It is a very good place to start.

So, during the past year, I sort of started holding cooking classes in my house.  Some people have book club; others have wine club. I have a cooking club.  This journey is a long and convoluted one, but it all started when I started posting things on Facebook about what I was cooking along with a stray photo here and there of the product. I noticed that comments from friends ranged from "oh no, you didn't!" to "I could never do that." to "I wish I could cook like that."  And , well, honestly,  I just didn't get it. I didn't feel like I was doing anything out of the ordinary.  I was just doing as my mother,  grandmothers, and great-grandmothers  had done before me. I was cooking food- mostly from scratch. I didn't realize the extent to which the home kitchens of my generation had become wastelands. For many people, the kitchen represents the place to heat up prepared foods; the place from which take-out is served, rather than the hearth which serves as the focus of the home.

Now, before you get the wrong idea and think, "oh, she's one of those domestic types.  You know, the one with the snood and the starched linen apron?"  That's just not the case. I am a (soon to be) 43 year old woman who, for the majority of her formative years,  could never envision herself as married much less interested in the domestic arts.  I have an undergraduate degree in Psychology with a concentration in Gender Studies for Pete's sake,  and a Graduate degree in Education with a focus on Adult and Higher education. I was toying with the idea of a  PhD followed by a career in academia.  When I met and married my husband, everything changed.

I moved to Massachusetts where my new husband lived and worked, and it was in that first home of ours that my long-hidden,  inner domestic goddess reared her head.  While searching for employment and getting acclimated to the Northeast, this 4th generation Texas girl watched hours of programming  on the Food Network. Those hours of watching experts cooking,  my own family cooking genetics (my great-grandfather was a classically trained chef who had his own café on what would become the Riverwalk of San Antonio , Texas),  numerous hours during my childhood watching and helping my mother in the kitchen, in addition to my thorough study of my copy of The Joy of Cooking"(given to me by my dear Grandma, Mary, for my wedding shower) resulted in the uncovering of my own passion for everything food-related.  With a whole lot of encouragement from my husband, I began trying new (to me) ingredients, and recipes from the "joy of" and found that it was extremely satisfying to take a few ingredients and make a delicious dinner.

And, so, skipping ahead a few years, here I am, a happily married  gal (with 2 children and back in my beloved Texas) with a passion for fresh, seasonal, home-cooked meals , who loves cooking and  loves eating good food.   I asked those friends who bemoaned their lack of cooking skills if they'd like to learn some basics and step outside of their comfort zone in a social cooking  class , the answer was a resounding "yes" . They are discovering that they can be accomplished cooks and to not be intimidated by the kitchen,  and I have discovered that teaching cooking combines so many of the things I love: teaching, culture, history, art and food.  That is how the Texas Girl Kitchen was born.

Being a confident  home cook doesn't require any formal training or spending a lot of money on a ton of ingredients or having a professional chef’s kitchen filled with gadgets and equipment. All you need is a solid foundation of the right pantry items and the understanding of some basic techniques.  Throw in a pinch of faith, and a dash of fun, and you’re all set to whip up something wonderful. I rely on basic techniques adapted to different ingredients and flavor profiles,  a little ingenuity, and many times, flying by the seat of my pants, fingers-crossed, hoping that something I've never tried before will turn out great. (and, if it doesn't, that's okay, too.)

Nothing can satisfy emotional hungers as well as those special meals made at home. Cooking at home is a way to connect your past with your future and provides a foundation for your sense of identity and place in this world.  I hope to share recipes, and tips for homemade, (mostly) simple, family meals with a focus on fresh, fantastic ingredients that will help you bring your family together in the kitchen and around the table. 

As Grandma Mary said in her inscription in my well-loved copy of The Joy of Cooking,

Happy Cooking!

sld

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