And so it begins.

This week's first new recipe: Beef & Bok Choy Stir Fry
From: Real Simple
Result: Pretty good, but I've figured out that the whole stir-fry technique isn't my cup of tea. The combination of super high heat and quick timing of everything stresses me out a little too much. But I do love bok choy!

The start of something small

I just finished reading "Julie & Julia" by Julie Powell. Steering clear of how I felt about the book (since I haven't completely made up my mind yet), I want to jump right to my latest inspiration. If nothing else (the jury is still out), Powell made me see the power of the blog, in particular, the power of accountability, which I decided to harness.

In our house, I usually make dinner every night, or at least every night during the week. (OK, so maybe sometimes me "making" dinner is actually me dumping canned soup in bowls, or me turning to the lovely blue box of dried pasta and yellow cheese powder, or at my worst, me running by Krystals...) One of the things I've been wanting to do for a long time is try to make something new every week. But like most of my endeavors, this attempt has, in the past, joined the ranks of learning to knit, adopting a grandmother, and quitting smoking (these three are yet to be completed). So, I'm hoping this blog will help me out. I mean, let's face it...I only blog once in a blue moon anyway, and it just makes me frustrated to see the same tired blog entry title facing me day after day on my iGoogle homepage.

From now on (what a ridiculously hopeful open-ended phrase), I will post at least once a week. The post may be short and sweet, with a quick recipe title and a 5-star rating, or it may go on for days if the culinary result is good enough. Like Powell, I'm using this blog to motivate me. Unlike Powell, I will try not to bore my 3 readers with unneeded/unwanted stories about my husband's friend whose wife can't stand to be around us, or about how many Republicans exist in my office. I'm not setting any time limits or goals of any sort other than to try new things. And if the accountability factor works, I might extend this to other aspects of my life, and finally get that scarf knitted. But I doubt it.