The proof that I am a cooking geek

While my husband was getting his last steroid shot to (hopefully) relieve the pain from the herniated disc in his neck, I was browsing the nearby Half Price Books to spend one of my gift cards from Christmas. I got one used CD (Brazilian classical guitar - but I'm kicking myself for not getting the Best of Elvis Costello - the early years), two books for Gabriel that he absolutely loved from the get-go (go Mommy) and one cookbook. It's called "Best Ever Three and Four Ingredient Cookbook" by Jenny White and Joanna Farrow. I was so excited about finding this book. I've been looking for some simple, relatively healthy recipes that don't use a gazillion ingredients, to save both money and time. This book is exactly what I've been searching for. I stayed up late two nights in a row to read through the whole thing, and I don't give up my sleeping hours for many things. I knew this book wasn't published in the U.S. (it's from Australia) because they use "aubergine" instead of eggplant, and "rocket" instead of arugula. But that just made it all the more interesting. I can't wait to try some recipes out now.

I also bought the cheery little recipe box pictured above from the Children's Art Project at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. I know I will never have time to copy my favorite recipes onto 3 x 5 cards, so I'm using instead to plan dinners for the week. I changed the main index card titles to match my categories of dinners - Pastas, Sandwiches, Soups, Pizzas, Slow Cooker Favorites, etc... Then I sharpened my pencil and got to work adding my favorite recipe titles and what cookbook to find them in. There's plenty of room to add new ones, and extra index cards if I think of more titles. I have had such great pleasure in working on this little project. Anything that has to do with cooking doesn't seem like a chore to me.