Revelations: Cooking

I don't cook a lot. It's not that I can't it's more that I don't derive a huge amount of joy from it and it takes a lot of time. I like occasion cooking. A whole day of holiday baking or getting ready for a party or something is fun for me. I headed into the preparation for this party with less of a firm plan than I usually have so it's been sort of funny. There have been revelations and things that probably would have been hilarious if I lived with someone else who was two-legged.

1. The first year I had the party I cooked my idea of comfort food. It turned out that a significant percentage of my guest list was vegetarian. Perhaps 2 dishes were vegetarian, not counting pie. So every year I try to expand the strictly veggie quotient. This year, on a whim, I bought a squash. I didn't know what kind I liked. When I was a kid it came in a box and I loved it. I don't eat squash much because it's never the same. I chose a butternut squash just because. I cooked it and mushed it up and grabbed a quick taste before I put it away for later. That's the kind of squash I like!

2. I ran out of room in the fridge. My ice is out on the roof (Hmm, I should bring that in before people come). So I had to postpone green bean casserole and pie making until this morning.

3. I've been missing a piece of the bread recipe for years. If you add that extra water you get a much higher yield.

4. I was baking pies and humming away and ready to just sit down and wait for the excitement to begin when I realized I'd only baked the shell for the chocolate pie, I hadn't made the pudding! And that's my favorite one.

5. Those "pecans" I bought were actually walnuts. I grabbed the wrong can. So now we're having traditional walnut pie.

6. I'm sitting quietly watching Pieces of April (gah! I forgot cranberry sauce! Must put that out!) and waiting for people to arrive. Perfect.