Cooking is hard

I tried to cook a whole chicken once. It was an "Engagement chicken" recipe that was supposedly so good it would make your boyfriend propose. I thought I thawed the chicken long enough, so I had mom help me take out the bag with the insides, seasoned it with lemon and some fresh herbs, and threw that beast in the oven. After 4 hours, it was still raw. My boyfriend was starving by the time it finished and I learned that I did not have any natural cooking talent.

After that experience, for some time, I believed that chicken just wouldn't cook for me. I figured I just wasn't good in the kitchen. Every now and again I'd have a successful attempt in cooking, but for the most part I left the baking to everyone else. I figured I lacked a skill they carried. Sure, I had learned to work with phyllo dough when I was younger, but that seemed to be the only cooking talent I had. I even dabbled in vegan cooking, but after deciding to continue eating meat I figured I better learn how to cook it. Then I finally got the chicken right - I could cook chicken breasts all the way through. I started playing with seasoning and breading. And just recently, I've picked up crock pot cooking. I baked 3 amazing pies (there were 5 total; 2 were lost in battle after the discovery of an awful crust) and even conquered homemade crust for Thanksgiving.  For Christmas I made gift baskets with 4 types of homemade cookies and blueberry muffins plus green bean casserole for the holiday dinner. I've been having fun finding ways to make recipes my own, and now I'd like to try and track and share some of my experiences.