A new year, a new sense of selfishness

Okay, so I am a bit new at this... There are countless blog entries that I have started and that I cannot post. There are many, many pictures that I have saved and that deserve a little explanation and a recipe. But I must say, that it is hard to put yourself out there... harder than I thought.

I have a new respect for you, dear blogger / blog-reading / blog-dabbling friend. It is hard to believe that anyone cares about my perfect wedge salad or the mustard seed crusted pork tenderloin that I can easily crank out. It is hard to believe that anyone cares about my experience with fried chicken. I laugh when I think of someone happening on this blog and finding something they might resonate with, but I suppose that begs the question... is this for me, or is it for you?

The answer is most certainly the former, if I do say so myself. I have decided to stop worrying about you, and to post post-haste. This is a new year, one with new possibility, and new recipes and new photos. While acknowledging that blogging is a fairly self-indulgent process, I have decided not to care about that part of it...

It is like a counter full of freshly chopped ingredients, each assigned to their little bowl, just waiting for you to join them together. It is a counter full of expectation, but patient and methodical preparation. It is arming yourself for battle. It comes from cooking as a child, no doubt. My impression of this process stems from watching perfect chefs on television with beautiful ingredients lined up in tiny pinch bowls and throwing them all together a la Martha. While this is not all that realistic, when it happens in my kitchen, it is a beautiful thing.

When possibility and fun and taste and tangible results (I am big on these) and immediate gratification are lurking around the corner in this new year, it is a beautiful thing indeed.