Falling in Love with Cooking- Tip #5

-A Great Cutting Board-

 A large bamboo or wood cutting board is a must in my opinion.  It will allow you to do all your prep and cutting without making every countertop in your kitchen messy.  My sister keeps those flimsy plastic cutting boards around.  She is a fabulous cook, but has the worst cutting boards!  I hate them! They bend, they slide, and they make the entire experience dangerous and stressful!   And they are tiny! You have no room, so if you try to prepare a salad for your meal, 1/2 of the ingredients end up off the board and on the counter.  Then you have a mess, rather than it all being neatly contained on your one big, amazing, wood cutting board.  My sister and I love to cook together, and thankfully, after complaining for years about her cutting boards (I can’t even call them that....cutting flimsy plastic place mats) she finally got a huge wood cutting board!   I love it!  I think she still uses her flimsy, dangerous, ridiculous, cutting mats.  But when I am in town, I pull out her huge, wonderful, practical,and useful wood cutting board.

I know you will find most wood boards to be expensive.  Who wants to spend $75 on a cutting board? I don’t.  I found my bamboo board for $12 at TJ MAXX.  And I love it.  Literally the best decision I have ever made in my life.  Ok, not literally the best decision,  I have made more important decisions than my cutting board.

  Helpful tip: Do not use your board to prepare or cut any raw meat. Try to clean it with hot water, and not much soap as to preserve it.  My dear friend Katie taught me to frequently rub olive oil on your board to keep it from drying out.  This will also preserve it, and keep it in great condition for years to come.

Falling in Love with Cooking- Tip #4

-A Glass of Wine-
Well, I am back from the holidays.  It truly takes weeks to recover from Christmas and New Year.  And if you have children, you will understand that it takes 2 extra weeks from the initial 2 weeks of recovery!  So, I am finally feeling normal again, and trying to get back to my normal schedule of teaching, cooking, mothering, writing music, and blogging.  I want to continue down the path of hopefully inspiring some of you out there to begin a new journey this year of Enjoying/Learning to cook.   It is 2014, maybe it can be one of your goals?

My 4th tip for helping you learn to enjoy the process of creating in your own kitchen is this:  A Glass of Wine.....or two.

I don’t have a glass of wine every night when cooking, but I do enjoy one a few times a week while cooking.  It tastes lovely, pairs great with French music, and is truly calming.  Most of the time it is a nice red wine.  In the summer, it is a glass of Prosecco, chilled, Italian Sparkling wine, my favorite summer drink over the last few years.  I enjoy the Prosecco from Trader Joe’s. It is great tasting, and very affordable.  Sorry, music city moms, the TJ here doesn’t sell wine....yet.  I stock up when I go to Kansas City where the TJ’s does sell wine. If it has been a really long day and I am exhausted, I will make a French Press and have a strong, hot, great cup of coffee while I prepare dinner. This is also really enjoyable, and has the added benefit of keeping my eyes open past 9:15pm so that I can actually have a conversation with my honey.  If you don’t like coffee than I suggest wine.   If you are not comfortable with drinking wine, than find a drink that you enjoy, and pour it into a pretty glass so that it feels special.  Remember, you are setting the atmosphere!  If you love beer, than serve yourself a nice cold beer in a large frosted glass and enjoy it while you cook!  To each his own!  If it has been the ultimately difficult “mom” day, and you want to kill everything and possibly everyone around you, than I suggest a shot of tequila and a sprinkle of salt with a fresh squeeze of lime!  Just not too much before you pick up the cooking knife!  :)

As a mom, cooking with a nice glass of wine or a wonderful cup of coffee just feels like the finish line to me.  My husband is home, French music is playing, my kids will go to bed soon, (I adore them, but by 5pm, let’s be honest, we all start watching the clock), and I will have a few quiet hours in the evening before the next day begins.  I can sip my wine, prepare my dinner for my wonderful family, and then sit down and enjoy the beautiful food.

So, my suggestion to you today:  Plan your menu, turn on your music, clear out the kitchen of chaos, and pour a glass of wine.

Enjoy!