Certifiable, er, I mean, Certified!

For the last 14 weeks, I have been taking an online certification class.  It has been fun, challenging, and a complete time-sucker.  As a result, I have not really cooked much.  With the exception of a few (and I mean very few!) actual meals and homemade moon pies, my wandering into the kitchen has consisted of: more tea, more caffeine, a bowl of cereal.  And my cereal choices range in the realm of Fruity Pebbles, Captain Crunch with Crunch Berries, and other sugar-tastic delicacies.  Needless to say, my health has probably suffered a great deal.  My longing for good food has, well, increased, simply from the pains of withdrawal.

As the 14 weeks comes to a close (I'm in the week of the final exam!), I begin to feel the pull of the kitchen.  A pull I have had to resist, as I'm not finished yet.  I begin to daydream about different types of cookies, more moon pies, mashed potatoes, bacon, cheesecake...and I can't seem to focus on my homework.  All I can think about it making that cheesecake. What kind will I make?  I stare at the pile of cookbooks I've laid out on my bedroom floor.  The pile was originally and strategically placed there as a motivation, a reminder of sorts, of why I am working my ass off to get through this class.  I want to better my professional life.  I want bigger and better things for myself, and cooking and all the lessons I have learned in the last year and a half have brought me to this point.  Succeeding in the kitchen has ultimately given me the drive to want to succeed in my life.  Do more, do better, just do.

As this urge to stop in the eleventh hour, to forget about all the work I've put in for 13 1/2 of 14 weeks,and run back to the kitchen is growing and growing, this morning, as my jaws hurt from the clenching of resistance; I get this in my inbox:

NOT AVAILABLE IN BOOKSTORES!
PLUS A FREE EXTRA BOOK!

Not good for me.  Anyone who knows me, and for those of you who have been reading my stuff since the beginning, you certainly know that I am crazy susceptible to this type of advertising.  I love it.  I love the extra book. I love the related topic.  I love books in general, and cannot seem to pass up on an offer.  I also love Cook's Illustrated and the test kitchen.

So, what do I do?  I. Want.  Offer expires April 20.  Maybe I'll give it a few days.  But. I. Want. and I. Want. NOW.

Two nights ago, I went into the kitchen for about an hour.  I made a tasty grilled cheese and bacon sandwich with homemade pimento cheese, from a recipe a friend gave me.  She mentioned that she had made homemade pimento cheese about a week ago, and the obsession started, until I couldn't stand it anymore.  I had to call her and beg get the recipe and make it.  No delay.  And, I gotta tell ya...it was yummers!

Pimento! 

Classes are over this weekend, so I'll be back with much more frequency!

Oh, and I want to share one other thing that has taken up the bulk of my time in the past month.

I became an auntie!

She's the prettiest thing I've ever seen!  And I can't get enough of her!  I can't wait until she's big enough to stir and help in the kitchen.  I've already started saving up for her aprons!  And, luckily for both of us, I'm super short myself, so there are step stools and ladders in my kitchen all ready for her little feet to stand on!