what's the story, morning glory?

How'd it get to be Monday already, I just don't know. But this weekend went by so fast, that before I knew it it was 11:30 Sunday night and I still hadn't watched the new episode of Downton Abbey. So I did the only sensible thing to be done and stayed up much too late to watch it. And my oh my was is ever worth it. Gosh, it's getting good! Anyway, who could sleep knowing that an episode of DA was just sitting there in the DVR, waiting, seriously?

Oh and I made morning glory muffins for a brunch on Saturday morning and decided to double the recipe because it said it only made 12 and I thought that's not really worth the effort. Well, I ended up with 45 and had to use my salad bowl to mix them - why is it so hard to find a decently large mixing bowl? And despite all the goodies that I put in them, I still feel like they're missing something - crushed pineapple, candied ginger, or crasins, maybe. Although, I think they do get better after a few days - good thing as I've still got oodles.

baby steps in the kitchen

This year I've decided that I'm going to start cooking more. And by cooking I mean nutritious meals from real ingredients. Not frozen, boxed or canned stuff that I add stuff too. Not brownies or cookies or pies. I'm talking real food. Call it a resolution if you will but I'm not insane, I realize that the boxed and frozen stuff is sort of a necessary convenience (I've done my darndest to cut out cans - because of the bpa which could either be the downfall of our society or totally harmless). So we're talking baby steps. First step was to try a new recipe. And that's what I did. Over the weekend I made this baked butternut squash and cheese polenta -sans the mushrooms (I served mine with fresh arugula and tomatoes).

photo from Kitchen Daily

The recipe looked  fairly simple and I figured that I could round up all the ingredients easily enough, so I gave it a go. I was quickly reminded of how intensive real cooking could be. So many steps. So many pans. Must I really let it chill for 3 hours? Must I really let it cool? Can't I just eat it straight out of the oven? Is all of this effort going to pay off? 

Yeah, I got a little anxious but I followed through and followed the recipe with as much exactness as I could muster. In the end I was pleasantly surprised. And yes, it really did taste better once I'd let it cool and set up a bit. Baby steps to eating better.