where's my inner Julia Child?

Lately I've had the desire to cook. Not necessarily lengthy, intricate recipes, but to spend some time attempting to make delicious meals.

Emphasis on the attempt.


The running joke in our house is that every single meal I make is so close to being awesome, but I always miss out on one step that would make it great. I made Pad Thai last week; didn't soak the noodles long enough so they were a little tough. Spaghetti sauce, kept the heat too high so the flavor wasn't quite perfect (but was pretty okay for my first time.) Chicken wings, missed the step that said to heat the pan up without the oil... almost started a fire.

I'm very much a learn-by-doing kind of person, so the second time around it usually ends up being pretty tasty. Good thing Mike is patient and eats whatever I put in front of him...

So anyways, I've been craving this falafel recipe I read on Jenna's blog (http://www.pbs.org/food/fresh-tastes/falafel-burgers/) but every time I decide I'm going to make it, I'm missing one crucial ingredient. And I'm too lazy to drive back out to Publix.

I was going to make one of my staples that takes all of 30 seconds to prepare (cheese, garlic, and spinach or whatever I have on hand wrapped in pizza dough, baked, dipped in sauce, ready GO!) but I think I'll save that for a rainy (cough STRESSFUL) day.

I think I'll attempt go attempt the pad thai again...