We all have different titles that we assume throughout life.
When we start, it's usually something along the lines of "Little Miss" (presuming you are female, that is).
Then it progresses gradually to "Miss", then to "Mrs." and maybe even the altogether confusing "Ms.".
I am currently a "Miss", sometimes a "Ma'am", rarely a "Madame" or "Mademoiselle" (is it just me or do these all start with "M"?).
There is however, a new title that I am striving to obtain.
That of "Domestic Goddess".
I have throughout my life had various spurts of domesticity, that never fully came to fruition, which is why I still have to practice in the art of culinary wizardry, and general craftiness. Thankfully, the "Cleaning Guru" in me has already taken up residence, and lies comfortably at the crook of my elbow. The arrival of the "Cleaning Guru" was something much anticipated by my parents as I grew up, owing to the fact that I detested cleaning, as was evidenced by my bedroom which constantly looked like a battlefield in which every article of clothing I owned had summarily surrendered, along with several other belongings. There was also the fact that my parents made (read: forced) us poor, sad, defenseless children to wash the dishes for a week (an entire week! That's like a lifetime!) rotating between the siblings living at home. You should have seen how we tried to get out of washing the dishes....there were tears, temper tantrums, backdoor deals went down like they were going out of style, and yet....the dishes remained, and my parents were not opposed to pulling us out of our warm beds and standing us in front of the sink full of dishes we had "forgotten" about and making us do them before we could go to bed. Ah...the good 'ole days! I think it was when I moved to Salt Lake and had to share a room and a small apartment that I realized the important lesson my parents tried to drill into their children...something akin to "Cleanliness is Next to Godliness"...or that it's really gross living with people who don't clean up after themselves, so you'd better clean up after yourself....something like that.
As far as cooking went, I think I was about 12 when I decided that I wanted to learn how to cook (and that desire didn't last very long if I recall correctly..), so I set about attempting to do so. I could blacken chicken really well (unintentionally, of course) and profess that that was how I preferred my poultry be cooked, I once made a peach cobbler which contained more salt than sugar, I do not recommend baking cupcakes at 500 degrees in an attempt to make them cook faster--coincidentally, I do not recommend putting said cupcakes in the oven right before you go to bed and promptly forget about them until you hear the smoke alarm going off to announce their demise, I could burn the rice at the bottom of the pot almost without fail. I did manage to make something edible once, Sweet & Sour sauce, which quickly became my "go to" recipe whenever the urge to cook would strike...looking back, I made it with so much vinegar, you could clear your sinuses quicker than a whistle.
Since that time, my technique has somewhat refined. I make killer pancakes, orange chicken, Chinese noodles, chicken coconut curry, I've been known to toss out some pasta on occasion, I can whip out a delicious pizza should the need arise, I've made humus, chicken puffs, spinach artichoke dip, chili, waffles and mashed potatoes (though once they were so horrible, it was like eating paste....roasted garlic paste). I still have some foibles in the kitchen, like the affectionately termed "Cow Pie Cookies", the Biscotti blunder of 2009 and countless attempts with Tofu, but I rarely give up entirely.
Which is why I am going in search of my new title with added gusto!
I have been perusing recipes, buying ingredients, and testing things out. On the menu for today was Chicken Tenders with Blackberry Mustard. I loved the Blackberry Mustard, I think it is very fun and quite tasty. The chicken fingers did not turn out quite as lovely as I had hoped, but altogether it wasn't a complete disaster, I will still eat the leftovers...
I bought a TON of fruit today. Blackberries, Raspberries, Strawberries and Blueberries, all sit on my kitchen table waiting...waiting to be made into something delicious. I am most excited about attempting to make tarts! I love tarts, I decided that since I'm not a big cake person (and I really dislike frosting) that I will have Wedding Tarts instead of Wedding Cake...I may have decided that just now....hope my future husband doesn't have his heart set on cake!
So there it is, I want the "Domestic Goddess" title. And I am going to get it...and who knows, maybe if my cooking is good enough, I may get another title because of it too.
Just kidding...about that last part, that is.
