with the pasta layer. Repeat until you have a full lasagna. Make sure to end with one layer of pasta, the béchamel, and shredded cheese.You can cover this with saran wrap and aluminum foil and freeze it or refrigerate it overnight to be baked the next day or beyond. Because mine was small, I only needed to bake it for about 35 minutes at 350 degrees, but depending on the size of your lasagna you might need an hour to cook it through. It should be bubbly and brown on top.Cut it into squares and serve it to a friend. To make use of the leftovers, wait until it has cooled and solidified before cutting it into individual servings to either be frozen for a later date or packed up for tomorrow's lunch.

[A couple people have mentioned to me that those lasagna noodles that don't require precooking would be a quick and easier way to master this dish. I'd have to agree-- if you are looking for something quick and easy without sacrificing taste, definitely go that route instead of doing what I did- wrestling entire sheets of cooked pasta out of the water as they stuck to each other (I lost a few pieces of pasta to my kitchen floor, I won't deny it). On the note that some people like to make things easier, I wondered if there are people out there who want to make recipes more difficult. If you want to create MORE work for yourself on this recipe, then you can actually take fresh pasta sheets and run them through a pasta roller to get them paper thin or make your own pasta and roll your own sheets super thin. Since those sheets only take seconds to cook in boiling water, you also don't need to pre-boil them as long as you use a little extra bechamel.]

Leftovers of Love

Cheese, Potato & Cabbage Pierogi
My grandmother (Bobbi) is Ukrainian (which makes me one quarter Ukrainian) and part of her holiday tradition is making pierogi: cheese, potato, or saurkraut filled pockets of tastiness. This year, my Aunt Sharon, Aunt Carolyn, and my cousin Lauren helped out. I reaped the benefits.

This week, I was quite disturbed to fall off the cooking wagon due to an extreme cold that hit Boston. Normally, it being cold outside doesn't prevent me from cooking up warm and tasty comfort food inside, but I also woke up one morning on the wrong side of the bed with a hacking cough and a bad night's sleep behind me. Thus, every day this week I have been bundling up, walking the 15 or so minutes to and from work, swallowing knives, and coming home to a warm apartment and little to no motivation to do anything more than lay on my couch and heat up cans of soup. By Thursday I was pretty much out of soup, so I looked in my freezer. Lo and behold, what I found was a true Christmas miracle. The homemade Ukrainian dumplings that Bobbi had sent me home to Boston with were hanging out there begging to be eaten. Sometimes, it turns out that cooking for one means letting the ones who love you give you leftovers that you can keep in your freezer.

To cook them, I boiled them first, and then tossed them with butter, salt, and pepper in a skillet. I left the kitchen for a moment and they got a little crispier than anticipated, but they were still delicious. It is true that the best gifts are homemade and edible. Thanks, Bobbi.

[Will post a Pierogi recipe shortly or at some point in time, but wanted to get this post up so everyone knows I am still alive and kicking.]

Whole Wheat Blueberry Pancakes

OR When Cooking for One Means Eating for Four (No, I'm Not Expecting Triplets)
OR Had a bad day? Make pancakes and don't look back.
OR Pancakes for Dinner? Cookies for Breakfast!
OR My Apartment Smells Like Maple Syrup.

When I was growing up, one of my best friends used to have sundaes for dinner on occasion. Even though my parents both have sweet tooths, we weren't the "Eat dessert first" type of family. The closest thing we'd get to having dessert for dinner was having breakfast for dinner. This wasn't too often and usually consisted of an egg dish, but how great are pancakes for dinner? It's like how you wait for French Toast Stick day in the school cafeteria to beg your parents for lunch money instead of having to take your baloney sandwich. (Does your baloney have a middle name? Mine didn't.)

This Thursday, I decided to whip up some pancakes. Quite frankly, it was because I wasn't in the mood for anything I had in the fridge. Also, I was craving maple syrup and what better vehicle to hold the maple syrup than tasty blueberry pancakes.

My first snag was I didn't actually have any pancake mix. Then I remembered that pancakes are actually really easy to make, and if you are even only slightly grown up like myself then you probably have all of the ingredients on hand (flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, egg, butter, milk). I quickly referenced Allrecipes, which is a good website if you are looking for ALL RECIPES. What I like about this site, actually, is you can convert the ingredients into smaller amounts and you can do it by serving size. I was hungry, so I converted an 8 serving recipe in half and I was lazy so I let the computer do it.

Here is what you need for 4 servings of pancakes (or click here for original recipe):
3/4 cup all purpose flour (I used whole-wheat pastry, it's what I had)
1 3/4 tablespoons baking powder (I estimated this)**
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons white sugar
1/2 cup and 2 tablespoons milk (I used more milk than this because I like my batter thinner)
1/2 egg (use 1/8 cup of egg beaters or other egg white mixture)
almost 2 tablespoons of butter
**A few people think this is too much baking powder. I honestly just took a regular old spoon and spooned some in so I have no idea how much I used. If you want to cut it down, go for it. 1 heaping teaspoon would probably be enough. Who cares about b-powder. I'm sure I don't.You are supposed to sift all of the dry ingredients in order to make them light and airy. I don't have a sifter or a sieve, so I put them in a bowl and whisked them dry. Seriously, this works. It takes out the lumps and adds the air into them. Then, add your wet ingredients. If you can, warm up the milk slightly and get the egg to room temperature. I can't remember why this is, but there is something about using very cold milk and very cold egg that isn't fabulous for pancakes. It won't kill it though.

Whisk all ingredients together. It's fine if there are lumps, you don't want to over whisk. If you do, they will become more dense because by whisking too much you get rid of the air bubbles. Nobody likes dense pancakes. Then, add your blueberries.

The blueberries I choose are frozen by this company:Why do I use only these blueberries? (1) They are tasty (2) They are frozen fresh (3) They don't add any unnecessary sugar. If you can't have fresh it is definitely okay to go frozen. BUT, do not get the kind that is frozen in a block of syrup. That's not even real fruit. Those frozen fruits should only be used to make strawberry cake when extra sugar will only make you stronger.

Next, I usually use a measuring cup to pour them out onto the pan, that has been sprayed with Pam or coated with a knob of butter. Why a measuring cup? No, I am not anal about the size of my pancakes nor do I need them to all be the same. I've just found that a soup ladle picks up too much batter whereas a 1/4 measuring cup is the perfect amount for a medium sized pancake. A gravy ladle (if you have one) works great, too.If I had a dog, I would purposely ruin the first pancake so I could give it to her, but I don't. So, pay attention. Wait til the edges are dry and there are bubbles in the top before flipping it. If it burns before it is cooked thoroughly enough to flip the pancake easily, your pan is too hot so turn the flame down.It will only take about half the time to cook the second side, so make sure you keep an eye on it. Some people press down on their pancakes with a spatula so they can watch the ooze come out and make sure it's cooked all the way through. I'm not against this technique, but some people think that's a sure way to kill the fluffiness. Whatever.

Stack them all up on a plate, top with butter and maple syrup, and cut them into triangles like you are serving up the most amazing layer cake for dinner ever, and EAT THEM ALL. You won't regret it. Okay, you might, but just a little.

Mustardy Potato Slivers over Mixed Greens

I had bought potatoes because I thought maybe I'd make some oven baked fries to have with the quiche. I didn't do that, and I had so much fun slicing my onion with my mandoline, I decided to slice up some potatoes in that manner and see what I could come up with.

Since I never have a ton of ingredients on hand (my kitchen is almost never fully stocked), I decided to cook the potatoes seasoned with a salad dressing recipe I use constantly: Dijon mustard, tarragon vinegar, oil, dried herbs, salt. Instead of baking them, I opted to cook them on my stove to see what would happen.First, I thinly sliced my potatoes using a mandoline. If you don't have one, and don't think you can thinly slice potatoes with a very sharp chef's knife, then I'd suggest just cubing the potatoes or even slicing them into fries and baking them. Next, I mixed up the herbs (a combo of rosemary, basil, and oregano), oil, and salt in with the potatoes. I did this directly in the pan so as not to waste a bowl.

Then, I turned on the stove, and let the potatoes sizzle for a little bit, to get the cooking started. Because I felt like it would be good, I poured a bit of tarragon vinegar in and then covered the pan. The reason I covered the pan was to steam the potatoes for a little while, that way they'd be cooked all the way through and would be soft on the inside instead of chewy.Next, I added the mustard to the herbed potatoes and stirred it up. Then I followed a pretty simple process of making a thin layer of potato, letting it cook, flipping and stirring the potatoes, making another thin layer, and so on. I did this until the potatoes were getting crispy on the outside.I honestly wasn't really sure where I was going with this dish, but I thought maybe it'd be good in a salad, so I tossed some greens with the same dressing that seasoned the potatoes.

I poured the potatoes on top of the greens and it was perfectly satisfying as a main dish, however, I added a slice of quiche on the side because I am obsessed with my quiche. These potatoes could be eaten without the salad greens as the side to any meat. Or, you could put them in an omelet to make something similar to a Spanish tortilla.

Roasted Vegetable Quiche with Caramelized Onions and Feta Oh My

I'm a huge fan of quiche for a lot of reasons. First, it is perfect for cooking for one. I can eat a quarter of a quiche in one sitting, pack a second quarter for lunch the next day, and then invite a friend over for dinner to finish off that second half the next day. Why can I eat so much quiche in a row? Because it is delicious.

It's also not that unhealthy. Sure, it can seem unhealthy when you read about it in that old cookbook your grandmother had, because it uses cream and has a crust and aren't eggs bad? The truth is, quiche got a bad reputation. Nowadays, if you make it with skim milk, substitute some of the egg for egg whites, use minimal cheese and fill it chock full of vegetables, you can have a healthy dinner without a lot of effort.

First, make sure your caramelized onions and roasted vegetables are done. These should be done in advance so you can make assembly of this dish 1-2-3. You don't want the quiche to sit around waiting for ingredients. It will get impatient and may make quite a stink. For my crust, I purchased it frozen. Since it is from Whole Foods, it is an organic whole wheat delight. Because I bought it a while ago, dropped it a few times between the freezer and the table, it was broken. Even though the packagers told me to use the crust frozen and not to thaw it out, I disregarded their message and let it unfrost so I could mend the cracks. I didn't want my eggs to leak underneath the crust. Gross.

I filled the crust with a few forkfuls of my previously roasted vegetables (see how handy they are already) and some crumbles of feta cheese. The reason I chose feta is because it is a strong cheese so you don't need a lot of it. This is a good way to cut fat out of a meal. Instead of using a whole brick (cups worth) of a mild cheddar, if you use just a few tablespoons of punchy feta you will have the bang without the caloric buck.Then, I whisked together 2 eggs, a quarter of a cup of egg white (I used one of those containers of egg whites with the artificial color, like egg beaters but called something else), about 1 and a half cups of skim milk (I wasn't measuring, just pouring), along with salt, pepper, and herbs de provence. I used the herbs de provence in the roasting vegetables, so I thought I'd incorporate that layer of flavor into the egg mix. Sometimes when making quiche, I also add in two tablespoons of fat free ricotta. Adds substance without adding fat. But in this case, I didn't, because I didn't have any on hand. I poured this egg mixture into my pie crust, on top of the roasted vegetables.Next, I added the carmelized onions into the quiche (I delicately added them strand by strand so they were evenly distributed), and I took another tablespoon of feta and crumbled it over the top of the pie. Then, I placed the whole shebang into the oven which had been preheating at 375 degrees. I let this bake for about 45 minutes to an hour. When you can smell (if you can smell) the scent wafting through your home, you know it is close to done. Check it with a knife inserted in the center. If it comes out clean, the quiche is cooked thoroughly and ready to be enjoyed.

The Sharper Your Knife, The Less You Cry

If you have a mandoline, you don't cry at all.

A few weeks back, my former roommates and I held a brunch for some of our friends. I had heard about these homefries that included caramelized onions, potatoes, and parmesan. I decided to make them on heresay alone, and it ended up being a good decision and I realized I love caramelized onions. I had shied away from onions because they make me cry in an obscene amount to the point where I actually close my eyes while chopping. This makes me dangerous to myself and others in the kitchen, but cutting onions is unavoidable in many recipes so I dealt with it.

No, I did not purchase the Vidalia chop wizard, but I did pick up a handy mandoline slicer at HomeGoods one afternoon. It has changed my life, because not only does it finely slice onions, but it is also good for potatoes, apples, cucumbers, the list goes on. It also means I can enjoy onions more abundantly, and my favorite way of cooking onions as of late is to caramelize them, so I did that today in conjunction with my upcoming quiche recipe.

To caramelize onions, the first thing you need to do is choose your onion. I like sweet onions, so I chose a sweet white onion. Then, you need to finely slice it/them. I prefer my onions to be cut in rings or half rings, but honestly do whatever is easiest for you as I don't want you to lose a finger or a thumb. Are thumbs fingers? I can never remember. My mandoline works wonders for this task, I suggest you buy one. Did I mention I love my mandoline slicer?

Then, add them to a sauté pan with a smidge of oil. Just a smidge will do the trick as onions have a lot of liquid so they will not burn immediately. Let the onions cook for bit, until they start to sizzle. Then, reduce heat and add liquid. The kind of liquid you add is up to you. Some people like to add a sweet vinegar like apple cider or balsamic, but in my case, I simply used water. It did the trick. Cover the pan.

Wait a while, call an old friend, organize your photos in Snapfish, write a blog, read a book. Do whatever it takes to forget you are even cooking. When you remember, you will jump to attention in horror as you probably thought you burnt them and will have to start over and only had one onion so will need to make a trip to the store and it is 10pm and you don't feel like it. No worries, they are not burnt because your culinary intuition is in gear and plus your fire alarm has not been set off. Stir. Add more liquid. Eat some sorbet straight from the freezer.

[Unfortunately, my photo of the finished product had some issues being uploaded and was lost. This is a true shame because they were gorgeously caramelized and I would have loved to share the image with you.]

Continue to check in (but not in a fussy, protective mother type of way, in a cool older sister saying 'What's up' kind of way), add liquid (switch to water if you are using something else) cover, and stir (not in that order, that would be ridiculous) until they are a golden caramel color. Use them in whatever recipe calls for them, or eat them topped on a sandwich or salad. Delish.

Simple Pomodoro & Basil Sauce

Whenever I roast vegetables in such a large quantity, I never plan on eating them that night. I am sure that sounds silly, but I get hungry and I need food sooner than the 45 plus minutes it will take to cook the vegetables and then use them to make something.

So, I turn to one of my favorite dishes, pasta with tomato, basil, and mozzarella.I have dreams of making big batches of tomato sauce and freezing mini containers of them to be defrosted as needed. However, I never seem to find the time to devote an afternoon or evening to do such a thing. One day it will happen and I will mesmerize you with my creative technique of freezing them in an ice cube tray and popping the cubes into ziplock bags to be defrosted as needed, but today is not that day.

Instead, I will be using a Giada recipe. If I could find the link to her original instructions I would but I am not feeling like doing that research at this time. In the amount of time it takes you to boil water, and the amount of time it takes me to find her recipe, you will be able to fully complete this sauce. It's that easy and quick.

First, cut cherry tomatoes in half. Do you want a number of how many? I don't know. Just cut as many as you have. I used 15. That's a lie, I have no idea how many tomatoes I had. I just cut them up and was done with it. I am not good at counting. (But please only cut the tomatoes in half, not quarters or thirds or eighths. Lengthwise, crosswidth, what have you. It's a tomato, it's round, it doesn't matter).Then, turn a sauté pan with oil. In this case, I am going to recommend olive oil. I use extra virgin, you can use whatever kind you like. Just be aware, olive oil does burn, so pay attention to what you are doing. If you want garlic, this is where you'd add it in. A clove or two finely chopped should do it. (I skipped it because at an early age I was trained garlic is bad despite my Italian heritage). Then, add in the halved tomatoes and cook them until they are cooked. You will know they are cooked because you will be impatient and you will prod and poke them with a wooden spoon. This is okay, because that's exactly what you want to do. As they get mushy, smoosh the tomatoes down with a wooden spoon to make the sauce.Take a break from tending to the tomatoes (it's okay) and prepare the basil. You want to chiffonade them, which is a fancy shmancy term for stacking the basil leaves up, rolling them into a neat package, and then chopping them to make long strips. Cut as much basil in this way as you'd like. Leave it in a pile on your cutting board because it is pretty.By this point, your water is boiling. Add some salt in there because you forgot to salt it earlier. Drop a handful of capellini (angel hair) into the water. I use whole wheat. I find a serving size is the amount you can pick up in one hand, without being greedy. I am not sure what I mean by that, but experiment. If you make too much it isn't a huge deal because you cut up all of your tomatoes so you have plenty of sauce.

Once the pasta is cooked, drain the water. To the mushed, cooked tomatoes add the basil (the basil is a last minute addition) and the pasta. Toss the pasta with the tomatoes and basil and breathe in the sweet smell of your dinner. Pour the whole lot into a bowl. For a finishing touch, rip up a ball of buffalo mozzarella and swirl it in there as well. You won't regret it unless you add the cheese to the pan. That won't work. I've done it- it makes hot string cheese that wraps around your fork like a boa constrictor. Fighting with stringy cheese ruins a meal. Take my word for it.

Eat it like this to keep it sweet, or add grated parmesan to add some saltiness. I usually eat half sweet, then add parmesan in for the second portion. Mangia!*The beauty of this sauce is that there are all kinds of variations. You could add some creamy goat cheese directly to the cooked tomatoes to give it a different kind of tang, and substitute the basil for spinach. You could take out the basil, and add in lots of parmesan and black olives. Basically, the world is your oyster, even oysters would probably taste good in there. Play around with tomatoes as well. I've used both grape and strawberry tomatoes, and they also work. I use this sauce whenever I am in a pinch, and it comes out perfectly every time.*

Musing Among the Roasted Vegetables

Like I mentioned in my previous post, I adore roasting vegetables and using them throughout the week. I don't ever have particular vegetables in mind when I go to the store, instead I wait and see what really stands out to me. This week's trip wasn't too inspiring, so I ended up with carrots, zucchini, cherry tomatoes, as well as green and yellow peppers.

Honestly, I am not a huge fan of the green peppers because I find them floozies. They are cheap and easy; they will pretty much get with any vegetable, and once they do they are kind of overbearing. To be honest, I hardly ever eat them unless I toss them in a salad, so I am not sure why I bought this particular one. However, what's done is done, so I thought I might as well use it.Roasting vegetables is pretty simple. I like to julienne mine, because I like the uniform look of the matchstick. I also like tossing the finished vegetables with pasta and julienned vegetables work well with penne (or any other short pasta aside from ziti because I am anti-ziti), but then can also intersperse themselves with long noodles and even the occasional wagon wheel.
Once they are cut to your specifications, all you need to do is toss them with olive oil (or whatever you have on hand) and the seasonings of your choice (always use salt and pepper, among other seasonings). In this case, I used salt, pepper, herbs de provence, and olive oil. I have been known to throw in balsamic vinegar, when I am looking for something a little sweeter and tangier. In this case, I wanted to keep them simple, because I planned on using them in different ways, and so I can add more seasonings to the vegetables after they are cooked. If you are making them as an accompaniment to chicken or another meat, feel free to add vinegar, teriyaki, or whatever floats your boat at this stage.

Then you chuck them in the oven at whatever temperature feels right (between 350 and 400 degrees). Keep them in the oven for quite a while, checking on them occasionally or whenever your fire alarm goes off, if you live in a place like mine where your fire alarm beeps annoyingly for no apparent reason except it is warm in your apartment (minimum cook time will be about 45 minutes, but it really depends on your oven). You really can't overcook roasted vegetables, unless you burn them. In which case, they will still be tasty albeit with a charred flavor reminiscent of a bonfire, which might bring back cozy childhood camping memories but hopefully not that time the smoke was contaminated from poison ivy fumes causing you to wake up two mornings later unable to open your eyes.If you aren't sure if your veggies are done, just wait until they are fully cooked and tender, with little bits of crispiness on the tips. If you need a real recipe, you are not on the right site.

Lists are for Grocery Stores, Not for People*

One thing that I find difficult when cooking for one is buying food in the proper amount and knowing what to buy. It's taken me years to come up with a system that is shoddy at best and usually requires some creative cooking at the end of the week that resembles an Iron Chef competition or at the very least Ready, Set, Cook! (which probably most people haven't seen, but it was a real show, I promise, and that was when my FoodTV obsession started back in high school when I'd take naps on the couch after track practice while listening to the competitors on said show whip up meals from random ingredients found in a brown paper shopping bag in only 30 minutes).

Needless to say, I am not a huge fan of grocery shopping. My mom writes her grocery list in the order in which the aisles appear in the store so she can get through it quickly and efficiently. I write my grocery list on the back of my paycheck stub and then leave it at home.

But, unless you want to be stuck making yourself Fiesta Couscous on a regular basis (couscous prepared with taco seasonings, leftover frozen corn, and a can of diced tomatoes), you better start planning ahead. Since I had a goal of cleaning my apartment today, I needed a way to procrastinate and so I decided to plan my meals for next week. I made a basic game plan, looked through my close-to-empty cabinets, and scratched out a list on my refrigerator post-it pad that was bought specifically for this purpose. It is fairly vague, but that's sort of how I roll, especially when shopping in the city. You never know exactly what you are going to find, so it is important to be flexible.

One thing I do a lot when cooking just for me, is use a cooked dish over and over again in different ways throughout the week. This week, I am going to roast up a variety of vegetables (probably zucchini, peppers of all colors, carrots, olives, yellow or butternut squash) and use them in a few different recipes throughout the week. This is one of my favorite ways to prepare vegetables, because I can cook them up on a Sunday and then use them all week by just adding them to a dish, the final flourish that pulls it all together. Otherwise, I find I have to buy small amounts of vegetables and in the end there is always a bag of green beans going slowly bad in my crisper because I forgot to cook them.

I've posted my grocery list to the left, as it stands right now, and I will begin to cook tomorrow.

*I saw that in an online personal ad awhile back and thought it was cute and could be reused here even though it doesn't make a whole lot of sense in context.

Rachael Ray Says Single Servings Are Sad

And she's right. It is sad to see one paltry chicken breast balanced on top of 4 asparagus spears and an ice cream scoop of risotto. But it is even sadder (and riskier) to climb onto of one of your chairs in order to just barely reach the microwave to cook your packaged frozen dinner du jour. (What, your microwave isn't precariously balanced on top of your one kitchen cabinet, ever so slightly out of reach like mine is?)

So I've come up with a pact with myself to spend the next year (and hopefully forever) cooking more and eating less. It's going to be tough, because even though I love cooking, I also like nothing more than being able to whip up a box of Annie's Organic Mac & Cheese and enjoy it in front of one of my favorite Television programs. Who doesn't? But I also know that once I make that Mac & Cheese, I am going to eat the entire box, which is at least 3 servings if not 4 or 5 (I'm not sure because I am afraid to check) and even if you use the non-fat yogurt (which adds a nice tang, if I must say so myself) that's still more noodles and processed cheddar you should probably consume in one sitting. And after you are done you will just feel empty inside and probably a little sick to your stomach. And even if you promise your inner achiever to go for a run the next AM to make up for it, you won't. Seriously, you won't.

Thus, this blog was born. A little bit Dinner: Impossible, a little bit single gal searching for her food soul mate, and a little bit disaster waiting to happen. I'm going to cook my little heart out (because that's all it is being used for right now anyways) and share my adventures with you, dear reader. I've watched a lot of FoodTV so you know I am an expert on cooking. I promise I won't make Sandra Lee tablescapes and if I steal a recipe from Ina or Paula I will cut the amount of butter they use in half so you can keep your girlish (or boyish) figures. I promise I won't show up on your doorstep and demand a throwdown. That's just rude.

I do not promise the food will be pretty but I do hope it will be good. On cold nights, I might avoid using my oven because it sets off my fire alarm. I might accidentally insult you when I am really trying to insult myself, but I promise it will be in an endearing, lovable way. Sometimes I might cop out and share a tasty salad recipe. Sorry, I can be lazy. I'm just trying to set your expectations here. I also might rant about the proper storage of tomatoes (do not refrigerate) or what happens when you freeze fresh bakery bread (a bread elf dies on the inside). Take everything with a grain of salt, because sometimes I just make shit up.

Oh, and please don't blame me if your food doesn't come out as good looking or as tasty as mine. That's not my fault. Really, it isn't. It's yours and you probably don't know how to read instructions or calculate how many tablespoons half of an eighth of a cup is, because yes that is a measurement I might throw around just to test you. Be prepared.

From my tiny kitchen to yours (even though likely it is a larger, better, more fully equipped kitchen of which I am insanely jealous), with love, peas, happiness, unicorns, and caprese salads: Bon Appétit.

(Spellcheck wanted me to change that to 'Bone Appetite.' Stupid spellcheck and its lack of French knowledge).