I don't like to cook. I love food, but I just can't get into cooking. Sure, I'll whip up the easy things like pasta and tacos, but spending a long time cooking a meal just doesn't interest me. I don't have the patience, or I'm just too anxious to eat, that something quick is always better. I think a lot of it comes from my mom. She worked all my life, so quick and easy meals were key. Plus, she had to cook for me and my dad, who are probably some of the pickiest eaters out there, so her options were already limited. Also, I hate the grocery store. When you're a busy person and your only time to go to the store is on the weekend, it's just not the most fun activity, you know? All this makes cooking meals just one of those things that has to be done and not fun, which is too bad because I love to eat.
A few years ago, probably around the time I got cable, I got way into the Food Network. I loved Rachael Ray and Giada and all the FN staples. But as simple as they make the dishes look (even you, Sandra Lee) they're never that easy. I have several cookbooks at home - many RR 30-minute meal books, plus a Bride & Groom cookbook with recipes - are you kidding me? - that are next to impossible unless you're on Top Chef. But one cookbook has been top notch for me:
Southern Living's Our Best Easy Weeknight Favorites. I didn't even buy it. My aunt gave it to me, and she probably got it free through a subscription or something. But one day, the hubby and I flipped through it and found numerous options to try and we still cook these up several years later: meatloaf (I'm a pro at this meal and have even added my own twist), enchiladas, pizza sandwiches, parmesan chicken and several others.
Now it's your turn: What cookbooks do you swear by?
In honor of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I wanted to make mention of a Minnesota family who created a cookbook to raise money for the local chapter of the Susan G. Komen Foundation. Last year, the family mama, Joan Eichers, was diagnosed with breast cancer. Early this year, the family came up with an idea of compiling a book of family recipes (140 total, with nice anecdotes alongside the recipes) called Mixing Up Memories. The book sells for $20 and from that $17 goes directly to the foundation. Here's a story in a Mankato newspaper about the family. What an inspiration.