We’ve been watching Top Chef tonight. I’ve learned a lot about food, cooking, and a variety of techniques by watching it. I’m not sure I could duplicate any of them, but it has definitely showed me what’s out there.

It actually makes me want to learn more, too. I’m more particular about my food. I want good, flavorful food. We don’t have a big budget to eat out a lot, so we’re trying to eat more at home. With our budget, we’re not going to be able to eat at places like The Godfather (one of my favorite restaurants – I usually request that we go there for my birthday, but didn’t this year) all the time.

Face it, when you have an Applebee’s or Island’s budget, you’re not going to get blow-your-mind food. You can occasionally get decent food, but it’s nothing that makes you melt into your seat with the incredible flavors. And I want GOOD food. So we eat at home. Admittedly, I’m not in the mood to cook amazing food every night. But at least here at home we have spices and actually use them.

I’m trying to slowly document my food experiments more. Occasionally, I might like to recreate some of my dishes. But I never write anything down. So I am changing that. And really enjoying the process of playing with my food. I’m not into presentation at all (yet), but more into good, solid, simple food. I have a long way to go. It’s fun to enjoy the process though. (Even if I still don’t enjoy doing the dishes.)