Finally joining the blogosphere!

Dun, da da dun... I have created a blog! My friend Amanda, who is the quintessential blogger, has nudged me several times to start a blog and I have always said that it wasn't for me. I have always enjoyed reading blogs but had no interest in doing one myself. But for some odd reason, yesterday I decided that I MUST have a blog! So I ask myself "why now?" Why haven't I felt the need to start a blog before now? Is it lack of time? Nope, I spend countless hours surfing the web. Lack of interest? Nope, I love reading other peoples' blogs. Do I not have anything to blog about? Nope, I have a ton of things that inspire me. A need for privacy? Nope, not that either... I love sharing my life experiences with others!

So why now? I have one word to answer that question... FOOD! I love food. I love to eat it. I love to share it. I love to look at it (I open my refrigerator at least 50 times a day...sometimes for a purpose and sometimes just to make sure everything looks the same as it did the last time I looked in there!) I am pretty open minded with trying new foods. I love eating out at different restaurants. And most of all I love to cook food. But here's the catch... I am not a very good cook. I have always wished that I was a good cook, but I am mediocre at best! And I am ready for a change. I have recently decided that I would make it a goal to become a better cook.

So what is my goal for this blog? I have several:

1. I want to learn the basics of food and then develop my cooking skills to become a great cook. I will post on this blog what I am learning and how it is relevant to my food journey.
   
2. I want to move beyond my normal rotation of 10 different meals that I have made forever. To enrich our dining experience and eat a more sophisticated variety of foods and menus. I will post on this blog my new favorite recipes (and my not-so-favorite recipes).
   
3. I want to have wonderful meals with family and friends. The kind that we have all had, where we think about the delicious food we ate for days and weeks after we have eaten it.
4. I want to organize my recipes in a sensible and handy way so I will have access to favorite meals as well as ideas for meals I would like to try. I'd love to hear from you on how you organize yours in hopes of finding the perfect method!
   
5. AND I want to have a kitchen stocked with a variety of dream cooking tools including the Le Creuset line of pots and pans (ahhhh, so beautiful and so functional!) As I try out new items, I will post my opinion of the items.

So, that's the long expanation on how I got here. I hope you'll keep checking back and follow me in my journey to becoming a better cook!