Fun in the Kitchen

Blaine and I traveled to Kansas City over the weekend to attend our Culinary Class for Couples in Overland Park and join our friends for some fun at the American Royal BBQ Contest. What a great weekend of eating!!

Friday night, we drove to the Culinary Center of Kansas City to test our cooking skills together. To be honest, I had no idea what to expect - I am no Martha Stewart. Sure, Blaine watches the Food Network but I just keep clicking past that channel. I will never be the next Rachel Ray or Emeril - I know my strengths - and they are not in the kitchen. We joined 12 other couples in a quaintly decorated cooking studio to prepare an elegant meal. It was fabulous and WAY more fun that I expected. We didn't burn anything (well....except for my finger), our Shrimp/Wonton appetizer, strawberry and walnut salad with homemade vinaigrette, steak and shrimp dish and Boston creme cupcakes were all to die for. I was stuffed. I actually learned something! And I got to mess up someone else's kitchen and didn't have to wash one single dish (that had to be the best part!)

Our cooking class reminded giggly Blaine about the time right after I moved away from my home to Jefferson City. I was a recent college grad that thought she could take on the world. I moved with no job, little money and a deteriorating self-esteem to mid-Missouri to begin my life anew. After only being here for a short while, broke and desperately missing my family, I decided to bake Blaine a cake. I had never baked a cake before. And it was not pretty.

I went to the local grocery store to find my ingredients. I picked up all of the essentials and headed back to the "dungeon" apartment to create my masterpiece. I read the instructions (and although questioned some things), I skillfully crafted my cake. (Note: Always taste your baked goods before serving them for the first time.) When Blaine got home from work that evening, he dug into the chocolate creation. To his surprise (and unfortunately mine), I had substituted salt for sugar and my hard work had only produced a bitter, sodium-filled disaster. It was awful...and I was devastated. Yes, I cried. And yes, I cried for days.

Blaine tried his hardest to keep the laughter inside. He knew that I had NO idea how to cook more than Ramon noodles and scrambled eggs. I think he was impressed that I even attempted...but his laughter covered that up.

To this day, I still cringe when Blaine reminds me of that event. But you know, I have come a long way in those 5 1/2 years and am taking on the family Thanksgiving celebration next month. Although that dinner will be another venture I have never tackled before, I am confident that with 6 burners, a griddle and two ovens, I can whip up a mean batch of traditional Thanksgiving chow for all. A couple of years ago, Blaine's mom, Sandy, challenged me by saying, "as soon as you learn to cook fried chicken, I will pay you a visit." I said, "Bring it on, lady!" I fried up some scrumptious fried chicken (mine is better than Chef Blaine's) and proved that I can do anything I set my mind to in the kitchen.

Although the holiday is still a ways out, I am already preparing in my head how I am going to prepare the meal for my family and Blaine's at our place. I may be gluten for punishment, I am sure I can pull this one off. It will be chaotic, stressful and a complete mess, but I also think that this will be another fun experience to add to my database of "why in the heck did I even try that?"