I just finished reading Julie & Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously by Julie Powell. I'm amazed that she was able to create everything in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. I'm a disaster in the kitchen. I can follow a recipe and do party foods, but it usually involves a mess and a lot of swearing...I event had to go get stitches after one cooking incident. I haven't set off the smoke detector in a while. I did win a "cooking" contest once for my spicy meatballs. First prize was a wonderful new blender/food processor. My husband still laughs every time that I bring up that I'm an award-winning cook.

Anyway, I'm not inspired to get out the French cookbooks, but I think I am going to try a meal each month with all new recipes. That's about all the food creativity that I can handle. I'll let you know how it goes. I'm going to start with American food. Let's see if I venture past the old staples. Email me if you have any guidance or suggestions.

If you haven't read Julie & Julia, check it out. Some of my kitchen disasters didn't look so bad in comparison.

Happy holidays!