How to cook ...

Cook? Yes, of course I know how to cook. My specialties are peanut butter and jelly, grilled cheese, and no-bake cookies. Oh! And I can make coffee. That's important.

Okay, so it's obviously a complete stretch to say that I know how to cook. But I'm learning. Or at least trying to learn. I checked out a big, heavy book from the library called How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman. The cover says it has "2,000 simple recipes for great food".

Wow, I thought, I'm going to learn so much from this book! And someone with an ounce of experience in cooking probably would have, but not this domestic rookie. Instead, when I started fipping through it, I became totally overwhelmed. Unfortunately, I had made a rule for myself.

Rule # 1: For every cookbook that I bring home I have to pick at least one recipe to try.

Drat my blasted rule! It took me a whole week to find a recipe, buried deep in those one thousand and fifty pages, that I thought I could follow. But I admit, once I did, it was worth it.

So what did I learn from How to Cook Everything? How to cook one thing.

Popovers.

They are so simple and easy, not at all impressive, but quite good. I love them! And now I can add one more thing to my list of things I can make. And let's face it, my poor little list needs all the help it can get.

So what have I learned from this experience? If you can't really cook anything don't try to cook everything. Start small and build from there.