Probably because I work full-time from home, blogging over the last two years became almost like a window to the outside world, and with that, brought people into my life I might never encounter otherwise. I have had the opportunity to meet bloggers whose writing I enjoyed, and also people who enjoyed my own. A personal relationship develops when you read someone’s thoughts and dreams, even if you have never met. They become your friends, your family in a way, and perhaps you share things with your readers that you might not share in person. It opens up a whole world of varied thoughts, opinions, pictures, feelings – the list is endless. Oh, and I can’t forget – recipes!
When I first started working from home, I thought I would finally be able to spend time cooking the way I always wanted to. Unfortunately, I was mistaken, since my time is spent working and taking care of my five year old when she is not in school. I often get tired of thinking up new ideas for lunch and dinner. So, to challenge myself during the upcoming month of November, I decided to begin a ‘30 Recipes in 30 Days’ marathon of sorts.
So here are my rules for myself – Every day during November, I must try a new recipe I have never tried before, or make up a new one. To make it more interesting, I cannot use the same cookbook twice. This rule may not work for everyone, but I have a large cookbook collection and decided I should make good use of them. For that reason, I am excluding online recipes from my marathon. I can also use them, but they can’t be my main new recipe of the day. The recipe does not have to be a main dish, but it can’t be a recipe that only I will eat - my husband does not eat seafood so I can’t just cook seafood all month. Crazy, I know, but I love him anyway. The perk is, I never have to share my food when we go out to eat!
I suppose I should not just make 30 desserts, either, huh? Maybe I will save that for January's recipe marathon.
Here are just some of my cookbooks that I keep in the kitchen. The beige cookbook on the bottom right is my much-loved Family cookbook, put together some years ago by my cousin Marge et al. My copy is getting pretty dirty, which is how you can tell the most-used ones. As much as I try, I cannot seem to keep my cookbooks clean.
Beginning November 1st, I will start posting about my recipe marathon. Feel free to join me, and let me know how you make out. And be sure to share your recipes and ideas, I am always looking for something new!